Characterization of Brachyspira hyodysenteriae isolates from Italy by multilocus sequence typing and multiple locus variable number tandem repeat analysis.

AIMS: To evaluate and compare the capabilities of multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and multiple locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) techniques to characterize Brachyspira hyodysenteriae isolates and to investigate the relationship between pleuromutilin resistance and genetic variability. METHODS AND RESULTS: MLST genotyping was performed on 180 B. hyodysenteriae isolates, and the results were evaluated considering profiles from 108 other strains previously reported in the database. In total, 37 sequence types were obtained. The MLVA approach completely characterized 172 strains and grouped the isolates into 22 different profiles. The combination of MLST and MLVA showed a slight increase in the discriminatory power, identifying 33 joint profiles. An antibiotic resistance analysis showed a reduction in the susceptibility to pleuromutilins over time, and a weak association between susceptibility to valnemulin and inclusion in clonal complex 4. CONCLUSION: MLST and MLVA are reliable methods for characterizing B. hyodysenteriae strains and they have comparable discriminatory power. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The genotyping of B. hyodysenteriae isolates and a database of all the genetic profiles collected during the diagnostic activities could support traditional epidemiological investigations in identifying infection sources and routes of transmission among herds, and in developing more effective control measures.

Mammaglobin B (SCGB2A1) is a novel tumour antigen highly differentially expressed in all major histological types of ovarian cancer: implications for ovarian cancer immunotherapy.

BACKGROUND: We studied the genetic fingerprints of ovarian cancer and validated the potential of Mammaglobin b (SCGB2A1), one of the top differentially expressed genes found in our analysis, as a novel ovarian tumour rejection antigen. METHODS: We profiled 70 ovarian carcinomas including 24 serous (OSPC), 15 clear-cell (CC), 24 endometrioid (EAC) and 7 poorly differentiated tumours, and 14 normal human ovarian surface epithelial (HOSE) control cell lines using the Human HG-U133 Plus 2.0 chip (Affymetrix). Quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry staining techniques were used to validate microarray data at RNA and protein levels for SCGB2A1. Full-length human-recombinant SCGB2A1 was used to pulse monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) to stimulate autologous SCGB2A1-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses against chemo-naive and chemo-resistant autologous ovarian tumours. RESULTS: Gene expression profiling identified SCGB2A1 as a top differentially expressed gene in all histological ovarian cancer types tested. The CD8+ CTL populations generated against SCGB2A1 were able to consistently induce lysis of autologous primary (chemo-naive) and metastatic/recurrent (chemo-resistant) target tumour cells expressing SCGB2A1, whereas autologous HLA-identical noncancerous cells were not lysed. Cytotoxicity against autologous tumour cells was significantly inhibited by anti-HLA-class I (W6/32) monoclonal antibody. Intracellular cytokine expression measured by flow cytometry showed a striking type 1 cytokine profile (i.e., high IFN-γ secretion) in SCGB2A1-specific CTLs. CONCLUSION: SCGB2A1 is a top differentially expressed gene in all major histological types of ovarian cancers and may represent a novel and attractive target for the immunotherapy of patients harbouring recurrent disease resistant to chemotherapy.

Downregulation of membrane complement inhibitors CD55 and CD59 by siRNA sensitises uterine serous carcinoma overexpressing Her2/neu to complement and antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity in vitro: implications for trastuzumab-based immunotherapy.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the expression of CD46, CD55 and CD59 membrane-bound complement-regulatory proteins (mCRPs) in primary uterine serous carcinoma (USC) and the ability of small interfering RNA (siRNA) against these mCRPs to sensitise USC to complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) and antibody (trastuzumab)-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) in vitro. METHODS: Membrane-bound complement-regulatory proteins expression was evaluated using real-time PCR (RT-PCR) and flow cytometry, whereas Her2/neu expression and c-erbB2 gene amplification were assessed using immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry and fluorescent in-situ hybridisation. The biological effect of siRNA-mediated knockdown of mCRPs on HER2/neu-overexpressing USC cell lines was evaluated in CDC and ADCC 4-h chromium-release assays. RESULTS: High expression of mCRPs was found in USC cell lines when compared with normal endometrial cells (P<0.05). RT-PCR and FACS analyses demonstrated that anti-mCRP siRNAs were effective in reducing CD46, CD55 and CD59 expression on USC (P<0.05). Baseline complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) against USC cell lines was low (mean ± s.e.m.=6.8 ± 0.9%) but significantly increased upon CD55 and CD59 knockdown (11.6 ± 0.8% and 10.7 ± 0.9%, respectively, P<0.05). Importantly, in the absence of complement, both CD55 and CD59, but not CD46, knockdowns significantly augmented ADCC against USC overexpressing Her2/neu. CONCLUSION: Uterine serous carcinoma express high levels of the mCRPs CD46, CD55 and CD59. Small interfering RNA inhibition of CD55 and CD59, but not CD46, sensitises USC to both CDC and ADCC in vitro, and if specifically targeted to tumour cells, may significantly increase trastuzumab-mediated therapeutic effect in vivo.

Post-prandial effects of gemfibrozil vs simvastatin in hypercholesterolemic subjects with borderline hypertriglyceridemia.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Impaired triglyceride-rich lipoprotein metabolism is most probably related to an enhanced cardiovascular risk, and may be associated with a pro-coagulant state. A double-blind, randomized study was undertaken to evaluate two widely utilized hypolipidemic drugs in the post-prandial phase and their impact on lipid, coagulation and fibrinolytic parameters. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty middle-aged men selected according to their low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) > or = 160 and < or = 240 mg/dl and borderline hypertriglyceridemia (110-220 mg/dl) after at least one month of a lipid-lowering diet received gemfibrozil (600 mg bid) or simvastatin (20 mg qd) and the corresponding placebo. On enrollment and after 2 months of drug treatment, they were tested with a standard oral fat load (OFL) (35 g fat/m2 body surface). On both occasions plasma total-cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C, triglycerides, lipoprotein[a] (Lp[a]), tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), antithrombin-III (AT-III), plasminogen and fibrinogen were determined just before the meal (t0) and at times 2 hours, 4 h, 6 h, 8 h after it (t2-t8). A two-factor (time and visit) multivariate analysis for repeated measurements was performed to evaluate the data. Total cholesterol, and LDL-C were significantly diminished 2 months after both gemfibrozil and simvastatin, the latter being more active. Plasma triglycerides showed a marked reduction with gemfibrozil at all times, while simvastatin regimen yielded only minor modifications. HDL-C was only slightly increased by simvastatin; Lp[a] plasma levels were almost unaffected. Small fibrinogen (t0, t2, t6, t8), PAI-1 (t6) and AT III (t0-t8) increases were observed after gemfibrozil, while simvastatin did not significantly modify these parameters. CONCLUSIONS: In the post-prandial phase, gemfibrozil and simvastatin induce different metabolic effects that beneficially influence the lipid pattern, whereas fibrinolytic and coagulative parameters display minor variations of undetermined significance.