RESUMO
Antibiotic resistance is a continuing challenge in medicine. There are various strategies for expanding antibiotic therapeutic repertoires, including the use of blow flies. Their larvae exhibit strong antibiotic and antibiofilm properties that alter microbiome communities. One species, Lucilia sericata, is used to treat problematic wounds due to its debridement capabilities and its excretions and secretions that kill some pathogenic bacteria. There is much to be learned about how L. sericata interacts with microbiomes at the molecular level. To address this deficiency, gene expression was assessed after feeding exposure (1 h or 4 h) to two clinically problematic pathogens: Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii. The results identified immunity-related genes that were differentially expressed when exposed to these pathogens, as well as non-immune genes possibly involved in gut responses to bacterial infection. There was a greater response to P. aeruginosa that increased over time, while few genes responded to A. baumannii exposure, and expression was not time-dependent. The response to feeding on pathogens indicates a few common responses and features distinct to each pathogen, which is useful in improving the wound debridement therapy and helps to develop biomimetic alternatives.
Assuntos
Acinetobacter baumannii , Dípteros , Acinetobacter baumannii/genética , Animais , Antibacterianos/farmacologia , Calliphoridae , Dípteros/genética , Dípteros/metabolismo , Expressão Gênica , Larva/metabolismo , Pseudomonas aeruginosa/genéticaRESUMO
We examined the incidence of B lymphocyte (HLA-DRw) alloantigens in patients who exhibited elevated antibody titers to native DNA irrespective of their diagnosis. We found a statistically significant (P less than or equal to 0.0001) association between HLA-DRw3 and the presence of antibodies to native DNA not only in patients with a diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus but in other patients who did not share that diagnosis. This association supports the existence of a human immune response gene linked to the HLA complex. These data suggest that the hypothesis of an association between HLA and disease operating through disease susceptibility antigens or genes might be invalid and supports an alternative hypothesis, that HLA and disease associations are a manifestation of an immune response gene that controls the production of specific antibodies in any of several disease states.
Assuntos
Formação de Anticorpos , DNA/imunologia , Genes MHC da Classe II , Antígenos de Histocompatibilidade Classe II/genética , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico , Ligação Genética , Humanos , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/imunologiaRESUMO
A 29-year-old man with X-linked hypogammaglobulinemia was treated with prednisone and methotrexate for polymyositis. Subsequently, it was established that disseminated echovirus 11 infection was causing the polymyositis. Treatment with large doses of intravenous gammaglobulin did not result in improvement. Viral cultures of blood, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid gave positive results throughout treatment and at postmortem examination. Multiple cultures of other tissues, including muscle, also gave positive results at postmortem examination. Severity of infection and treatment with prednisone and methotrexate prior to referral, diagnosis, and gammaglobulin treatment may explain the lack of response. A review of 23 cases of echovirus infection in patients with hypogammaglobulinemia revealed that the infection in these patients may cause meningoencephalitis or a polymyositis-like syndrome or both. Treatment with immunosuppressive agents, the standard therapy for polymyositis, is contraindicated, and intravenous or intraventricular gammaglobulin or both may be helpful.
Assuntos
Agamaglobulinemia/complicações , Infecções por Echovirus/terapia , Imunização Passiva , Doenças Musculares/terapia , Adolescente , Adulto , Agamaglobulinemia/genética , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Infecções por Echovirus/complicações , Infecções por Echovirus/microbiologia , Enterovirus Humano B/isolamento & purificação , Feminino , Humanos , Infusões Parenterais , Masculino , Doenças Musculares/complicações , Doenças Musculares/microbiologiaRESUMO
Digital ischemia has been reported with various types of cancer, especially gastrointestinal. It is more common in elderly women than in any other group, and the most common symptom is a gangrenous finger (or fingers). More than half of the patients have metastatic involvement. Once the primary disease has been treated, when feasible, the digital symptoms usually regress or disappear. The presence of digital ischemia without other rheumatologic stigmata or vascular predisposition in an elderly patient should raise clinical suspicion of a paraneoplastic phenomenon. Herein we describe a 65-year old woman with digital ischemia associated with ovarian cancer. The diagnosis was established by biopsy after extremely high levels of cancer antigen 125 were detected.
Assuntos
Dedos/irrigação sanguínea , Dedos/patologia , Isquemia/complicações , Neoplasias Ovarianas/complicações , Idoso , Evolução Fatal , Feminino , Gangrena , HumanosRESUMO
In a case of relapsing polychondritis it was possible to aspirate a collection of subcutaneous fluid from the patient's involved ear. A determination of total hemolytic complement activity of this fluid was low, suggesting that activation of the complement system may have occurred in the course of the patient's disease and might be related to the pathogenesis of this disorder.
Assuntos
Proteínas do Sistema Complemento/metabolismo , Otopatias/imunologia , Exsudatos e Transudatos/imunologia , Policondrite Recidivante/imunologia , Hemólise , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Policondrite Recidivante/complicações , Policondrite Recidivante/etiologiaRESUMO
The incidence and prevalence rates of connective tissue disease syndromes in Rochester, Minnesota, from 1950 through 1979 are reported. The incidence of definite systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has not increased since 1960. The incidence of SLE in the elderly population was higher than that in previous reports. Rates of SLE and discoid lupus erythematosus were approximately equal. Other diagnoses (in decreasing order of frequency) were suspected lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, drug-induced lupus, and overlapping connective tissue disease syndromes. The 10-year survival of patients with definite SLE was decreased, and the survival of patients with suspected SLE was the same as that of the general population.
Assuntos
Doenças do Tecido Conjuntivo/epidemiologia , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/epidemiologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Fatores Etários , Idoso , Doenças do Tecido Conjuntivo/classificação , Feminino , Humanos , Lúpus Eritematoso Discoide/epidemiologia , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/classificação , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Minnesota , Prognóstico , Escleroderma Sistêmico/epidemiologiaAssuntos
Imunofluorescência , Treponema pallidum/imunologia , Anticorpos Antibacterianos , Artrite Reumatoide/sangue , Artrite Reumatoide/diagnóstico , Doenças do Colágeno/sangue , Doenças do Colágeno/imunologia , Dermatomiosite/diagnóstico , Reações Falso-Positivas , Humanos , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/sangue , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/diagnóstico , Métodos , Sorodiagnóstico da Sífilis , Teste de Imobilização do TreponemaAssuntos
Artrite Reumatoide/diagnóstico , Anticorpos Antinucleares/análise , Anticorpos Antibacterianos/análise , Artrite/diagnóstico , Artrite Reumatoide/sangue , Artrite Reumatoide/patologia , Sedimentação Sanguínea , Proteína C-Reativa , Proteínas do Sistema Complemento/deficiência , DNA/análise , Antígenos HLA/análise , Humanos , Imunoglobulinas/análise , Fator Reumatoide/análise , Streptococcus/imunologia , Líquido Sinovial/análise , Membrana Sinovial/patologia , Ácido Úrico/sangueAssuntos
Corticosteroides/efeitos adversos , Doenças do Sistema Nervoso Central/induzido quimicamente , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/complicações , Anti-Inflamatórios/efeitos adversos , Doenças do Sistema Nervoso Central/diagnóstico , Doenças do Sistema Nervoso Central/etiologia , Diagnóstico Diferencial , Humanos , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/líquido cefalorraquidiano , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/tratamento farmacológico , Meningite Asséptica/induzido quimicamente , Pessoa de Meia-IdadeRESUMO
We report the entire sequence (2864 nts) and secondary structure of the nuclear small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene (18S) from the twisted-wing parasite Caenocholax fenyesi texensis Kathirithamby & Johnston (Strepsiptera: Myrmecolacidae). The majority of the base pairings in this structural model map on to the SSU rRNA secondary and tertiary helices that were previously predicted with comparative analysis. These regions of the core rRNA were unambiguously aligned across all Arthropoda. In contrast, many of the variable regions, as previously characterized in other insect taxa, had very large insertions in C. f. texensis. The helical base pairs in these regions were predicted with a comparative analysis of a multiple sequence alignment (that contains C. f. texensis and 174 published arthropod 18S rRNA sequences, including eleven strepsipterans) and thermodynamic-based algorithms. Analysis of our structural alignment revealed four unusual insertions in the core rRNA structure that are unique to animal 18S rRNA and in general agreement with previously proposed insertion sites for strepsipterans. One curious result is the presence of a large insertion within a hairpin loop of a highly conserved pseudoknot helix in variable region 4. Despite the extraordinary variability in sequence length and composition, this insertion contains the conserved sequences 5'-AUUGGCUUAAA-3' and 5'-GAC-3' that immediately flank a putative helix at the 5'- and 3'-ends, respectively. The longer sequence has the potential to form a nine base pair helix with a sequence in the variable region 2, consistent with a recent study proposing this tertiary interaction. Our analysis of a larger set of arthropod 18S rRNA sequences has revealed possible errors in some of the previously published strepsipteran 18S rRNA sequences. Thus we find no support for the previously recovered heterogeneity in the 18S molecules of strepsipterans. Our findings lend insight to the evolution of RNA structure and function and the impact large insertions pose on genome size. We also provide a novel alignment template that will improve the phylogenetic placement of the Strepsiptera among other insect taxa.
Assuntos
Insetos/genética , Conformação de Ácido Nucleico , RNA Ribossômico 18S/química , RNA Ribossômico 18S/genética , Animais , Sequência de Bases , Evolução Molecular , Variação Genética , Insetos/classificação , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Homologia de Sequência do Ácido Nucleico , Especificidade da EspécieRESUMO
The incidence of Reiter's syndrome in a predominantly white, community-based population is reported. The age-adjusted annual incidence rate for males younger than age 50 was 3.5 per 100,000. No female cases were identified. Over time, a greater proportion of cases have been identified among younger males. In 63% of the patients, either a prolonged or relapsing disease course occurred.
Assuntos
Artrite Reativa/epidemiologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Artrite/complicações , Artrite Reativa/complicações , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Humanos , Lactente , Recém-Nascido , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Minnesota , Psoríase/complicações , Uveíte Anterior/complicaçõesRESUMO
The significance of false-positive FTA-ABS fluorescence in connective tissue diseases and other clinical conditions was evaluated by studying the serum from several groups of patients. In 12% of 67 patients without syphilis, serum with an antinuclear antibody (ANA) titer of 1:32 or greater gave low intensity FTA-ABS test fluorescence. In 20% of 150, patients (2.7% with a history of syphilis), serum with rheumatoid factor (RF) titers of 1:640 or greater demonstrated some reactivity. Only 1.3% of 75 donors of normal blood showed low-grade FTA-ABS fluorescence. In 385 patients with diagnostic problems, 2.1% of the serum demonstrated the beaded pattern. Patterns varied, depending on the treponemal antigen preparation and the duration of serum storage. Also, multiple specimens from the same patient produced different patterns. Furthermore, the beaded pattern could be demonstrated in patients with a history of syphilis, with other medical disorders, and in apparently normal persons.
Assuntos
Imunofluorescência , Sorodiagnóstico da Sífilis , Treponema pallidum/imunologia , Anticorpos Antinucleares , Artrite Reumatoide/imunologia , Reações Falso-Positivas , Humanos , Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/imunologia , Sífilis/imunologiaRESUMO
The Mayo Clinic records linkage facility for residents of Rochester, Minnesota, Yielded 102 cases of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) diagnosed from 1935 through 1973. The incidence did not change significantly over the 39 years. Three times as many males as females were affected. In contrast to another recent report, survivorship of males with AS was not different from that of the general population, whereas survivorship of females with AS was reduced. The overall prevalence was 129/100,000.
Assuntos
Espondilite Anquilosante/epidemiologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Fatores Etários , Idoso , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Minnesota , Fatores Sexuais , Espondilite Anquilosante/mortalidade , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
Fourteen patients with systemic lupus erythematosus had splenectomies done between 1960 and 1982 for treatment of severe thrombocytopenia. Thrombocytopenia persisted or recurred within 1 month postoperatively in five patients and within 6 months in three others. Three patients had late recurrence (18, 30, and 54 months after splenectomy); in two it was probably related to withdrawal of immunosuppressive agents or corticosteroids. Median lowest platelet count before splenectomy and median platelet count at relapse or failure of splenectomy were both 8000/microL. Only two patients maintained normal platelet counts without need for corticosteroids or other treatment. These results differ from those in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Other treatments should be tried before splenectomy is done for thrombocytopenia in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
Assuntos
Lúpus Eritematoso Sistêmico/complicações , Esplenectomia , Trombocitopenia/cirurgia , Adulto , Idoso , Doenças Autoimunes/etiologia , Doenças Autoimunes/cirurgia , Azatioprina/uso terapêutico , Feminino , Humanos , Imunossupressores/uso terapêutico , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Prednisona/uso terapêutico , Recidiva , Trombocitopenia/etiologia , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
To define the natural history of relapsing polychondritis, the probability of survival and causes of death were determined in 112 patients seen at one institution. By using covariate analysis, early clinical manifestations were identified that predicted mortality. The 5- and 10-year probabilities of survival after diagnosis were 74% and 55%, respectively. The most frequent causes of death were infection, systemic vasculitis, and malignancy. Only 10% of the deaths could be attributed to airway involvement by chondritis. Anemia at diagnosis was a marker for decreased survival in the entire group. There was an interaction between other disease variables and age in determining their impact on outcome. For patients less than 51 years old, saddle-nose deformity and systemic vasculitis were the worst prognostic signs. For older patients, only anemia predicted outcome. The need for corticosteroid therapy did not influence survival.