polymerase chain reaction: F.I.G.H.T for your health!

Lyme in 2 horses

By Linda on Feb 24, 2011 in Infections | comments(0)

Excerpt:

Lyme neuroborreliosis—characterized as chronic, necrosuppurative to nonsuppurative, perivascular to diffuse meningoradiculoneuritis—was diagnosed in 2 horses with progressive neurologic disease. In 1 horse, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto was identified by polymerase chain reaction amplification of B burgdorferi sensu stricto–specific gene targets (ospA, ospC, flaB, dbpA, arp). Highest spirochetal burdens were in tissues with inflammation, including spinal cord, muscle, and joint capsule. Sequence analysis ofospA, ospC, and flaB revealed 99.9% sequence identity to the respective genes in B burgdorferi strain 297, an isolate from a human case of neuroborreliosis. In both horses, spirochetes were visualized in affected tissues with Steiner silver impregnation and by immunohistochemistry, predominantly within the dense collagenous tissue of the dura mater and leptomeninges.

Tags: and joint capsule, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, including spinal cord, Lyme neuroborreliosis in horses, meningoradiculoneuritis, muscle, polymerase chain reaction, spirochetal burdens, tissues with inflammation, veterinary pathology

Lyme Encephalopathy

By Linda on Nov 29, 2009 in Infections | comments(0)

Encephalopathy is like fine art: Most people know it when they see it, but there is very little agreement on how to define it. At the 14th International Lyme Disease Conference, Brian A. Fallon, MD,[1] of Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, tried to do just that. More importantly, he described the different ways one can define encephalopathy, the strengths and limitations of each approach, and significantly, what other aspects of life can give the impression of encephalopathy where none exists. First, one must evaluate patients with persistent Lyme encephalopathy by asking the following questions:

Is the diagnosis correct?
Are there comorbid psychiatric disorders that could be treated better? Does the patient have a psychogenic medical illness? What was the patient’s response to prior antibiotics?
Was previous treatment adequate? How long was the course, and what was the route of administration? Was there a subsequent relapse Continued

Tags: abnormal brain scans, arthralgias, arthritis, borrelia burgdorferi, Brian A. Fallon, central nervous system, cerebrospinal fluid, cognitive deficits, cognitive testing, comorbid psychiatric disorders, concentration difficulties, confusion, cranial (facial) neuropathy, cranial nerve palsy, CSF, culture, Depression, DNA, EEG], electroencephalogram, encephalopathy, Erythema migrans, extraneural symptoms, fatigue, headache), IgG., International Lyme Disease Conference, intrathecal antibody, intrathecal antibody production, irritability, knee pain, Logigian, memory, memory loss, meningitis, mood disturbance, MRI, multifocal EM, myalgia, myalgias, neurocognitive impairment, neurologic abnormalities, oligoclonal bands, PCR, pleocytosis, polymerase chain reaction, protein, psychogenic medical illness, radiculoneuritis, single EM; cranial nerve palsy, single photon emission computed tomography, sleep disturbance, sleep problems, SPECT, stiff neck, stroke, tests, tomography, verbal fluency, WBC, word-finding difficulties

Lyme Encepalopathy

By Linda on Nov 29, 2009 in Infections | comments(0)

Encephalopathy is like fine art: Most people know it when they see it, but there is very little agreement on how to define it. At the 14th International Lyme Disease Conference, Brian A. Fallon, MD,[1] of Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, tried to do just that. More importantly, he described the different ways one can define encephalopathy, the strengths and limitations of each approach, and significantly, what other aspects of life can give the impression of encephalopathy where none exists.
First, one must evaluate patients with persistent Lyme encephalopathy by asking the following questions:

Is the diagnosis correct?
Are there comorbid psychiatric disorders that could be treated better? Does the patient have a psychogenic medical illness? What was the patient’s response to prior antibiotics?
Was previous treatment adequate? How long was the course, and what was the route of administration? Was there a subsequent relapse Continued

Tags: abnormal brain scans, arthralgias, arthritis, borrelia burgdorferi, Brian A. Fallon, central nervous system, cerebrospinal fluid, cognitive deficits, cognitive testing, comorbid psychiatric disorders, concentration difficulties, confusion, cranial (facial) neuropathy, cranial nerve palsy, CSF, culture, Depression, DNA, EEG], electroencephalogram, encephalopathy, Erythema migrans, extraneural symptoms, fatigue, headache), IgG., International Lyme Disease Conference, intrathecal antibody, intrathecal antibody production, irritability, knee pain, Logigian, memory, memory loss, meningitis, mood disturbance, MRI, multifocal EM, myalgia, myalgias, neurocognitive impairment, neurologic abnormalities, oligoclonal bands, PCR, pleocytosis, polymerase chain reaction, protein, psychogenic medical illness, radiculoneuritis, single EM; cranial nerve palsy, single photon emission computed tomography, sleep disturbance, sleep problems, SPECT, stiff neck, stroke, tests, tomography, verbal fluency, WBC, word-finding difficulties

Saliva Testing a Painless Alternative for Malaria Diagnosis

By Linda on Nov 16, 2009 in Infections | comments(0)

DEHLI (Reuters Health) – Diagnosis of malaria by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of saliva is non-invasive and comparable to the current gold standard blood smear examination, a multicenter group of researchers reports.

A rapid test for malaria that has a high sensitivity and specificity “could potentially avert more than 100,000 malaria-related deaths each year and save nearly $200 million that is spent on unnecessary treatments annually,” Dr. Davis C. Nwakanma from the Medical Research Council, Fajara, Banjul, Gambia and his team and colleagues estimate. Continued

Tags: blood smear, deaths, Hygiene, malaria, malarial parasite density, microscopy, non-invasive, PCR, polymerase chain reaction, saliva, Tropical Medicine, urine PCR

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