BACKGROUND Options for intervention against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection are limited by the diagnostic tools available. The Purified Protein Derivative (PPD) skin test is thought to be non-specific, especially in tropical settings. We compared the PPD skin test with an ELISPOT test in The Gambia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Household contacts over six months of age of sputum smear ...

QuantiFERON®-TB Gold in-tube (QFT-GIT) supernatants may be important samples for use in assessment of anti-tuberculosis (TB) antibodies when only limited volumes of blood can be collected and when a combination of antibody and cytokine measurements are required. These analytes, when used together, may also have the potential to differentiate active pulmonary TB (APTB) from latent TB infection (...

Nano-sized hepatitis B virus core virus-like particles (HBc-VLP) are suitable for uptake by antigen-presenting cells. Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen culture filtrate protein 10 (CFP-10) is an important vaccine candidate against tuberculosis. The purified antigen shows low immune response without adjuvant and tends to have low protective efficacy. The present study is based on the assumption...

N-[1-(R,S)-carboxyl-3-phenylpropyl]-Ala-Ala-Phe-p-aminobenzoate (cFP-AAF-pAB), an active-site-directed inhibitor of metalloendopeptidase-24.15, has been shown to lower blood pressure, increase cardiac output and renal blood flow, and potentiate the intravenous bradykinin-induced vasodepressor response. Because in vivo cFP-AAF-pAB can be converted to N-[1-(R,S)-carboxyl-3-phenylpropyl]-Ala-Ala (...

BACKGROUND Congenital facial palsy (CFP) is clinically defined as facial palsy present at birth. It is associated with considerable disfigurement and causes functional and emotional problems for the affected child. The aetiology of the majority of cases however, remains elusive. AIMS To investigate the role of a neuroanatomical abnormality as a cause of unilateral CFP. METHODS Magnetic reso...

The diagnosis of smear-negative and culture-negative patients with active tuberculosis (TB) is challenging. The detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antibodies in human sera has been an important diagnostic aid. However, detection of antibody responses to a single antigen usually has a low sensitivity for diagnosis of TB. In this study, humoral immune responses against recombinant M...

BACKGROUND Mycobacterium tuberculosis Region-of-Difference-1 gene products present opportunities for specific diagnosis of M. tuberculosis infection, yet immune responses to only two gene-products, Early Secretory Antigenic Target-6 (ESAT-6) and Culture Filtrate Protein-10 (CFP-10), have been comprehensively investigated. METHODS T-cell responses to Rv3873, Rv3878 and Rv3879c were quantified ...