The Role of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells in Gut Health

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are a unique subset of cells with different functional characteristics compared to classical dendritic cells. The pDCs are critical for the production of type I IFN in response to microbial and self-nucleic acids. They have an important role for host defense against viral pathogen infections. In addition, pDCs have been well studied as a critical player for breaking tolerance to self-nucleic acids that induce autoimmune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus. However, pDCs have an immunoregulatory role in inducing the immune tolerance by generating Tregs and various regulatory mechanisms in mucosal tissues. Here, we summarize the recent studies of pDCs that focused on the functional characteristics of gut pDCs, including interactions with other immune cells in the gut. Furthermore, the dynamic role of gut pDCs will be investigated with respect to disease status including gut infection, inflammatory bowel disease, and cancers.

The Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation on Cerebral Blood Flow and Vascular Resistance: A Preliminary Study / 대한임상신경생리학회지

BACKGROUND: The effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on cerebral vessels have not been clarified until now. Thus we investigated the efficacy of omega-3 PUFAs supplementation on cerebral blood flow velocity and vascular resistance via transcranial doppler (TCD). METHODS: Consecutive twenty patients (13 male and 7 female) with at least 1 cerebrovascular risk factor or a known cerebrovascular disease were enrolled. Patients were treated with omega-3 PUFAs (1 g, two times per day) for 12 weeks. Cerebral blood flow velocity, resistance index, and pulsatile index were checked before and after 12 weeks of treatment using TCD. RESULTS: The change of resistance index in right MCA (from 0.58 +/- 0.07 to 0.55 +/- 0.07, p = 0.042) and left PCA (from 0.56 +/- 0.07 to 0.53 +/- 0.06, p = 0.037) showed significant improvement after 12 weeks of omega-3 PUFAs treatment. The changes in other vessels, however, failed to show any significant changes compared to the baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Omega-3 PUFAs treatment showed feasible efficacies for cerebral vascular resistances in this open label trial. To confirm these results, larger samples of patients and longer period of follow-up is warranted.

Ventricular Tachycardia Imitating Epileptic Seizures / 대한임상신경생리학회지

Syncopes are the most common non-epileptic attacks mimicking epileptic seizures. Among them, cardiogenic syncope is potentially life threatening. A 49 year old man was refered for the recurrent episodes of loss of consciousness with tonic posture and upward eyes deviation. The electrocardiogram showed polymorphologic ventricular tachycardia during attacks, which normalized after that. He was treated with isoproterenol and symptoms subsided. Here, we report a case of ventricular tachycardia manifested as epileptic seizures.