Oral fungal immunomodulatory protein-Flammulina velutipes has influence on pulmonary inflammatory process and potential treatment for allergic airway disease: A mouse model.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: House dust mite (HDM) is well known as one of the major indoor allergens that trigger allergic inflammation, especially asthma, and accounts for 85% of all cases. So far, asthma has been thought of as a condition of imbalance between T helper (Th)1 and Th2. Fungal immunomodulatory protein-Flammulina velutipes (FIP-fve) has been seemingly demonstrated to modulate the response to Th1 cytokine production. The aim of this study was to investigate if the oral administration of FIP-fve can inhibit HDM-induced asthma inflammation in the mouse model. METHODS: We divided the mice (female BALB/c, 4-6 weeks) into four groups: the prevention group, which consisted of mice sensitized by HDM (intraperitoneally on Day 1, Day 7, and Day 14, and intranasally on Day 14, Day 17, Day 21, Day 24, and Day 27) fed with FIP-fve from Day 1 to Day 14; the treatment group, which comprised mice that received treatment from Day 14 to Day 28; the positive control (PC, sensitized by HDM fed without FIP-fve) group; and the negative control group (NC, nonsensitized). Airway hyperresponsiveness induced by methacholine challenge was determined using whole-body barometric plethysmography. In addition, cytokines were analyzed from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum. Histopathological studies and Liu's staining method in mice lungs were also performed. RESULTS: The results showed that both pre- and posttreated FIP-fve groups had significantly reduced airway hyperresponsiveness compared with the PC group after methacholine challenge. In addition, a significantly decreased level of HDM-specific immunoglobulin E in serum and decreased production of Th2 cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum were observed in these two FIP-fve fed groups. Moreover, more decreased amounts of infiltrating inflammatory cells were present in the lungs of FIP-fve fed groups than those of the PC group. CONCLUSION: Oral FIP-fve had an anti-inflammatory effect on the acute phase of the airway inflammatory process induced by HDM in the mouse model and might have a potentially therapeutic role for allergic airway diseases.

Emergence of Carbapenemase Producing Klebsiella Pneumonia and Spread of KPC-2 and KPC-17 in Taiwan: A Nationwide Study from 2011 to 2013.

The emergence of carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (CPKP) has become a great concern worldwide. In this study, 994 non-duplicate, carbapenem non-susceptible Klebsiella pneumonia isolates were collected in Taiwan from 2011 to 2013 for detection of the carbapenemase genes, assessment of antimicrobial susceptibility and molecular epidemiology studies. Of these 994 isolates, 183 (18.4%) had carbapenemase genes: 157 (15.8%) KPC (145 KPC-2 and 12 KPC-17), 16 (1.6%) IMP-8, 9 (0.9%) VIM-1, and 1 (0.1%) NDM-1. KPC had the highest prevalence rate among the carbapenemases and represented a major epidemic clone circulating in Taiwan. The ST512 and ST258 KPC-2 KPs were first identified in Taiwan and were grouped into a small cluster in the PFGE profile. In addition, the genetic structure encompassing the blaKPC gene of the ST512 and ST258 isolates showed a different pattern from that of other KPC isolates. ST11 may be a major sequence type circulating in Taiwan, although a specific minor clone has begun to be observed. This is the first report of ST258 and ST512 KPC-2 KP isolates in Taiwan, whether ST258 and ST512 will become the next endemic problems in Taiwan should be closely monitored.

Dendrimer phthalocyanine-encapsulated polymeric micelle-mediated photochemical internalization extends the efficacy of photodynamic therapy and overcomes drug-resistance in vivo.

Clinically, the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents can be dramatically reduced in cancer cells with multiple drug resistance (MDR). In doxorubicin-resistant breast cancer cells, drugs accumulate only within discrete cytosolic organelles that abrogate their therapeutic effects in vitro and in vivo. Photochemical internalization (PCI), a specific branch of photodynamic therapy (PDT), is a novel strategy utilized for the site-specific triggered drug/gene release. The objective of this study was to evaluate the nanoparticle-based PDT/PCI effects on the reversal of drug resistance. Dendrimer phthalocyanine-encapsulated polymeric micelle (DPc/m)-mediated PCI, combined with doxorubicin, was studied in drug-resistant MCF-7 cells and a xenograft model. Our results show that the internalized DPc/m showed unique PCI properties inside the cells and thereby facilitating doxorubicin release from the endo-lysosomes to nuclei after photoirradiation. Moreover, 'light before' PCI showed the highest antitumor efficacy and the depth of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen-negative area in tumor sections after DPc/m-mediated PDT was obviously increased by combination therapy with doxorubicin; this indicates the limitation of depth of light penetration in PDT, which may be improved by PCI. We conclude that nanotechnology-based PCI possesses several clinical benefits, such as overcoming drug resistance and treating deeper lesions that are intractable by PDT alone.