Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

U Bienzle

Publications and source records attributed to U Bienzle.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Ixodes ricinus ticks in Berlin (West).

In 1986, 1711 nymphal and adult Ixodes ricinus orginating from Berlin (West) forests were examined individually or in pools of up to 10 ticks for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme borreliosis. Detection of borreliae was carried out by means of a culture method using modified Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly-Medium (BSK II). Tick populations from 14 out of 15 locations contained positive specimens. The calculated minimal infection rate of pooled ticks was 2.5% in nymphs (n = 1365), 10.2% in females (n = 59), and 5.3% in males (n = 114). Among those ticks examined individually, none of the nymphs (n = 49) proved to be positive but B. burgdorferi was isolated from 8.2% of the females (n = 73) and 7.8% of the males (n = 51). Fifty-five out of 56 isolates were identified as B. burgdorferi by means of an indirect immunofluorescence test (IFT) using monoclonal antibody H 5332. From these results B. burgdorferi must be considered as being present in the Berlin area.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Release of interleukin 2 and gamma interferon by peripheral mononuclear cells in human Schistosoma mansoni infection normalizes after chemotherapy.

Interleukin 2 (IL-2) and gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) were determined in supernatants of mitogen- and antigen-driven cell cultures from patients with hepatosplenic or intestinal schistosomiasis. Skin reactivity was tested using a panel of eight recall antigens. Results were compared with those of uninfected local controls. In both schistosomiasis groups, IL-2 activity was reduced before treatment. In less than one third of the patients, schistosomal antigens elicited detectable IL-2 activity. IFN-gamma production was reduced more severely in hepatosplenic cases, in particular after stimulation by anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies. After anti-schistosomal therapy with praziquantel, mitogen-induced IL-2 and IFN-gamma activities became normal within 3 months in intestinal schistosomiasis, and within 6 months in the hepatosplenic patient group. Results of in vivo delayed-type hypersensitivity tests paralleled those of in vitro lymphokine production. In conclusion, evidence is presented for severe, antigen-unspecific suppression of lymphokine production and skin reactivity against recall antigens. Anti-parasitic chemotherapy is shown to reverse the impairment of cell-mediated immune responses at the cytokine level.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

[EEG findings during the course of HIV infection].

Clinical neurological complications in HIV-infection (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) are seen in later stages of the disease. EEGs of 186 patients in different stages of HIV-infection and of 44 HIV-seronegative volunteers (total of 566 recordings) were evaluated visually; this revealed an increasing appearance of CNS-dysfunction (slowing of background activity, focal and diffuse CNS-dysfunction) associated with a progression of the disease. Slowing of background activity was already found in early stages of HIV-infection. Additional focal and diffuse changes in the electrical activity of the brain are also seen with progression of the infection (LAS/ARC-AIDS). The correlation between these electroencephalographic changes and HIV related clinical symptoms are non specific however, EEG recordings can be a valuable aid in following CNS-dysfunction during the course of HIV-infection.

AIDS-Related Complex↗
PubMed1988

Liver involvement in human schistosomiasis mansoni. Assessment by immunological and biochemical markers.

In 20 patients with hepatic or hepatosplenic schistosomiasis and 82 individuals infected with S. mansoni, but without liver enlargement, serum parameters reflecting the fibrotic process and hemodynamic alterations as well as immunomodulation were examined. Included as controls were 35 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals from the study region in Northeast Brazil. Peripheral blood cholylglycine levels in patients with hepatomegaly, reflecting the spillover of portal blood into the systemic circulation, were elevated 12-fold over values of patients without liver involvement. Procollagen-III-peptide, a cleavage product of collagen synthesis, was elevated in patients with hepatomegaly (P less than 0.001) but normal in uncomplicated cases. Immunomodulation was assessed by in vivo delayed hypersensitivity to recall antigens and by serum beta 2-microglobulin and neopterin, substances released in the context of lymphocyte activation. Neopterin, predominantly a macrophage product, was elevated most strikingly in hepatomegalic cases (P less than 0.001). The possible interrelation between altered immune responses and excess fibrogenesis is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Liver involvement in human schistosomiasis mansoni. Regression of immunological and biochemical disease markers after specific treatment.

Peripheral blood cholyglycine and procollagen-III-peptide were measured in 22 Zairean patients with hepatomegaly caused by S. mansoni before and after treatment with praziquantel. Circulating T-cell subsets and cutaneous in vivo delayed type hypersensitivity were assessed; serum neopterin and beta 2-microglobulin served as indicators for macrophage/lymphocyte activation. The results were compared to age and sex matched patients with S. mansoni infection limited to the intestinal tract and schistosomiasis free controls with equal socioeconomic background. Abnormal serum cholyglycine and neopterin levels and alterations of circulating T-cell subset frequencies were associated with hepatomegaly in schistosomiasis. Normalization of these parameters reflected a regression of egg-induced immunopathology as early as two months after specific chemotherapy. Serum procollagen-III-peptide concentrations rose significantly after treatment, suggesting release of propeptide previously incorporated without cleavage into tissue collagen. The combination of these biochemical and immunological parameters may allow assessment of the pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for liver disease in individual patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

[Changes in the EEG background rhythm and in the hyperventilation effect at different stages of HIV infection].

The visual evaluation of 370 clinical EEGs of 125 patients in different stages of the HIV-infection as well as 42 HIV-seronegative volunteers of the same high risk population (male homosexuals) proved the increasing appearance of CNS dysfunction with progression of the disease. An especially established hyperventilation-index for a semiquantitative evaluation of hyperventilation response showed an increase of slow-wave activity in the course of the infection. The appearance of slow-waves as well as a significant slowing of background activity in advanced stages of the HIV-infection can be regarded as unspecific signs of a beginning diffuse functional CNS disorder caused by a direct affection of the CNS through the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The EEG changes in early stages are not specific as to their causative agent and do not allow the distinction between primary and secondary CNS involvement. The changes may precede clinical-neurological alterations.

AIDS-Related Complex↗
PubMed1987

[Follow-up in HIV-infected homosexual males with lymphadenopathy syndrome].

26 homosexual men with antibodies to HIV and generalized lymphadenopathy were examined between 1982 and 1984. Lymphadenopathy was accompanied by clinical symptoms such as fever, diarrhoea and weight loss (50%), moderate leukopenia (15%), lymphocytosis (50%), hypoergy to intraepidermal skin test with recall-antigens (12%), elevated serum levels of IgG (62%), IgA (23%), IgM (19%), beta-2-microglobulin (76%) and neopterin (69%), diminished absolute numbers of CD4-helper cells in the peripheral blood (24%) and an inversion of the ratio CD4-helper cells/CD8-suppressor cells both in blood (64%) and in lymph nodes (36%). Mitogen induced lymphocyte proliferation was significantly lower and the serum levels of gamma-interferon were significantly higher than in healthy controls. Lymph node biopsy revealed only nonspecific reactive hyperplasia with follicular hyperplasia in 54%, a mixed pattern of both follicular hyperplasia and follicular involution with paracortical expansion in 25% and follicular involution with paracortical expansion in 21%. 22 patients were followed longitudinally for a median time of 37 months (33-51 months). 10 patients (46%) developed full-blown AIDS within a median period of 35 months (24-46 months) after first examination and 43 months (36-77 months) after the anamnestic onset of the lymphadenopathy syndrome. The parameters distinguishing these patients from those without progression of disease were higher serum levels of gamma-interferon, higher relative and absolute numbers of CD8-suppressor cells in the peripheral blood, a reduced number of CD4-helper cells in the lymph nodes, and a lower CD4/CD8 ratio as well in the peripheral blood as in the lymph nodes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

AIDS-Related Complex↗
PubMed1987

Risk factors for HIV infection in German i.v. drug abusers. Clinical, serological and epidemiological features.

A series of 320 German i.v. drug abusers (32.2% female, 67.8% male) were tested in a cross-sectional study for antibodies against HIV. Seroprevalence increased from 0 in those who discontinued i.v. drug abuse before 1982 to 37.2% in those who stopped injecting drugs in 1985/1986 or who were still addicted. Antibodies to HIV were significantly associated with lymphadenopathy and clinical symptoms (fever, weight loss, diarrhea, fatigue, night sweat, dermal lesions) and with markers of hepatitis A and hepatitis B virus infection. Participants of the study admitted in 92.5% of cases to "needle sharing" and in 83.1% of cases to sexual contacts among drug abusers. Prostitution and drug abuse in prison were significantly correlated with seropositivity. No antibodies to HIV infection were detected in 131 subjects of a control group of household contacts.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1987

Neutralizing antibodies and the course of HIV-induced disease.

The capacity to neutralize the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in vitro was examined in 52 sera obtained from 23 seropositive individuals in addition to 7 negative control sera. Neutralization was measured as the activity of a serum to protect MT-4 cells against the cytopathic effect of HTLV-IIIB. Virus neutralization depended on HIV antibodies. Some sera had HIV neutralizing antibody titers of several thousands. All serum samples had been titrated in two ELISAs based either on disrupted HTLV-IIIB or on a bacterially synthesized polypeptide (ENV-80) of gp41 as a test antigen. The correlation of neutralizing activity of the sera with ELISA titers was low. A correlation of serum neutralizing titers with the stage of the disease could not be observed. However, in a longitudinal study with 6 patients over up to 22 months an increase in neutralizing antibodies seemed to protect against progression of the disease. The implications of these findings for antibody treatment and vaccine development are discussed.

AIDS-Related Complex↗
PubMed1987

Active immunization against hepatitis B: immunogenicity of a recombinant DNA vaccine in females, heterosexual and homosexual males.

Three groups of subjects (58 females, 54 heterosexual males, and 50 homosexual males) received three doses of a recombinant DNA yeast-derived hepatitis B vaccine according to a 0, 1, and 6 month vaccination schedule. Local and general side effects were mild. Seroconversion rates after three injections were not significantly different between the groups. Females showed a significantly higher anti-HBs response than both groups of males, and heterosexual males had higher antibody titres than homosexual males. Among the four homosexual non-responders, three were carriers of the human immunodeficiency virus.

Adolescent↗