Selective delipidation of Mycobacterium bovis BCG retains antitumor efficacy against non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

PURPOSE: Repeated instillations of bacillus Calmette et Guérin (BCG) are the gold standard immunotherapeutic treatment for reducing recurrence for patients with high-grade papillary non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and for eradicating bladder carcinoma-in situ. Unfortunately, some patients are unable to tolerate BCG due to treatment-associated toxicity and bladder removal is sometimes performed for BCG-intolerance. Prior studies suggest that selectively delipidated BCG (dBCG) improves tolerability of intrapulmonary delivery reducing tissue damage and increasing efficacy in preventing Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in mice. To address the lack of treatment options for NMIBC with BCG-intolerance, we examined if selective delipidation would compromise BCG's antitumor efficacy and at the same time increase tolerability to the treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Murine syngeneic MB49 bladder cancer models and in vitro human innate effector cell cytotoxicity assays were used to evaluate efficacy and immune impact of selective delipidation in Tokyo and TICE BCG strains. RESULTS: Both dBCG-Tokyo and dBCG-TICE effectively treated subcutaneous MB49 tumors in mice and enhanced tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T and natural killer cells, similar to conventional BCG. However, when compared to conventional BCG, only dBCG-Tokyo retained a significant effect on intratumoral tumor-specific CD8+ and γδ T cells by increasing their frequencies in tumor tissue and their production of antitumoral function-related cytokines, i.e., IFN-γ and granzyme B. Further, dBCG-Tokyo but not dBCG-TICE enhanced the function and cytotoxicity of innate effector cells against human bladder cancer T24 in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: These data support clinical investigation of dBCG-Tokyo as a treatment for patients with BCG-intolerant NMIBC.

Tuberculosis Phenotypic and Genotypic Drug Susceptibility Testing and Immunodiagnostics: A Review.

Tuberculosis (TB), considered an ancient disease, is still killing one person every 21 seconds. Diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) still has many challenges, especially in low and middle-income countries with high burden disease rates. Over the last two decades, the amount of drug-resistant (DR)-TB cases has been increasing, from mono-resistant (mainly for isoniazid or rifampicin resistance) to extremely drug resistant TB. DR-TB is problematic to diagnose and treat, and thus, needs more resources to manage it. Together with+ TB clinical symptoms, phenotypic and genotypic diagnosis of TB includes a series of tests that can be used on different specimens to determine if a person has TB, as well as if the M.tb strain+ causing the disease is drug susceptible or resistant. Here, we review and discuss advantages and disadvantages of phenotypic vs. genotypic drug susceptibility testing for DR-TB, advances in TB immunodiagnostics, and propose a call to improve deployable and low-cost TB diagnostic tests to control the DR-TB burden, especially in light of the increase of the global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance, and the potentially long term impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disruption on TB programs.

Redefining the Role of Lymphotoxin Beta Receptor in the Maintenance of Lymphoid Organs and Immune Cell Homeostasis in Adulthood.

Lymphotoxin beta receptor (LTßR) is a promising therapeutic target in autoimmune and infectious diseases as well as cancer. Mice with genetic inactivation of LTßR display multiple defects in development and organization of lymphoid organs, mucosal immune responses, IgA production and an autoimmune phenotype. As these defects are imprinted in embryogenesis and neonate stages, the impact of LTßR signaling in adulthood remains unclear. Here, to overcome developmental defects, we generated mice with inducible ubiquitous genetic inactivation of LTßR in adult mice (iLTßRΔ/Δ mice) and redefined the role of LTßR signaling in organization of lymphoid organs, immune response to mucosal bacterial pathogen, IgA production and autoimmunity. In spleen, postnatal LTßR signaling is required for development of B cell follicles, follicular dendritic cells (FDCs), recruitment of neutrophils and maintenance of the marginal zone. Lymph nodes of iLTßRΔ/Δ mice were reduced in size, lacked FDCs, and had disorganized subcapsular sinus macrophages. Peyer`s patches were smaller in size and numbers, and displayed reduced FDCs. The number of isolated lymphoid follicles in small intestine and colon were also reduced. In contrast to LTßR-/- mice, iLTßRΔ/Δ mice displayed normal thymus structure and did not develop signs of systemic inflammation and autoimmunity. Further, our results suggest that LTßR signaling in adulthood is required for homeostasis of neutrophils, NK, and iNKT cells, but is dispensable for the maintenance of polyclonal IgA production. However, iLTßRΔ/Δ mice exhibited an increased sensitivity to C. rodentium infection and failed to develop pathogen-specific IgA responses. Collectively, our study uncovers new insights of LTßR signaling in adulthood for the maintenance of lymphoid organs, neutrophils, NK and iNKT cells, and IgA production in response to mucosal bacterial pathogen.

Improved Alere Determine Lipoarabinomannan Antigen Detection Test for the Diagnosis of Human and Bovine Tuberculosis by Manipulating Urine and Milk.

Tuberculosis (TB) disease still kills 1-person every 21-seconds. Few TB diagnostic tests are considered truly appropriate for point of care settings. The WHO-endorsed immunodiagnostic Alere Determine Lipoarabinomannan Ag-test (LAM-test) detects Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex LAM in urine, and its use is recommended for TB diagnosis among HIV co-infected individuals with low CD4 T-cell counts. Here we found that a simple 15-minute enzymatic treatment at room temperature of LAM-spiked urine with α-mannosidase (for human TB), and LAM-spiked milk with combined lactase and caseinase (for bovine TB), enhanced 10-fold the detection levels of the LAM-test and thus, improved the detection of LAM by the LAM-test in urine and milk that otherwise could be missed in the field. Future separate clinical research studies specifically designed to address the potential of these findings are required.