The live attenuated Brucella abortus strain RB51 is a rifampin-resistant, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O-chain-deficient mutant of virulent B. abortus 2308. The reduced O-chain content in RB51 prevents this bacterium from inducing antibodies detectable by the conventional serologic tests for bovine brucellosis diagnosis that mainly identify antibodies to LPS. The absence of available serologic test...

A serologic test for antibodies is useful for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori) infection in children. We evaluated the reliability of H.pylori IgG antibody titer in grading the severity of infection in children. We surveyed the sero-prevalence of H.pylori infection in 300 healthy school children (13 to 15 years old). Thirty-four percent(102 of 300 children) were sero-positive for H.py...

BACKGROUND Celiac disease is present in ~1% of the general population in the United States and Europe. Despite the availability of inexpensive serologic screening tests, ~85% of individuals with celiac disease remain undiagnosed and there is an average delay in diagnosis of symptomatic individuals with celiac disease that ranges from ~5.8-11 years. This delay is often attributed to the use of a...

A portion of a cDNA encoding a 35-kDa antigen from Toxoplasma gondii was cloned into the CKS expression vector and expressed in Escherichia coli. By using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the recombinant protein (rP35 antigen) was examined for reactivity with immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies in the sera of pregnant women. Of these women, 41 had a toxoplasma serologic profile sugg...