Age-Specific Profiles of Antibody Responses against Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the most prevalent causative agents of lower respiratory tract infections worldwide, especially in infants around 3 to 4months old. Infants at such a young age have maternally-transferred passive antibodies against RSV but do not have active immune systems efficient enough for the control of RSV infection. In order to elucidate age-specific profiles of immune responses against RSV protection, antibody responses were examined by using blood samples in both acute and convalescent phases obtained from child patients and adult patients. In addition to the serum neutralization activity, antibody responses to the RSV fusion protein (F protein) were dissected by analyzing levels of total IgG, IgG subclasses, the binding stability, and the levels of antibody for the neutralization epitopes. It was suggested that children's antibody responses against RSV are matured over months and years in at least 5 stages based on 1) levels of the neutralization titer and IgG3 for F protein in the convalescent phase, 2) geometric mean ratios of the neutralization titers and levels of IgG1 and IgG2 for F protein in the convalescent phase compared to those levels in the acute phase, 3) the affinity maturation of IgG for F protein and the cross reactivity of IgG for RSV glycoproteins of groups A and B, 4) levels of neutralization epitope-specific IgG, and 5) augmentation of overall antibody responses due to repetitive RSV infection.

Rapid bactericidal activity of sitafloxacin against Streptococcus pneumoniae.

The initial bactericidal activity of quinolones against Streptococcus pneumoniae at the concentration equivalent to their respective peak serum concentration (C(max)) and free drug fraction of C(max) (fC(max)) were investigated. The bactericidal activity of sitafloxacin (STFX), levofloxacin (LVFX), moxifloxacin (MFLX), and garenoxacin (GRNX) were compared by determining the actual killing of bacteria at C(max) and fC(max) for 1 and 2 hours based on the Japanese maximum dose per administration (100, 500, 400, and 400 mg, respectively). Against 4 quinolone-susceptible clinical isolates (wild-type), STFX with C(max) and fC(max) exhibited the most rapid bactericidal activity resulting in an average reduction of > or = 3.0 log10 colony forming units (CFU)/ mL in 1 hour. STFX with C(max) and fC(max) also showed the most rapid and potent bactericidal activity against 9 clinical isolates with single par (C/E) mutation, resulting in > or = 3.0 log10 CFU/mL average reduction in viable cells in 1 hour. STFX showed a statistically significant advantage in initial bactericidal activity over other quinolones for single mutants (P < 0.001). The propensity that the difference in the initial bactericidal activity between STFX and other quinolones was higher in single mutants than wild-type strains, was confirmed using S. pneumoniae ATCC49619 (wild-type) and its laboratory single parC mutant. As a result, STFX showed a similar rapid and potent initial bactericidal activity against both strains, while initial bactericidal activity for other quinolones was significantly reduced in the single mutant (P < 0.05). In conclusion, STFX has the most rapid and potent initial bactericidal activity against wild-type and single mutants of S. pneumoniae and its bactericidal activity is not affected by the presence of a single par mutation compared to LVFX, MFLX, and GRNX.

In vitro and in vivo antibacterial activities of DC-159a, a new fluoroquinolone.

DC-159a is a new 8-methoxy fluoroquinolone that possesses a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity, with extended activity against gram-positive pathogens, especially streptococci and staphylococci from patients with community-acquired infections. DC-159a showed activity against Streptococcus spp. (MIC(90), 0.12 microg/ml) and inhibited the growth of 90% of levofloxacin-intermediate and -resistant strains at 1 microg/ml. The MIC 90s of DC-159a against Staphylococcus spp. were 0.5 microg/ml or less. Against quinolone- and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains, however, the MIC 90 of DC-159a was 8 microg/ml. DC-159a was the most active against Enterococcus spp. (MIC 90, 4 to 8 microg/ml) and was more active than the marketed fluoroquinolones, such as levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and moxifloxacin. The MIC 90s of DC-159a against Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Klebsiella pneumoniae were 0.015, 0.06, and 0.25 microg/ml, respectively. The activity of DC-159a against Mycoplasma pneumoniae was eightfold more potent than that of levofloxacin. The MICs of DC-159a against Chlamydophila pneumoniae were comparable to those of moxifloxacin, and DC-159a was more potent than levofloxacin. The MIC 90s of DC-159a against Peptostreptococcus spp., Clostridium difficile, and Bacteroides fragilis were 0.5, 4, and 2 microg/ml, respectively; and among the quinolones tested it showed the highest level of activity against anaerobic organisms. DC-159a demonstrated rapid bactericidal activity against quinolone-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae strains both in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, DC-159a showed faster killing than moxifloxacin and garenoxacin. The bactericidal activity of DC-159a in a murine muscle infection model was revealed to be superior to that of moxifloxacin. These activities carried over to the in vivo efficacy in the murine pneumonia model, in which treatment with DC-159a led to bactericidal activity superior to those of the other agents tested.

Identification of two isoforms of Dsk2-related protein XDRP1 in Xenopus eggs.

The budding yeast UbL-UBA protein Dsk2 has a UbL domain at its N-terminus and a UBA domain at its C-terminus, and thus functions as a shuttle protein in the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. In this report we describe two isoforms of Xenopus Dsk2-related protein, XDRP1L and XDRP1S. Difference of the two proteins in sequence was that the UbL domain of XDRP1S lacks 15 residues in the middle part of that of XDRP1L. Both XDRP1L and XDRP1S were expressed in Xenopus eggs. XDRP1L and XDRP1S bound to polyubiquitinated proteins via their UBA domains. XDRP1L also bound to the proteasome via its UbL domain, whereas the XDRP1S UbL domain was less likely to bind to the proteasome. Instead, XDRP1S not XDRP1L bound to monomeric cyclin A and prevented its degradation. The existence of such Dsk2-isoforms in Xenopus eggs suggests that the shuttling function via the UbL-UBA protein Dsk2 is evolutionally conserved across species.