Medical information about diabetes--how to keep up to date.

Diabet. Med. 27, 1335-1340 (2010) ABSTRACT: There is a vast amount of new medical information published on diabetes each year; the number of systematic reviews on diabetes is also increasing rapidly. It is therefore difficult for clinicians keep up to date with the new evidence. It is suggested that reading the full National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines on diabetes will bring you up to date with information as at the date of the evidence cut-off, which is usually approximately 1 year before publication. Also regularly visiting 'NHS Evidence--diabetes', an online resource that offers a foraging service, surveying the literature and alerting clinicians to all the new important and useful information, enables the busy clinician to manage information overload and help keep up to date.

Elevated anti-parasitic activity in peripheral blood monocytes and neutrophils of cattle infected with Babesia bovis.

The innate immune response to bovine Babesia bovis infection in vivo has not previously been established. We used assays measuring phagocytosis and oxidative burst to investigate the immune response because they are indicative of the innate antimicrobial capacity of monocytes and neutrophils. Monocyte and neutrophil phagocytosis is thought to be non-specific in nature and so the phagocytosis of either opsonised Zymosan or Escherichia coli was used to indicate the non-specific phagocytic capacity of monocytes and neutrophils ex vivo. The kinetics of both phagocytic and oxidative burst activity in monocytes and neutrophils were followed twice weekly from pre-inoculation (day 0) through to 31 days after inoculation. Peripheral blood monocytes were found to display a pronounced oxidative burst, but a suppressed capacity to phagocytose during a primary infection. On the other hand, neutrophils exhibited an increased phagocytic capacity and reduced oxidative activity during a primary infection. These findings identified considerable antimicrobial activity evident in peripheral blood monocytes and neutrophils from cattle exposed to B. bovis as a primary exposure. This elevated antimicrobial activity was coincident with the time that parasite numbers peaked in the circulation and occurred prior to parasite clearance. These results suggest that peripheral blood monocytes and neutrophils are active mediators in the innate immune response to a primary B. bovis.

Mapping the T cell epitopes of the Babesia bovis antigen 12D3: implications for vaccine design.

The Babesia bovis antigen 12D3 was analysed to identify potential T-cell epitopes. Two predictive algorithms identified 13 possible sites but there was minimal agreement between the different predictive methods. Experimental determination of the T-cell epitopes recognized by nine cattle was achieved using a panel of overlapping peptides which identified seven different epitopes, five of which were clustered together around residues 210-320 of the molecule. No T cell epitopes were located within the tightly disulphide bonded core of 12D3. Using a series of truncated peptides, the location of two of the epitopes was mapped to residues 35-43 and 266-275. The sequences of these two epitopes was compared with a database of previously described binding motifs for MHC II alleles and each epitope was found to contain three sequence motifs recognized by HLA-DR alleles. The BoLA-DRB3 alleles occurring in these cattle were determined by a sequence specific oligonucleotide hybridization assay. Within those cattle whose T cells proliferated in response to 12D3, there was a consistent pattern of epitope recognition and presence of particular DRB3 alleles. The implications for effective vaccine design are discussed.