In this study, the cytotoxicity of medical latex gloves to cultured L-929 cells was determined using various extraction conditions. According to the extraction time and temperature, three types of extraction conditions were used: 1) 24 h at 37 degrees C; 2) 72 h at 37 degrees C; 3) 72 h at 50 degrees C. Also, four different extraction vehicles were used, namely, distilled water (DW), 9 g/l sodium chloride (saline) in DW, and culture media with or without serum. Under the above-mentioned conditions, the samples were extracted and then 2-fold serially diluted in the concentration range 3.13 - 50%. When extracted with either DW or saline for 24 h or 72 h at 37 degrees C, only 50% diluted samples showed distinct cytotoxicity to L-929 cells. Moreover, no cytotoxic potentials were observed when gloves were extracted with DW or saline at 50 degrees C for 72 h. Cytotoxicity was markedly greater when gloves were extracted with culture medium, irrespective of the presence of serum in the medium. These results suggest that optimal extraction conditions should be established for the cytotoxicity evaluations of biomaterials and medical devices.
Animals ; Cell Survival/*drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Culture Media ; Gloves, Protective ; Latex/*isolation & purification/*toxicity ; Mice ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Temperature ; Toxicity Tests/*methods

BACKGROUND: Automated Mediace Treponema pallidum latex agglutination (TPLA) and Mediace rapid plasma reagin (RPR) assays are used by many laboratories for syphilis diagnosis. This study compared the results of the traditional syphilis screening algorithm and a reverse algorithm using automated Mediace RPR or Mediace TPLA as first-line screening assays in subjects undergoing a health checkup. METHODS: Samples from 24,681 persons were included in this study. We routinely performed Mediace RPR and Mediace TPLA simultaneously. Results were analyzed according to both the traditional algorithm and reverse algorithm. Samples with discordant results on the reverse algorithm (e.g., positive Mediace TPLA, negative Mediace RPR) were tested with Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA). RESULTS: Among the 24,681 samples, 30 (0.1%) were found positive by traditional screening, and 190 (0.8%) by reverse screening. The identified syphilis rate and overall false-positive rate according to the traditional algorithm were lower than those according to the reverse algorithm (0.07% and 0.05% vs. 0.64% and 0.13%, respectively). A total of 173 discordant samples were tested with TPPA by using the reverse algorithm, of which 140 (80.9%) were TPPA positive. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the increased false-positive results in populations with a low prevalence of syphilis, the reverse algorithm detected 140 samples with treponemal antibody that went undetected by the traditional algorithm. The reverse algorithm using Mediace TPLA as a screening test is more sensitive for the detection of syphilis.
Algorithms ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Humans ; Latex Fixation Tests ; Reagins/blood ; Syphilis/*diagnosis/drug therapy/microbiology ; Treponema pallidum/isolation & purification

BACKGROUND: Rotavirus is the most common cause of childhood gastroenteritis during winter season. Rapid, accurate diagnosis is essential for preventing severe complications of rotaviral gastroenteritis. The sensitivity and specificity of five detection test kits for rotavirus including latex agglutination (LAT), enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and three immunochromatographic methods (ICG) were evaluated in this study. METHODS: A total of 95 stool samples collected from patients with acute gastroenteritis were studied. The test kits were as follows: LAT (Slidex latex, bioMerieux Vitek, France); three kinds of ICG (Dipstick ROTA, Eiken, Japan; SAS Rota Test, SA Scientific, Inc., USA; and ASAN Easy Test Rota strip, ASAN Pharmaceutical., Korea); and EIA (VIDAS Rotavirus, bioMerieux Vitek). The samples showing discordant results were reevaluated by reverse-transcription (RT) PCR and clinical manifestations. RESULTS: Of a total of 95 cases, 56 (58.9%) were positive and 39 (41.1%) were negative. Thirteen cases showed discordant results. Sensitivity and specificity were, respectively, 85.7% and 100% for LAT, 100% and 95% for both of Dipstick ROTA and SAS Rota, 86.7% and 87.5% for ASAN Rota strip and 98.1% and 97.3% for EIA. CONCLUSIONS: LAT was rapid and easy to perform and showed the lowest sensitivity among the five test kits. ICG showed a good agreement with EIA and RT-PCR. EIA was the best in respect of sensitivity and specificity, but difficulty in interpretations of equivocal results and time-consuming procedures were limitations. In conclusion, ICG, which is easy to perform at a low cost, may be an optimal method in place of LAT for the detection of rotavirus.
Antigens, Viral/*analysis ; Chromatography/*methods ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/*methods ; Gastroenteritis/virology ; Humans ; Latex Fixation Tests/*methods ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rotavirus/immunology/*isolation & purification ; Rotavirus Infections/*diagnosis ; Sensitivity and Specificity

BACKGROUND: We compared the results of automated and quantitative methods for the diagnosis of syphilis, Mediace Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) and Mediace Treponema pallidum Latex Agglutination (TPLA) (Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd, Japan) with those of conventional methods. METHODS: Sera from 3,896 persons who had health checkups between December 2005 and November 2006 were included in the evaluation of positive rates and biological false positives (BFP) for Mediace RPR and TPLA. In addition, 134 patients' sera positive for automated Mediace RPR or TPLA were tested for VDRL and TPHA. Discrepancies between TPLA and TPHA results were confirmed by the RecomBlot Treponemal IgG/IgM (Mikrogen GmbH, Germany). Automated Mediace RPR and TPLA were performed using the Hitachi 7600 chemistry autoanalyzer (Hitachi, Japan). Samples with positive Mediace RPR and negative TPLA results were defined as BFP. RESULTS: Positive rate of automated Mediace RPR was 0.23% (9/3,896). BFP of the Mediace RPR was 0.18%. Positive rate of automated TPLA was 1.62% (37/2,284). Among the 134 patients' sera, 33 (24.6%) showed a discrepancy between conventional VDRL and automated Mediace RPR results: Among 31 Mediace RPR(+)/VDRL(-) sera, 13 were positive and 18 were negative for TPLA. The remaining 2 sera of discrepancy with Mediace RPR(-)/VDRL(+) were all positive for TPLA. There were seven sera that showed a discrepancy between automated TPLA and TPHA results: Two sera with Mediace RPR(+)/TPLA(-)/TPHA(+) showed negative recomBlot Treponemal IgG/IgM results, and among five sera with TPLA(+)/TPHA(-), three demonstrated IgG or IgM by recomBlot Treponemal IgG/IgM. CONCLUSIONS: The results of comparison data demonstrated that automated TPLA results had a high concordance with recomBlot Treponemal IgG/IgM results. Moreover, there are additional advantages of automated methods such as quantitative detection, low infection risk, and no influence by human handling.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Agglutination ; False Positive Reactions ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G/analysis ; Immunoglobulin M/analysis ; Latex Fixation Tests ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Reagins/*blood ; Syphilis/*diagnosis ; Syphilis Serodiagnosis/*methods ; Treponema pallidum/*immunology/isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo study the resistance of staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) isolated from children in Hangzhou to antibiotics and analyze the clinical value of mecA-PCR in determining oxacillin-resistant isolates.

METHODSS. aureus isolates were screened by using latex agglutination test and identified with GPI card of Vitek system. Antibiotics sensitivity tests were performed using disk diffusion methods and tests for sensitivity to oxacillin and vancomycin were performed with a further E-test method. The mecA gene was detected with polymerase-chain reaction (PCR).

RESULTSOf all 259 S. aureus strains, 185 from clinical specimens in inpatients and 74 from pharyngeal swabs in healthy children, 247 strains (95.8%) were beta-lactamase-positive and resistant to penicillin, while 91.1% of all strains were sensitive to oxacillin. All the strains were sensitive to vacomycin and 91.9% of all the strains were susceptible to cefotaxime and ceftriaxone. Resistance to erythromycin, tetracycline, clindamycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, chloramphenicol, ofloxacin and rifampin were 48.3%, 30.9%, 21.6%, 11.2%, 10.0%, 2.3% and 1.5%, respectively. The resistance rate to oxacillin, cefotaxime, and ceftriaxone in clinical strains were significantly higher than that in carried strains (P < 0.05), while erythromycin-resistance rate was significantly higher in carried strains than that in clinical isolates (P < 0.05). The mecA-PCR showed that the control strain ATCC25923 and all oxacillin-sensitive S. aureus were mecA-negative, while all oxacillin-resistant strains were mecA-positive instead. Only one strain was mecA-positive in 7 oxacillin-intermediate S. aureus strains.

CONCLUSIONOxacillin-resistance in S. aureus isolates was low, and mecA-PCR method is a good choice for rapid examination oxacillin-resistant strains.

Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Bacterial Proteins ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Cefotaxime ; pharmacology ; Ceftriaxone ; pharmacology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; genetics ; Erythromycin ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Latex Fixation Tests ; Methicillin Resistance ; genetics ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; drug effects ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Oxacillin ; pharmacology ; Penicillin-Binding Proteins ; Penicillins ; pharmacology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Staphylococcal Infections ; drug therapy ; microbiology ; Staphylococcus aureus ; drug effects ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Vancomycin ; pharmacology

The protective effect of the Synadenium carinatum latex lectin (ScLL), and the possibility of using it as an adjuvant in murine model of vaccination against American cutaneous leishmaniasis, were evaluated. BALB/c mice were immunized with the lectin ScLL (10, 50, 100 microgram/animal) separately or in association with the soluble Leishmania amazonensis antigen (SLA). After a challenge infection with 10(6) promastigotes, the injury progression was monitored weekly by measuring the footpad swelling for 10 weeks. ScLL appeared to be capable of conferring partial protection to the animals, being most evident when ScLL was used in concentrations of 50 and 100 microgram/animal. Also the parasite load in the interior of macrophages showed significant reduction (61.7%) when compared to the control group. With regard to the cellular response, ScLL 50 and 100 microgram/animal stimulated the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction significantly (P < 0.05) higher than SLA or SLA plus ScLL 10 weeks after the challenge infection. The detection of high levels of IgG2a and the expression of mRNA cytokines, such as IFN-gamma, IL-12, and TNF-alpha (Th1 profiles), corroborated the protective role of this lectin against cutaneous leishmaniasis. This is the first report of the ScLL effect on leishmaniasis and shows a promising role for ScLL to be explored in other experimental models for treatment of leishmaniasis.
*Adjuvants, Immunologic ; Animals ; Antibodies, Protozoan/immunology ; Antibody Formation ; Antigens, Protozoan/immunology ; Cytokines/genetics/immunology ; Euphorbiaceae/*chemistry ; Hypersensitivity, Delayed/immunology ; Immunization ; Immunoglobulin G/immunology ; Latex/chemistry ; Leishmania/immunology ; Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous/*immunology/pathology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II/genetics/immunology ; Plant Lectins/*immunology/isolation & purification ; Protozoan Vaccines/immunology/pharmacology ; Skin/pathology

Not only is Group A beta-hemolytic Streptococcus (GAS) the most frequent cause of bacterial pharyngitis, it is also the culprit in various skin and systemic infections, acute rheumatic fever, post streptococcal glomerulonephritis, and other disorders and complications. A new, ready-to-use media, Dio-Bacit, in a two section plate containing 5% sheep blood agar on one side and sheep blood agar with bacitracin (2microgram/ml) on the other was compared for its efficiency in identifying GAS with bacitracin and bacitracin + sulphamethaxazole / trimethoprim disk tests applied after isolation of beta-hemolytic colonies. We also used the latex-agglutination test as the gold standard method for differentiating GAS from streptococci belonging to other groups. Compared with the latex-agglutination test, we found the sensitivity and specificity of the Dio-Bacit method to be 92.0% and 96.9%, respectively. Dio-Bacit plates provide an easy and very useful way to identify GAS within one day, saving time, labor, and money for routine diagnostic microbiology laboratories.
Adult ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology ; Anti-Infective Agents/pharmacology ; Bacitracin/pharmacology ; Bacteriological Techniques ; Child ; Comparative Study ; Culture Media ; Female ; Human ; *Latex Fixation Tests ; Male ; *Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Pharyngitis/*diagnosis/microbiology ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Streptococcal Infections/*diagnosis ; Streptococcus pyogenes/drug effects/*isolation & purification ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Combination/pharmacology

This report deals with the acute onset of an abortion outbreak and high sow mortality in one pig herd consisted of 1,200 pigs and 120 sows on Jeju Island, Korea. Affected pregnant sows showed clinical signs, including high fever, gradual anorexia, vomiting, depression, recumbency, prostration, abortion, and a few deaths. Four dead sows, five aborted fetuses from the same litter, and 17 sera collected from sows infected or normal were submitted to the Pathology Division of the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service for diagnostic investigation. Grossly, hepatomegaly and splenomegaly were observed in sows. Multiple necrotic foci were scattered in the lungs, liver, spleen, and lymph nodes. Microscopically, multifocal necrotizing lesions and protozoan tachyzoites were present in the lesions. Tachyzoites of Toxoplasma (T.) gondii were detected immunohistochemically. Latex agglutination showed that the sera of 7 of 17 (41.2%) sows were positive for antibody to T. gondii. The disease outbreak in this herd was diagnosed as epizootic toxoplasmosis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of porcine toxoplasmosis with a high abortion rate and sow mortality in Korea.
Aborted Fetus ; Abortion, Veterinary/blood/epidemiology/*parasitology/pathology ; Animals ; Antibodies, Protozoan/blood ; Disease Outbreaks/*veterinary ; Female ; Hepatomegaly/parasitology/veterinary ; Immunohistochemistry/veterinary ; Korea/epidemiology ; Latex Fixation Tests/veterinary ; Pregnancy ; Splenomegaly/parasitology/veterinary ; Swine ; Swine Diseases/blood/epidemiology/*parasitology/pathology ; Toxoplasma/*isolation & purification ; Toxoplasmosis, Animal/blood/epidemiology/parasitology/*pathology