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Toxocariasis is a zoonotic parasitic disease in humans caused by migration in the human body of infective larvae of canine and (or) feline nematodes of the genus Toxocara Stiles, 1905 (Ascaridida: Toxocaridae). The aim of the present study is to establish the levels of total serum IgE in patients with toxocariasis in Bulgaria, to compare them with the levels in clinically healthy individuals and to evaluate their significance for diagnosis of toxocariasis. The levels of total IgE were examined in sera samples from 130 patients with serological and clinical signs of toxocariasis. Of them, 120 were with visceral form of the disease and 10 with ocular larva migrans. The values of IgE in this group ranged from 4 IU/ml to 957.95 IU/ml. The geometric mean of total serum IgE was 153.7 ± 39.8. Serum samples from a control group of 50 clinically healthy blood donors were also tested and their serum IgE levels ranged from 2 IU/ml to 230 IU/ml (geometric mean of 49.40 ± 15.1 IU/ml). Our study is the first of its kind from Bulgaria and our results display a geometric mean of IgE in patients with toxocariasis (153.7 IU/ml) of about 3 times higher than the one in clinically healthy individuals (49.4 IU/ml). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

mbrosia artemisiifolia L. is a leading cause of allergies in many countries. In the last decade it has appeared and spread in Bulgaria as well. The aims of this study was to collect pollen from ragweed plants in Bulgaria, prepare the first Bulgarian ragweed allergen, and characterize it. The new allergen was studied in parallel with two other ragweed pollen extracts from the USA and Russia. The protein profile was studied through isoelectric focusing, and the total allergen activity was studied by a skin prick test and a basophil activation test. The proteins of the studied extracts were concentrated in the pI region 3.5–5.5 with an identical band number and location. The allergens showed similar total allergen activity in vivo:14/81 tested patients (17.3 %) were SPT positive either to a single ragweed extract or to all three. The allergens had identical histogram profiles and caused basophil degranulation above the test cut-off. The analysis of the flow cytometry results by parallel line bioassay shows linear dose-response relation between the extracts. The observed immunological properties of the Bulgarian allergen from Ambrosia artemisiifolia provide a possibility to use this product for a reliable diagnosis and effective specific immunotherapy of ragweed allergy in our country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the clinical spectrum of complications in pulmonary system and changes of some parameters of humoral and cell mediated immunity related to heroin overdose. The study includes 16 patients who are long-term heroin abusers with acute heroin and mixed with other psychoactive drugs intoxications with an average age of 21,5 ± 5.04 years (12 men and 4 woman). All patients were hospitalized in the Clinic of Toxicology, MHATEM “N.I.Pirogov”, Sofia. We have used clinical, clinico-laboratory, immunological, chimicotoxicological, instrumental methods. In severe intoxications with heroin and other psychoactive drugs, we observed pulmonary system complications, i.e. pneumonia, aspiration of gastric contents, noncardiogenic pulmonary edema (NCPE) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS.). Of the 16 patients in our study, 3 patients died due to complications. Some changes in the immune reactivity observed in the study were (1) statistically significant lower mean levels of IgG and (2) tendency to lower mean levels of IgA, IgM and complement components — C3 in the studied patients in comparison with the values in healthy people. The changes were more demonstrative in the group with pulmonary complications compared to the group without pulmonary complications. We observed that the CD4 lymphocytes were significantly less in the studied patients; in addition, a lower level of CD56-bearing lymphocytes (natural killer /NK/ cells) was observed in comparison to healthy controls. The results show that the mixture of acute heroin with other psychoactive drugs leads to complications in the pulmonary system and changes of some parameters of cell-mediated and humoral immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]