Interpretación ambiental y etnobotánica: Trayectos educativos de un Proyecto de Extensión y Voluntariado Universitario con los actores sociales de la flora medicinal de las Sierras de Córdoba (Argentina) / Environmental interpretation and ethnobotany: Educational Paths of a University Extension Project and Volunteer Work with the Social Actors of Medicinal Plants of Sierras of Cordoba, Argentina

Se presenta la génesis, los objetivos, el alcance y valoración de un Proyecto de Extensión y Voluntariado Universitario atravesado por el eje teórico-conceptual y metodológico de la etnobotánica y por el enfoque de la Interpretación Ambiental, en torno a los actores sociales de la flora medicinal de las sierras de Córdoba. Con el objeto de revitalizar los procesos socioculturales de transmisión entre generaciones en relación con el conocimiento y uso de plantas medicinales en localidades rurales del Departamento Santa María, se implementaron "talleres de etnobotánica participativa" junto al diseño y creación de un "sendero turístico de interpretación", una "farmacia viva" y una "botica serrana". Asimismo se analiza en qué medida las competencias adquiridas y las prácticas sociales puestas en juego, contribuyeron a la formación de los estudiantes universitarios, así como a hacer un uso más sustentable de estos recursos nativos.

ICOS, SLAM and PD-1 expression and regulation on T lymphocytes reflect the immune dysregulation in patients with HIV-related illness with pulmonary tuberculosis.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be the most frequent cause of illness and death from an infectious agent globally, and its interaction with HIV is having devastating effects. To investigate how HIV alters the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), we assessed basal and Mtb-induced proliferation, cytokine production, and expression of signalling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM), inducible costimulator (ICOS) and programmed death-1 (PD-1) on T lymphocytes from HIV-positive individuals coinfected with TB, HIV-positive subjects, TB patients and healthy donors (HD). FINDINGS: HIV-TB patients showed increased ICOS, SLAM and PD-1 basal levels on T lymphocytes, whereas HIV-positive individuals displayed elevated levels of SLAM and PD-1, TB patients high levels of SLAM, and HD low levels of the three proteins. Mtb-stimulation enhanced ICOS expression in the four groups, but only TB and HD increased SLAM and PD-1 levels. CONCLUSIONS: These data show the immune deregulation that takes place during the immune response against TB in different study populations.

Cross-talk between CD31 and the signaling lymphocytic activation molecule-associated protein during interferon- gamma production against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Effective host defense against tuberculosis requires Th1 cytokine responses. We studied the regulation of interferon (IFN)- gamma production during tuberculosis by investigating the role of CD31, a receptor that attenuates T cell receptor signals. After antigen stimulation, CD3(+)CD31(+) blood lymphocytes decreased in healthy donors and in tuberculosis patients with robust Th1 responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and IFN- gamma was secreted only by CD31(-) T cells. In contrast, in patients with weak Th1 cytokine responses to M. tuberculosis, the level of CD3(+)CD31(+) lymphocytes was increased and IFN- gamma production was low. Furthermore, the inverse relationship between CD31 expression and IFN- gamma production was in contrast to signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM) expression, an IFN- gamma inducer in tuberculosis. Interestingly, CD31 bound to SLAM-associated protein (SAP), an IFN- gamma inhibitor in tuberculosis, and when CD31 and SAP were coexpressed in lymphocytes, their association inhibited the IFN- gamma response to M. tuberculosis. Thus, CD31, when binding to SAP, interferes with Th1 responses, suggesting that CD31 has a key regulatory role in the signaling pathway(s) leading to the IFN- gamma response to M. tuberculosis.