scholarly journals Descriptive Comparison of ELISAs for the Detection of Toxoplasma gondii Antibodies in Animals: A Systematic Review

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 605
Author(s):  
K. L. D. Tharaka D. Liyanage ◽  
Anke Wiethoelter ◽  
Jasmin Hufschmid ◽  
Abdul Jabbar
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Toxoplasma Gondii ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Specific Binding ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Cross Reactivity ◽  
Meat Juice ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Eimeria Spp ◽  
Species Specific

Toxoplasma gondii is the zoonotic parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis in warm-blooded vertebrates. This systematic review compares and evaluates the available knowledge on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), their components, and performance in detecting T. gondii antibodies in animals. Four databases were searched for published scientific studies on T. gondii and ELISA, and 57 articles were included. Overall, indirect (95%) and in-house (67%) ELISAs were the most used types of test among the studies examined, but the ‘ID Screen® Toxoplasmosis Indirect Multi-species’ was common among commercially available tests. Varying diagnostic performance (sensitivity and specificity) and Kappa agreements were observed depending on the type of sample (serum, meat juice, milk), antigen (native, recombinant, chimeric) and antibody-binding reagents used. Combinations of recombinant and chimeric antigens resulted in better performance than native or single recombinant antigens. Protein A/G appeared to be useful in detecting IgG antibodies in a wide range of animal species due to its non-species-specific binding. One study reported cross-reactivity, with Hammondia hammondi and Eimeria spp. This is the first systematic review to descriptively compare ELISAs for the detection of T. gondii antibodies across different animal species.

scholarly journals Importance of serological cross-reactivity amongToxoplasma gondii, Hammondiaspp.,Neosporaspp.,Sarcocystisspp. andBesnoitia besnoiti

Parasitology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 144 (7) ◽  
pp. 851-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUÍS F. P. GONDIM ◽  
JOSÉ R. MINEO ◽  
GEREON SCHARES
Keyword(s):  
Toxoplasma Gondii ◽  
Neospora Caninum ◽  
Cross Reactivity ◽  
Besnoitia Besnoiti ◽  
Cross Reactions ◽  
Epidemiological Surveys ◽  
Specific Proteins ◽  
Specific Antigens ◽  
Species Specific

SUMMARYToxoplasma gondii, Neosporaspp.,Sarcocystisspp.,Hammondiaspp. andBesnoitia besnoitiare genetically related cyst-forming coccidia. Serology is frequently used for the identification ofT. gondii, Neosporaspp. andB. besnoiti-exposed individuals. Serologic cross-reactions occur in different tests among animals infected withT. gondiiandH. hammondi,as well as among animals infected byT. gondiiandN. caninum. Infections caused byN. caninumandN. hughesiare almost indistinguishable by serology.Neospora caninum, B. besnoitiandSarcocystisspp. infections in cattle show some degree of serologic cross-reactivity. Antibody cross-reactivity betweenNeosporaspp. andH. heydorni-infected animals is suspected, but not proven to occur. We review serologic cross-reactivity among animals and/or humans infected withT. gondii, Neosporaspp.,Sarcocystisspp.,Hammondiaspp. andB. besnoiti. Emphasis is laid upon antigens and serological methods forN. caninumdiagnosis which were tested for cross-reactivity with related protozoa. Species-specific antigens, as well as stage-specific proteins have been identified in some of these parasites and have promising use for diagnosis and epidemiological surveys.

scholarly journals The Putative Proteinase Maturation Protein A ofStreptococcus pneumoniae Is a Conserved Surface Protein with Potential To Elicit Protective Immune Responses

2000 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 4180-4188 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Overweg ◽  
A. Kerr ◽  
M. Sluijter ◽  
M. H. Jackson ◽  
T. J. Mitchell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Fraction ◽  
Pathogenic Bacteria ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Surface Protein ◽  
Cross Reactivity ◽  
Two Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Hyperimmune Serum ◽  
Maturation Protein ◽  
Species Specific

ABSTRACT Surface-exposed proteins often play an important role in the interaction between pathogenic bacteria and their host. We isolated a pool of hydrophobic, surface-associated proteins of Streptococcus pneumoniae. The opsonophagocytic activity of hyperimmune serum raised against this protein fraction was high and species specific. Moreover, the opsonophagocytic activity was independent of the capsular type and chromosomal genotype of the pneumococcus. Since the opsonophagocytic activity is presumed to correlate with in vivo protection, these data indicate that the protein fraction has the potential to elicit species-specific immune protection with cross-protection against various pneumococcal strains. Individual proteins in the extract were purified by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Antibodies raised against three distinct proteins contributed to the opsonophagocytic activity of the serum. The proteins were identified by mass spectrometry and N-terminal amino acid sequencing. Two proteins were the previously characterized pneumococcal surface protein A and oligopeptide-binding lipoprotein AmiA. The third protein was the recently identified putative proteinase maturation protein A (PpmA), which showed homology to members of the family of peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerases. Immunoelectron microscopy demonstrated that PpmA was associated with the pneumococcal surface. In addition, PpmA was shown to elicit species-specific opsonophagocytic antibodies that were cross-reactive with various pneumococcal strains. This antibody cross-reactivity was in line with the limited sequence variation of ppmA. The importance of PpmA in pneumococcal pathogenesis was demonstrated in a mouse pneumonia model. Pneumococcal ppmA-deficient mutants showed reduced virulence. The properties of PpmA reported here indicate its potential for inclusion in multicomponent protein vaccines.

scholarly journals Seroprevalence and Epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii in Animals in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area, China

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 432
Author(s):  
Guojing Li ◽  
Wangli Zheng ◽  
Jinfang Yang ◽  
Tongsheng Qi ◽  
Yongcai He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Toxoplasma Gondii ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Elisa Test ◽  
Ovis Aries ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Worldwide Distribution ◽  
Plateau Area ◽  
Tibetan Sheep ◽  
Wide Range

Toxoplasma gondii belongs to the Apicomplexan protozoa—an obligate intracellular parasite—causing toxoplasmosis that has a worldwide distribution and is very harmful to both human health and the livestock industry. However, the information on toxoplasmosis in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Area (QTPA) and the seroprevalence of T. gondii in the food-borne animals in that area has been limited. Therefore, this study focused to T. gondii and toxoplasmosis to perform an indirect ELISA test based on recombinant TgSAG2 protein to establish a comprehensive record of the seroprevalence of T. gondii infections in a wide range of animals, including Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries), yaks (Bos grunniens), cows, chicken, pigs, and horses, in the QTPA. Overall, the seropositive rates of the specific-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies in all investigated animals were 44.1% (1179/2673) and 18.0% (469/2612), respectively. The 14.9% (389/2612) sera were determined to be both IgG and IgM positive samples, 30.2% (789/2673) were single-IgG seropositive, and a total of 80 in 2612 animals (3.0%) were single-IgM seropositive. Moreover, for the animal species, the pig was the most prevalent animal (90.2%, 304/337) for IgG positivity, followed by Tibetan sheep (50.7%, 460/907), chickens (45.8%, 229/500), yaks (21.1%, 140/663), cows (18.5%, 38/205) and horses (13.1%, 8/61), respectively. For the IgM antibody positivity, the pig was also the most prevalent animal (41.8%, 141/337), followed by Tibetan sheep (21.2%, 191/907), cows (15.1%, 31/205), chickens (12.4%, 62/500) and yaks (6.6%, 44/663), respectively. The significant differences in the prevalent distribution of T. gondii were found in the different altitudes. In conclusion, this study found the high seroprevalence for T. gondii infections among these animal species in the QTPA, and provides new data to facilitate further research for development of control measures against T. gondii infections in the surveyed locations.

scholarly journals Lectin binding sites in kidney. A comparative study of 14 animal species.

1983 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Holthöfer
Keyword(s):  
Animal Species ◽  
Specific Binding ◽  
Lectin Binding ◽  
Basement Membranes ◽  
Fresh Water Fish ◽  
Dolichos Biflorus ◽  
Tissue Sections ◽  
Distal Tubules ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Lectin Binding Sites

Six fluorochrome-coupled lectins with different sugar specificities were used to stain frozen tissue sections of kidneys from 14 animal species including mammals, avians, reptiles, and fresh water fish. Each lectin seemed to have a species-, but not strain-, specific binding pattern. Some lectins, however, bound to the same parts of the nephron in all animals studied. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) bound prominently to glomeruli in all kidneys. Dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA) seemed to bind to only a group of distal tubules in most animals, whereas either proximal or distal tubules were revealed with soybean (SBA) and peanut (PNA) agglutinins. Heterogeneity of basement membranes in different nephron parts was seen in the binding of some lectins. Ulex europeus agglutinin (UEA I), binding specifically to endothelial cells in human tissues, did not react with the endothelium of any other species, but SBA and PNA seemed to prominently stain vascular endothelia of cow and hen vessels, respectively. These results show a species-specific compartmentalization of saccharides to certain parts of the nephron, while there appears to be some common features in saccharide distribution between different animal species as well.

Registration of animal rabies in Krasnodar region

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
Oleg Yu. Chernykh ◽  
◽  
Vadim A. Bobrov ◽  
Sergey N. Zabashta ◽  
Roman A. Krivonos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Form ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Natural Focus ◽  
Dead End ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Epizootic Process ◽  
Krasnodar Region ◽  
Spread Of Infection ◽  
Reporting Data

Rabies remains a constant threat to humanity in many parts of the world. At the same time, scientifically grounded antiepizootic measures should be based on the peculiarities of the regional epizootology of this zooanthroponosis. The authors studied the epizootological and statistical reporting data of the Kropotkin Regional Veterinary Laboratory, presented an analysis of the registration of rabies in animals in Krasnodar region. From the obtained data, it should be noted that despite the wide range of animals involved in the epizootic process of rabies infection in Krasnodar region, dogs, cats and foxes play a major role in the reservation and spread of infection, which account for 78.6. Of the total number of registered cases, 15.5% falls on foxes, that indicates the natural focus of the disease, along with the manifestation of the disease in an urban form. At the same time, stray and neglected dogs and cats, which occupy a significant place among the total number of sick animals, are also sources and spread of the infection. Thus farm animals (8.3% of the total number of infected animals) are a biological dead end for the infection. Isolated cases of the disease were noted in muskrat, donkey, raccoon, raccoon dog, marten, ferret and jackal. The authors also established the specific morbidity of various animal species with rabies infection, that is an important aspect in the development and implementation of antiepizootic measures complex

The (Mis)Uses of Race in Research on College Students: A Systematic Review

JCSCORE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-41
Author(s):  
Marc P. Johnston-Guerrero
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
College Students ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Student Affairs ◽  
Educational Outcomes ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Higher Education Journals ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

Race has been one of the most controversial subjects studied by scholars across a wide range of disciplines as they debate whether races actually exist and whether race matters in determining life, social, and educational outcomes. Missing from the literature are investigations into various ways race gets applied in research, especially in higher education and student affairs. This review explores how scholars use race in their framing, operationalizing, and interpreting of research on college students. Through a systematic content analysis of three higher education journals over five years, this review elucidates scholars’ varied racial applications as well as potential implicit and explicit messages about race being sent by those applications and inconsistencies within articles. By better understanding how race is used in higher education and student affairs research, scholars can be more purposeful in their applications to reduce problematic messages about the essentialist nature of race and deficit framing of certain racial groups.

Stress, anxiety, depression and burnout in frontline health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic: a brief systematic review and new data from Russia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Mosolova ◽  
Dmitry Sosin ◽  
Sergey Mosolov
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Associated Risk Factors ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
The Impact

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers (HCWs) have been subject to increased workload while also exposed to many psychosocial stressors. In a systematic review we analyze the impact that the pandemic has had on HCWs mental state and associated risk factors. Most studies reported high levels of depression and anxiety among HCWs worldwide, however, due to a wide range of assessment tools, cut-off scores, and number of frontline participants in the studies, results were difficult to compare. Our study is based on two online surveys of 2195 HCWs from different regions of Russia during spring and autumn epidemic outbreaks revealed the rates of anxiety, stress, depression, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and perceived stress as 32.3%, 31.1%, 45.5%, 74.2%, 37.7% ,67.8%, respectively. Moreover, 2.4% of HCWs reported suicidal thoughts. The most common risk factors include: female gender, nurse as an occupation, younger age, working for over 6 months, chronic diseases, smoking, high working demands, lack of personal protective equipment, low salary, lack of social support, isolation from families, the fear of relatives getting infected. These results demonstrate the need for urgent supportive programs for HCWs fighting COVID-19 that fall into higher risk factors groups.

EXPRESS: Method dependent variation in TSH and FT4 reference intervals in pregnancy: a systematic review

2021 ◽  
pp. 000456322110269
Author(s):  
O E Okosieme ◽  
Medha Agrawal ◽  
Danyal Usman ◽  
Carol Evans
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Reference Interval ◽  
First Trimester ◽  
Reference Intervals ◽  
Assay Method ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Upper Limits ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Assay Methods ◽  
In Pregnancy

Background: Gestational TSH and FT4 reference intervals may differ according to assay method but the extent of variation is unclear and has not been systematically evaluated. We conducted a systematic review of published studies on TSH and FT4 reference intervals in pregnancy. Our aim was to quantify method-related differences in gestation reference intervals, across four commonly used assay methods, Abbott, Beckman, Roche, and Siemens. Methods: We searched the literature for relevant studies, published between January 2000 and December 2020, in healthy pregnant women without thyroid antibodies or disease. For each study, we extracted trimester-specific reference intervals (2.5–97.5 percentiles) for TSH and FT4 as well as the manufacturer provided reference interval for the corresponding non-pregnant population. Results: TSH reference intervals showed a wide range of study-to-study differences with upper limits ranging from 2.33 to 8.30 mU/L. FT4 lower limits ranged from 4.40–13.93 pmol/L, with consistently lower reference intervals observed with the Beckman method. Differences between non-pregnant and first trimester reference intervals were highly variable, and for most studies the TSH upper limit in the first trimester could not be predicted or extrapolated from non-pregnant values. Conclusions: Our study confirms significant intra and inter-method disparities in gestational thyroid hormone reference intervals. The relationship between pregnant and non-pregnant values is inconsistent and does not support the existing practice in some laboratories of extrapolating gestation references from non-pregnant values. Laboratories should invest in deriving method-specific gestation reference intervals for their population.

scholarly journals COVID-19 in People Living with HIV: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 3554
Author(s):  
Kai Wei Lee ◽  
Sook Fan Yap ◽  
Yun Fong Ngeow ◽  
Munn Sann Lye
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Laboratory Testing ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Common Symptom ◽  
Chest Imaging ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Epidemiological Characteristics

COVID-19 is a global health emergency. People living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) have concerns about whether they have a higher risk of getting the infection and suffer worse COVID-19 outcomes. Findings from studies on these questions have largely been inconsistent. We aimed to determine the epidemiological characteristics, clinical signs and symptoms, blood parameters, and clinical outcomes among PLHIV who contracted COVID-19. Relevant studies were identified through Medline, Cinahl, and PubMed databases. A random-effects model was used in meta-analyses with a 95% confidence interval. Eighty-two studies were included in the systematic review and sixty-seven studies for the meta-analysis. The pooled incidence proportion of COVID-19 among PLHIV was 0.9% (95% CI 0.6%, 1.1%) based on the data from seven cohort studies. Overall, 28.4% were hospitalised, of whom, 2.5% was severe-critical cases and 3.5% needed intensive care. The overall mortality rate was 5.3%. Hypertension was the most commonly reported comorbidity (24.0%). Fever (71.1%) was the most common symptom. Chest imaging demonstrated a wide range of abnormal findings encompassing common changes such as ground glass opacities and consolidation as well as a spectrum of less common abnormalities. Laboratory testing of inflammation markers showed that C-reactive protein, ferritin, and interleukin-6 were frequently elevated, albeit to different extents. Clinical features as well as the results of chest imaging and laboratory testing were similar in highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)-treated and non-treated patients. PLHIV were not found to be at higher risk for adverse outcomes of COVID-19. Hence, in COVID-19 management, it appears that they can be treated the same way as HIV negative individuals. Nevertheless, as the pandemic situation is rapidly evolving, more evidence may be needed to arrive at definitive recommendations.

The Impact of Mental States on Semi-autonomous Driving Takeover Performance: A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 1372-1376
Author(s):  
Gaojian Huang ◽  
Christine Petersen ◽  
Brandon J. Pitts
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Autonomous Driving ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Manual Control ◽  
Monitoring Systems ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Impact

Semi-autonomous vehicles still require drivers to occasionally resume manual control. However, drivers of these vehicles may have different mental states. For example, drivers may be engaged in non-driving related tasks or may exhibit mind wandering behavior. Also, monitoring monotonous driving environments can result in passive fatigue. Given the potential for different types of mental states to negatively affect takeover performance, it will be critical to highlight how mental states affect semi-autonomous takeover. A systematic review was conducted to synthesize the literature on mental states (such as distraction, fatigue, emotion) and takeover performance. This review focuses specifically on five fatigue studies. Overall, studies were too few to observe consistent findings, but some suggest that response times to takeover alerts and post-takeover performance may be affected by fatigue. Ultimately, this review may help researchers improve and develop real-time mental states monitoring systems for a wide range of application domains.

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