We studied the shedding of rotavirus by newborn children in the nurseries of a large maternity hospital in Caracas, Venezuela, throughout the year 1982. Sixty-two (57%) of 108 children examined shed the virus within the first few days of life. Four (6%) of the 62 children who shed rotavirus had diarrhea but only one of them required oral rehydration therapy. The rotavirus specimens were identified as subgroup 2 in an ELISA subgrouping assay that employs monoclonal antibodies. Analysis of the RNA extracted from 52 of the samples by electrophoresis revealed a similar migration pattern in all the specimens; their identity was confirmed by crosshybridization analyses which revealed a strong degree of genomic homology among the strains studied.

Monoclonal antibodies recently developed against the 42,000-dalton protein of two rotavirus strains were used in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to determine the subgroup specificity of 252 specimens collected during a 45-month period from Venezuelan children with rotavirus gastroenteritis. Subgroup 2 rotavirus was shed by 85% of the children, whereas only 14% shed subgroup 1 rotavirus (one-half of them in a 3-month period). No differences were found in the occurrence of fever and vomiting between children shedding either rotavirus subgroup, but it appeared that the syndrome tended to last longer in children shedding subgroup 2 rotavirus. The monoclonal subgrouping enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay seemed to be more sensitive than an immune adherence hemagglutination assay, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with polyclonal antibodies, or the electrophoretic analysis of RNA extracted from the virus. Overall, 99% of the specimens could be subgrouped by this assay.

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SUMMARY:The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute cell injury of excretion products present in culture filtrate from Shigella dysenteriae in both whole lower limb of chick embryo ex vivo and myoblasts cells developed in hanging-drop cultures in vitro. Three controls were defined: a) Tyrode's solution b) brain-heart broth infusion (CCC) and c) supernatant not toxigenic of E.coli O157:H7. Shigella dysenteriae were culture for 24 hours and the excretion products were obtained after centrifugation of the culture. After 1h of treatment, the morphologic changes in limbs treated with raw filtrate were evaluated through histopathological examination of sections stained with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E-stain) and Gomori's trichrome by image analysis techniques. Quantification of apoptotic cells was measured by an enzyme-linked immunoassay TUNEL. The morphological feature of apoptosis were evaluated in culture myoblasts. In contrast with controls, the longitudinal section on treated thigh of chick embryo limb-buds show atrophy muscle tissue, detachment of few fibers, 57,14% decrease in the number of cells, and loss of collagen substrate. Apoptotic index percent increase and mitotic index decrease in response to excretion products were observed, but were not significant. Membrane blebbing, vacuolation, small aggregates of chromatin around the nucleus and loss of cell adhesion were observed. Culture filtrate from Shigella dysenteriae produced cytotoxic effect on cell of muscle fibers with acute cell injuries suspected to be related to the apoptotic cell death.