Browsing by Author "George, SM"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    A newer approach for the laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis
    (DIAGNOSTIC MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE, 2001) Mathai, A; Radhakrishnan, VV; George, SM; Sarada, C
    In this prospective study, a simple method was standardized for measuring circulating mycobacterial antigen in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM). The heat-inactivated CSF specimens from tuberculous and nontuberculous patients were subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) (SDS-PAGE) and they were subsequently transferred onto nitrocellulose membrane (NCM) Using a rabbit polyvalent antibody to M tuberculosis, a heat stable 82 kDa mycobacterial antigen was demonstrated in the CSFs of patients with TBM. This antigen was conspicuous by it!; absence in the CSFs of non-tuberculous subjects. Due to inactivation of CSF; specimens, there is a minimal risk of handling of infectious material in the laboratory. Besides, this newer approach is simple, inexpensive and can be readily applied in any routine clinical laboratory and it is particularly suited to developing countries. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
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    Detection of heat stable mycobacterial antigen in cerebrospinal fluid by dot-immunobinding assay
    (NEUROLOGY INDIA, 2003)
    Background: Isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimen in patients with tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is infrequent and carries low sensitivity. Thus development of an alternative laboratory diagnostic test is essential for the early diagnosis and treatment of TBM. Objective: A simple, rapid Dot immunobinding assay (Dot-Iba), for the laboratory diagnosis of TBM is devised. This method minimizes the risk of handling infectious material in the laboratory. Method: The Dot-Iba was standardized with heat-inactivated M tuberculosis antigen (PPD). The heat-inactivated CSF from TBM and non-TBM patients was similarly assayed and it can detect antigen upto 1ng/ml in CSF Result: A positive result was obtained in all the five culture positive patients with TBM and in 20/25 probable TBM. A negative result was obtained in 38/40 CSF from disease control group. The overall sensitivity and specificity of Dot-Iba was 83.3% and 95% respectively. Conclusion: Dot-Iba can be used as an adjunct for the laboratory diagnosis of TBM, particularly in culture negative TBM patients and also in those clinical situations where no laboratory tests are available to distinguish between TBM and partially treated pyogenic meningitis.
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    Immunocytochemical method for the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis.
    (JOURNAL OF NEUROPATHOLOGY AND EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY, 2004) Radhakrishnan, VV; George, SM; Reuben, S; Nair, M
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    Serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha in Guillain-Barre syndrome and its relation to plasma exchange
    (NEUROLOGIST, 2002)
    BACKGROUND- To correlate the serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) concentrations before, during and following plasma exchange in patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). In this prospective study, 21 GBS patients were selected. Patients in clinical stages III to V were subjected to plasma exchange. The control group included equal numbers of age-matched patients with other neurological diseases and healthy voluntary blood donors. A sandwich ELISA method was applied to estimate serum TNFalpha concentrations in test and control groups.REVIEW SUMMARY-Twelve GBS patients had elevated serum TNFalpha levels that ranged between 74 and 182 pg/mL. All 12 GBS patients showed a steady decrease in the TNFalpha concentration following plasma exchange and also showed a positive correlation with neurological recovery.CONCLUSIONS- We conclude that serum TNFalpha concentrations are elevated in 57.1 % of GBS patients and TNFalpha level decreases following plasma exchange.