Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection may trigger or worsen anorexia nervosa in adolescents, according to a report in the August issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Mae S. Sokol, Menninger Clinic, Topeka, Kansas described the cases of three adolescents who experienced sudden onset or acute worsening of anorexia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or both concomitant with group A strep infection or, in one case, Epstein-Barr virus infection.

Scientists at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA, have discovered that an enzyme in a common bacterium is capable of activating blood-clotting in the human body. The bacterium is known as Porphyromonas gingivalis, and it is a cause of adult periodontal disease, an infectious condition associated with a loss of connective tissue, resorption of bone, and formation of infectious pockets. This is the first reported evidence of such an effect and may help explain the link between periodontal infections and heart disease. The new knowledge could lead to a vaccine that might neutralize the enzyme before it has a chance to activate blood-clotting and lead to cardiovascular diseases, a not uncommon occurrence in individuals with periodontitis.
Source: Journal of Biological Chemistry, July 1997.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are advising that tick-borne pathogens can possibly be transmitted through blood transfusion.

Pioneering British scientists who cloned Dolly the sheep - the first cloned adult mammal - are rearing cows and sheep to produce blood plasma for use in surgery and transfusions. The researchers are using their cloning technology to engineer animals which will generate the key proteins and antibodies in human plasma. The technique provides a steady stream of cheap, safe blood products worth up to $2.5 billion a year. PPL Therapeutics, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, has been creating cows and sheep with human DNA. When the animals lactate, their milk contains key elements of human blood plasma. The first plasma could be produced within months.

British researchers at St. George's Hospital Medical School, London, reported that elevated anti-Chlamydia pneumonia antibody (anti-Cp) titers are predictive of subsequent coronary events in men who have survived a myocardial infarction. The research showed that the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events increased with increasing anti-Cp titer. Men with the highest antibody titers had a four-fold increased risk for adverse cardiovascular events when compared with men who had no detectable levels of anti-Cp antibody in their blood.
Source: Circulation 1997;96

Research performed at the University of Helsinki has shown that first-void urine testing by PCR for chlamydia trachomatis is as accurate as endocervical swab enzyme immunoassay testing in asymptomatic women. The research included a comparative study of the two diagnostic methods in more than 1,090 women attending a family planning or university student health clinic. First-void urine PCR detected 85% of confirmed positive cases, while the endocervical swab EIA detected 90%. Collecting urine is easier, less uncomfortable, and less expensive than collecting cervical swab making it an ideal method for universal screening of chlamydial infection.
Source: Sexually Transmitted Diseases, July 1997;24

The US CDC has reported that Cytomegalovirus (CMV) may be involved in the pathogenesis of pelvic inflammatory disease in some patients. The researchers report that CMV was isolated from cervical or endometrial specimens from 20.4% of the women with PID.
Source: The Journal of Infectious Diseases, July 1997;176

Research by Dr. Diana Bianchi of the New England Medical Center, Boston, Mass., indicates that the long-term presence of fetal cells in the maternal circulation may explain why adult-onset autoimmune disorders are more common in women than in men. Women with scleroderma have persistent detectable fetal myeloid and lymphoid progenitor cells in the blood, whereas in most women these cells are eliminated immunologically within 6 months after birth or pregnancy termination. Dr. Bianchi and colleagues have developed a fluorescent "tag" specific for fetal proteins in nucleated fetal erythrocytes. A screening assay that utilizes the FISH technique to identify fetal cells with trisomy 21 in a maternal blood sample is currently under investigation in NIH Phase IIb clinical trials, scheduled for completion in 1998.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV) may be transmitted via saliva, according to research conducted at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Wa. KSHV DNA was detected in saliva from 18 of 24 HIV-positive patients with KS and from 1 of 1 HIV-negative patient with KS, 3 of 20 HIV-positive patients without KS and none of 24 controls. Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus DNA could not be detected in any of the control saliva samples.
Source: The Journal of Infectious Diseases, July 1997;176

Data from an NIH-sponsored study show that Trichomonas vaginalis infection during pregnancy is an independent risk factor for low birth weight and preterm delivery. The findings, from The Vaginal Infections and Prematurity Study Group, indicated that T. vaginalis-infected women were 30% more likely to deliver preterm or to deliver a low birth weight infant compared with uninfected women. They were 40% more likely to deliver a preterm infant of low birth weight. The study suggests that a fairly strong case can be made for initiating screening for and treatment of pregnant women with trichomoniasis while awaiting the results of ongoing studies.
Source: Sexually Transmitted Diseases, July, 1997; 24

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