Browsing by Author "Omarjee, Saleha."

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Assessment of the immune response in kidney transplant patients.
(2009) Omarjee, Saleha.; Assounga, Alain Guy Honore.
Background: Management of a transplant recipient involves the use of multiple immunosuppressant drugs. Currently there is no test that reflects the overall immune status of the patient. This results in under or over suppression of the immune system and consequently increases in morbidity and mortality rates. Evaluation of the proliferative response of PBMC's to a mitogen PHA by measurement of intracellular ATP was evaluated as a tool to assess the immune response in kidney transplant patients. Method: PBMC's were separated from the blood samples of healthy controls and kidney transplant patients on cyclosporine, sirolimus, and tacrolimus based regimens by density gradient centrifugation, cells were counted and incubated overnight with and without PHA. The luciferin-Iuciferase enzyme reaction which induces bioluminescence and the Turner Biosystem luminometer were used to measure intracellular ATP levels in relative light units (RLU). An A TP standard curve was generated for each test. Results: The ATP (nglml) levels measured in the transplant recipients were lower and statistically significantly different (p< 0.0001) than the healthy controls. No statistically significant difference was measured between the cycIosporine and sirolimus drug groups. Patients on tacrolimus gave a statistically significant (p501 nglml ATP). Conclusion: Future studies to determine the predictive value of the A TP assay in directing immunosuppressive therapy are required. The assay described in this study is simple, sensitive and rapid and has possible application in immunological monitoring in a variety of conditions that affects the immune system. Keywords: kidney transplantation, immunosuppression, bioluminescence, lymphocyte, Adenosine Triphosphate (A TP), Phytohemmagglutinin (PHA)
Clinical and mycological predictors of cryptococcosis-associated immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome.
(Wolters Kluwer Health., 2013) Chang, Christina C.; Dorasamy, Afton A.; Gosnell, Bernadett I.; Elliott, Julian H.; Spelman, Tim.; Omarjee, Saleha.; Naranbhai, Vivek.; Ndung'u, Peter Thumbi.; Moosa, Mahomed Yunus Suleman.; Lewin, Sharon R.; French, Martyn A.; Coovadia, Yacoob Mahomed.
Abstract available in PDF file.
Compartmentalisation of innate immune responses in the central nervous system during cryptococcal meningitis/HIV co-infection.
(Wolters Kluwer Health., 2014) Naranbhai, Vivek.; Chang, Christina C.; Durgiah, Raveshni.; Omarjee, Saleha.; Lim, Andrew.; Moosa, Mahomed Yunus Suleman.; Elliott, Julian H.; Ndung'u, Peter Thumbi.; Lewin, Sharon R.; French, Martyn A.; Carr, William Henry.
Abstract available in PDF file.
Nef-mediated down-regulation of CD4 and HLA class I in HIV-1 subtype C infection: association with disease progression and influence of immune pressure.
(Elsevier., 2014) Mann, Jaclyn Kelly.; Chopera, Denis Rutendo.; Omarjee, Saleha.; Kuang, Xiaomei T.; Le, Anh Q.; Anmole, Gursev.; Danroth, Ryan.; Mwimanzi, Philip.; Reddy, Tarylee.; Carlson, Jonathan M.; Radebe, Mopo.; Goulder, Philip Jeremy Renshaw.; Walker, Bruce D.; Abdool Karim, Salim Safurdeen.; Novitsky, Vladimir.; Williamson, Carolyn.; Brockman, Mark A.; Brumme, Zabrina L.; Ndung'u, Peter Thumbi.
Abstract available in pdf.
No evidence for selection of HIV-1 with enhanced gag-protease or nef function among breakthrough infections in the CAPRISA 004 tenofovir microbicide trial.
(2013) Chopera, Denis Rutendo.; Mann, Jaclyn Kelly.; Mwimanzi, Philip.; Omarjee, Saleha.; Kuang, Xiaomei T.; Ndabambi, Nonkululeko.; Goodier, Sarah A.; Martin, Eric.; Naranbhai, Vivek.; Abdool Karim, Salim Safurdeen.; Abdool Karim, Quarraisha.; Brumme, Zabrina L.; Ndung'u, Peter Thumbi.; Williamson, Carolyn.; Brockman, Mark A.
Background: Use of antiretroviral-based microbicides for HIV-1 prophylaxis could introduce a transmission barrier that inadvertently facilitates the selection of fitter viral variants among incident infections. To investigate this, we assessed the in vitro function of gag-protease and nef sequences from participants who acquired HIV-1 during the CAPRISA 004 1% tenofovir microbicide gel trial. Methods and Results: We isolated the earliest available gag-protease and nef gene sequences from 83 individuals and examined their in vitro function using recombinant viral replication capacity assays and surface protein down regulation assays, respectively. No major phylogenetic clustering and no significant differences in gag-protease or nef function were observed in participants who received tenofovir gel versus placebo gel prophylaxis. Conclusion: Results indicate that the partial protective effects of 1% tenofovir gel use in the CAPRISA 004 trial were not offset by selection of transmitted/early HIV-1 variants with enhanced Gag-Protease or Nef fitness.