Avipoxvirus infection in two captive Japanese cormorants (Phalacrocorax capillatus).

Cormorant fishing is a traditional Japanese fishing method using captive Japanese cormorants (Phalacrocorax capillatus). Between June and July 2017, an avian pox outbreak was reported in captive cormorant populations throughout several distant cities in Japan. We examined the lesions obtained from two such affected cormorants, which were raised in distant cities. The affected cormorants were grossly characterized by the development of cutaneous nodules around the base of the beak. Histopathologically, these nodules consisted of marked epidermal hyperplasia with ballooning degeneration of spinous cells and eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusions (Bollinger bodies). The lesions displayed 4b core protein (P4b) of Avipoxvirus (APV) and DNA polymerase genes, which were detected by PCR. Moreover, the nucleotide sequences detected from both cormorants were found to be identical. No identical sequence was found in any international database. These findings suggest that both examined cormorants were infected with an identical APV, which has never been previously reported. According to the phylogenetic analysis, the detected sequences were observed to cluster in subclade A3, which consists mainly of the sequences detected from several marine birds, including other cormorant species. This observation suggests that the viruses might be maintained in Japanese cormorants in nature.

Interleukin-8 as an independent predictor of long-term clinical outcome in patients with coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence suggests that inflammation plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and that circulating inflammatory markers predict future cardiovascular events. However, previous studies evaluated the predictive value of only a single cytokine at a time. AIMS: This study was designed to simultaneously measure plasma levels of multiple cytokines in patients with coronary artery disease and to evaluate their ability to predict long-term prognosis. METHODS: The study enrolled 158 consecutive patients with angiographically identified stable coronary artery disease. Using the Luminex micro-beads array system, we simultaneously measured plasma levels of the following 10 cytokines: interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and gamma-interferon (IFN-gamma). RESULTS: None of the 10 cytokine levels as well as high-sensitive C reactive protein (hs-CRP) was correlated with the severity of coronary artery disease. During a 7-year follow-up period, cardiovascular events occurred in 56 patients (35%). Multi-vessel disease, diabetes, and high levels of all of the 10 measured cytokines and hs-CRP were significant predictors of cardiovascular events in univariate analysis. However, multivariate analysis using multi-vessel disease, diabetes and the levels of all of 10 cytokines and hs-CRP showed that the only independent predictor was IL-8 (RR, 2.98; 95%CI, 1.64-7.24; P=0.0001). CONCLUSION: IL-8 was the only cytokine that predicted cardiovascular events independent of the other 9 cytokines and hs-CRP. Since IL-8 is a neutrophil chemokine, these results suggest that neutrophil activation may be related to the occurrence of cardiovascular events.

Comparison of changes in circulating platelet-derived microparticles and platelet surface P-selectin expression after coronary stent implantation.

Platelet-derived microparticles (PDMPs) are released from activated platelets and may participate in the inflammatory process in response to vessel wall injury. This study was designed to compare the clinical significance of circulating PDMPs with that of P-selectin on the platelet membrane surface. In 20 patients with stable angina undergoing coronary stent implantation, circulating PDMPs were serially measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and P-selectin expression on the surface of platelets was simultaneously analyzed by flow cytometry. PDMPs increased 24-48 h after coronary stenting in the coronary sinus (8.7 +/- 8.9 to 31.8 +/- 19.8 U/ml, P < 0.001) with a maximum at 48 h. In contrast, the mean channel fluorescence intensity for P-selectin increased 15 min after coronary stenting in the coronary sinus (19.5 +/- 5.6 to 25.2 +/- 7.5, P < 0.01) and remained elevated for 48 h; the changes were less striking in peripheral blood. The relative increase in PDMPs was not correlated with the increase in P-selectin expression at 15 min or 24 h after coronary stenting, but was correlated at 48 h (R = 0.48, P < 0.05). Both circulating PDMPs and P-selectin expression were enhanced in association with stent-induced platelet activation; however, the time course of changes in these two platelet activation markers was different. Therefore, the clinical relevance of circulating PDMPs may differ from that of P-selectin expression on the platelet membrane surface.