lactoferrin and Dysentery--Bacillary

Neutrophils represent the most abundant immune cells recruited to inflamed tissues. A lack of dedicated tools has hampered their detection and study. We show that a synthesized peptide, MUB

Topics: Adult; Animals; Biomarkers; Carbocyanines; Dysentery, Bacillary; Female; Fluorescent Dyes; Guinea Pigs; Humans; Inflammation; Lactoferrin; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Middle Aged; Neutrophils; Peptides; Rabbits; Shigella

Diarrhea is a major public health problem that affects the development of children. Anthropometric data were collected from 274 children with (N = 170) and without (N = 104) diarrhea. Stool specimens were analyzed by conventional culture, polymerase chain reaction for enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC), Shigella, Cryptosporidium, Entamoeba, and Giardia species, and by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for fecal lactoferrin levels. About 50% of the study population was mildly to severely malnourished. Fecal lactoferrin levels were higher in children with diarrhea (P = 0.019). Children who had EAEC infection, with or without diarrhea, had high mean lactoferrin levels regardless of nutritional status. The EAEC and Cryptosporidium were associated with diarrhea (P = 0.048 and 0.011, respectively), and malnourished children who had diarrhea were often co-infected with both Cryptosporidium and EAEC. In conclusion, the use of DNA-biomarkers revealed that EAEC and Cryptosporidium were common intestinal pathogens in Accra, and that elevated lactoferrin was associated with diarrhea in this group of children.

Topics: Case-Control Studies; Child Nutrition Disorders; Child, Preschool; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diarrhea; Dysentery, Bacillary; Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli Infections; Feces; Female; Gastroenteritis; Ghana; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Lactoferrin; Male; Parasitic Diseases; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Prospective Studies; Virulence

Lactoferrin is an iron binding glycoprotein found in the 2ry granules of PMN. In order to determine the usefulness of such marker for neutrophilic activity in differentiating cases suffering from amoebic and bacillary dysentery, Schistosoma and bacterial UTI infections, we examined stool and urine specimens using anti-lactoferrin antibodies (lactoferrin latex agglutination test: LFLA), compared with different standard gold techniques. Our results demonstrated that cases with either shigllosis or UTI revealed a high lactoferrin titer which was positively correllated with the number of PMN. In addition cases with Entamoeba histolytica or S. haematobium were characterized by relatively lower inflammatory process as expressed by mild lactoferrin titer which was also correlated with the PMN count. In addition, the findings of the present work indicated that LFLA was sensitive and specific when used alone and its sensitivity was augmented after coupling with other simple indirect methods of diagnosis. In conclusion, results described the reliability of using LFLA as a simple, rapid, sensitive method in differentiating, certain parasitic from bacterial diseases.

Topics: Animals; Diagnosis, Differential; Dysentery, Amebic; Dysentery, Bacillary; Entamoeba histolytica; Feces; Humans; Lactoferrin; Schistosoma haematobium; Schistosomiasis haematobia; Shigella

Shigella species cause bacillary dysentery in humans by invasion, intracellular multiplication, spread to adjacent cells, and induction of brisk inflammatory responses in the intestinal epithelium. In vitro data suggest that lactoferrin, a glycoprotein present in human mucosal secretions, has a role in protection from bacterial enteric infections. We sought to determine the activity of lactoferrin in vivo, using the concentration present in human colostrum, to investigate its effect on the development of clinical and pathological evidence of inflammation in a rabbit model of enteritis. Lactoferrin protected rabbits infected with Shigella flexneri from developing inflammatory intestinal disease. Typical histological changes in ill animals included villous blunting with sloughing of epithelial cells, submucosal edema, infiltration of leukocytes, venous congestion, and hemorrhage. Lactoferrin at a concentration normally found in human colostrum blocks development of S. flexneri-induced inflammatory enteritis.

Topics: Animals; Disease Models, Animal; Dysentery, Bacillary; Enteritis; Humans; Ileum; Inflammation; Lactoferrin; Rabbits; Shigella flexneri