Immune electron microscopy

Application of reverse transcription (RT)-PCR to detect small round-structured viruses (SRSVs) from fecal specimens of patients with gastroenteritis has been insensitive because of the tremendous sequence heterogeneity between strains. We have designed two RT-PCR primer sets (G-1 and G-2) based on the nucleotide sequence diversity in the RNA polymerase gene of SRSVs belonging to two distinct genogroups represented by Norwalk virus (primers G-1) and Snow Mountain agent (primers G-2). All 22 SRSV strains examined that had been classified previously by solid-phase immune electron microscopy into four antigenic types (UK1, UK2, UK3, and UK4) could be detected by RT-PCR with these two primer sets. The G-1 primer set detected 6 UK2 strains, and the G-2 primers detected 16 strains, including 7 UK1, 5 UK3, and 4 UK4 strains. On the basis of nucleotide sequences of 81-bp fragments of the RT-PCR products from 13 strains determined in this study, together with those previously reported for 17 ...

Introduction: The precise nature of the previously described dermatitis herpetiformis bodies remains unknown. Aims: Our study was conducted to investigate the nature of dermatitis herpetiformis bodies in the skin in 7 cases of dermatitis herpetiformis, and to search for the presence of autoantibodies in other organs. Methods: We utilized clinical, histopathologic, and immunologic methods to evaluate these patients. Results: Dermatitis