Objective: To evaluate serum concentrations of trace elements in tuberculosis (TB) patients with or with out human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection before and after anti-TB chemotherapy. Subjects: A total of 155 TB patients, 74 of which were coinfected with HIV, and 31 healthy controls from Gondar, Ethiopia. Methods: Serum levels of copper, zinc, selenium and iron were determined using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer from all subjects at baseline and from 44 TB patients (22 with HIV coinfection) at the end of an intensive phase of anti-TB chemotherapy. Results: Compared with the control group, the concentrations of iron, zinc and selenium were significantly lower (Po0.05) while that of copper and copper/zinc ratio was significantly higher (Po0.05) in the serum of TB patients. TB patients with HIV coinfection had significantly lower serum zinc and selenium concentrations and significantly higher copper/zinc ratio compared to that in TB patients without HIV coinfection (Po0.05). The serum concentration of zinc had significantly increased at the end of intensive phase of anti-TB chemotherapy in patients without HIV coinfection (Po0.05). An increase in serum selenium level was observed in TB patients with or without HIV coinfection after therapy. On the contrary, serum copper concentration and copper/zinc ratio declined significantly after anti-TB chemotherapy irrespective of HIV serostatus (Po0.05). Conclusions:The results indicate that TB patients have altered profile of trace elements in their sera. This warrants the need for further investigations so that strategies for trace elements supplementation can be planned in addition to their potential as diagnostic parameters in monitoring responses to anti-TB chemotherapy.

BackgroundHelminths infections have been suggested to worsen the outcome of HIV infection by polarizing the immune response towards Th2. The purpose of this study is to determine the activity of Th2 immune response by measuring total serum IgE level during symptomatic and asymptomatic HIV infection with and without helminths co-infection and to define the role of deworming and/or ART on kinetics of serum IgE.MethodsThis prospective comparative study was conducted among symptomatic HIV-1 infected adults, treatment naïve asymptomatic HIV positive individuals and HIV negative apparently healthy controls with and without helminths co-infection. Detection and quantification of helminths and determination of serum IgE level, CD4+, and CD8+ T cell count were done at baseline and 12 weeks after ART and/or deworming.ResultsHIV patients co-infected with helminths showed a high level of serum IgE compared to HIV patients without helminths co-infection (1,688 [IQR 721–2,473] versus 1,221 [IQR 618–2,289] IU/ml; P = 0.022). This difference was also markedly observed between symptomatic HIV infected patients after with and without helminths infection (1,690 [IQR 1,116–2,491] versus 1,252 [703–2,251] IU/ml; P = 0.047). A significant decline in serum IgE level was observed 12 weeks after deworming and ART of symptomatic HIV infected patients with (1,487 versus 992, P = 0.002) and without (1,233 versus 976 IU/ml, P = 0.093) helminths co-infection. However, there was no significant decrease in serum IgE level among asymptomatic HIV infected individuals (1,183 versus 1,097 IU/ml, P = 0.13) and apparently health controls (666 IU/ml versus 571, P = 0.09) without helminths co-infection 12 weeks after deworming.ConclusionsThe significant decline of serum IgE level 12 weeks after deworming of both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients indicate a tendency to down-regulate the Th2 immune response and is additional supportive evidence that deworming positively impacts HIV/AIDS diseases progression. Thus, deworming should be integrated with ART program in helminths endemic areas of tropical countries.

A monoclonal antibody (mAb h-448) was prepared after cell fusion of mouse myeloma cells (SP2/0-Ag-14) to the spleen cells of mice immunised with serotype h strain (MF25) of Streptococcus downei. The antibody (IgM class) reacted in enzyme immunoassay only with whole cells as well as purified polysaccharide (PS) antigen of Streptococcus sobrinus (types d and g) and Streptococcus downei (serotype h), but not with cells or purified PS antigen from any other serotypes of the mutans group of streptococci. mAb h-448 also quantitatively precipitated in solution with the purified antigens. Competitive hapten inhibition tests demonstrated that beta-methylgalactopyranoside inhibited the reaction most strongly. Although rhamnose also showed a substantial inhibitory effect, the results of this study indicate that the antigenic determinant of the PS antigen has a structure similar to the beta-methylgalactopyranoside molecule.

Groups of mice were fed for 2 weeks on isocaloric diets containing 5, 7, 20 and 40% (w/w) casein, respectively, then injected intraperitoneally with group B streptococci, and observed for their survival rates. The mice fed 7% or 20% casein had lower mortalities than those fed 5% or 40% casein. In order to explain the different survival rates, other groups of mice were fed on the experimental diets and examined for the number of leukocytes in the blood, of spleen cells and thymocytes, for IgG and IgM antibody titres to the streptococci, for haemolytic titres of sera, the amount of complement component 3 (C3), for chemiluminescence and opsonic activity of peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) and spleen cells (SP), production of superoxide anion from PEC and SP, and production of immunoglobulins from cultured SP. After 2 weeks on a 7 or 20% casein diet mice showed increased serum levels of IgM antibodies reactive with the whole bacterial cells on days 3–5 when they were immunised with a sublethal dose of group B streptococci. The mice fed on the 7% casein diet also showed a higher C3 titre than the other diet groups when assayed by enzyme immunoassay. Furthermore, opsonophagocytic activity was highest when PEC or SP taken from mice on the 20% case in diet were incubated with radiolabelled microorganisms in the presence of fresh serum taken from the 7% casein group. The production of superoxide anions from PEC and SP was lowest in the mice fed on 5% casein when activity was expressed as nano‐mol per animal. It is suggested from these results that the greater activity of phagocytic cells in the presence of increased amounts of C3 and IgM explains the heightened resistance in the mice fed on a 7% casein diet, and that suppressed opsonophagocytic activity resulting from the decreased number of leukocytes in the blood and other phagocytic cells explains the lowest resistance in the 5% casein group. However, mice fed on a 40% casein diet showed all these immunological parameters untouched, and their lowered resistance could not be explained. Different factors seem to be operative in them.