Effects of astragaloside IV on eosinophil activation induced by house dust mite allergen

Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) has been noted for its reduction of eosinophilic airway inflammation in a murine model of chronic asthma. To gain a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in this anti-inflammatory phenomenon, the effect of AS-IV on human blood eosinophils was studied in vitro. Eosinophils were isolated from the blood of patients with mild atopic asthma, preincubated with AS-IV for 1 h and stimulated in the presence or absence of the house dust mite allergen Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Der p) 1 for 4 h. The survival of the eosinophils at 48 h was investigated using trypan blue and the surface expression of CC chemokine receptor 3 (CCR3) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) by the eosinophils was analyzed using flow cytometry. The secretion of cytokines in the supernatants and the chemotaxis of the eosinophils were measured by ELISA and the transwell system, respectively. Der p 1 was found to prolong the survival of the eosinophils. Similarly, the expression of CCR3 and ICAM-1, secretion of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-5, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and the granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and transmigration of the eosinophils were increased in the presence of Der p 1. However, these inductive effects on the eosinophils were significantly inhibited by AS-IV (50 µg/ml). These findings suggest that AS-IV modulates eosinophil activation and trafficking in response to Der p 1 and may therefore be a useful therapeutic option in eosinophilic asthma.

A patient survey of sleep quality in the Intensive Care Unit

BACKGROUND

Patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) experience qualitative and quantitative sleep disruption leading to sleep deprivation and adverse sequelae. Patient-related factors, environmental factors, and health-support techniques contribute to sleep disruption. This quality improvement study examines potential factors contributing to poor sleep in the ICU.

METHODS

Medical and surgical patients who spent at least one night in one of two academic Canadian ICUs were asked to complete a questionnaire that explored quality and quantity of sleep, factors contributing to poor sleep, and suggested modifications to improve sleep in the ICU. Patient demographics as well as admission data were recorded.

RESULTS

Study population was 116 patients (63 M:53 F). Mean age was 55.5 ± 18.1 years and APACHE II score 16.0 ± 7.9. 45.7% were mechanically ventilated, and 68.9% received intravenous sedatives and/or analgesics. Sleep quality in the ICU was rated as poor/very poor by 59% of patients compared to 24% at home; the 5 most frequently cited reasons for this were noise, pain, light, loud talking, and intravenous catheters. Patients suggested the following nocturnal modifications: closing doors/blinds, no unnecessary interruptions, sleeping pills, and dimmed lights. No significant correlations were found between perceived sleep quality and illness severity or mechanical ventilation. Patients who received intravenous sedatives reported better sleep quality (P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

Patients commonly report poor sleep in the ICU related to environmental factors that are potentially modifiable.

IL28B genetic variants and gender are associated with spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C virus infection

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) near the IL28B gene have been shown to be associated with response to treatment for chronic hepatitis C and also with spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We analysed the association between IL28B genetic variants and spontaneous clearance of HCV infection in 376 HCV-infected Chinese paid plasma donors. Genotyping of eight SNPs near the IL28B region was performed by the iPLEX system (MassARRAY(®) SNP Genotyping; Sequenom) in all donors, and sequencing was performed on all 80 donors who cleared HCV and on 160 of 296 donors who did not clear HCV to validate the genotypes. Eighty (21.3%) donors spontaneously cleared HCV. Four SNPs were significantly associated with spontaneous HCV clearance: rs8099917 TT (vs GT), rs8105790 TT (vs CT), rs12980275 AA (vs AG) and rs10853728 CC (vs CG or GG) with OR (95% CI) 15.27 (2.07-112.50), 14.88 (2.02-109.72), 7.92 (1.88-33.32) and 2.32 (1.22-4.42) respectively. No association between the other four IL28B SNPs including rs12979860 and spontaneous HCV clearance was found. Women had a higher rate of spontaneous HCV clearance than men [56/213 (26.3%) vs 24/163 (14.6%), P = 0.007], and this was true even after stratification for IL28B genotypes with OR of 1.9-2.2 among those with favourable genotypes. Our results confirmed that IL28B polymorphism is associated with spontaneous clearance of HCV in Chinese subjects, but the SNPs that predict HCV clearance in Chinese subjects were different from those reported in Caucasians. Women were more likely to clear HCV infection regardless of IL28B genotypes.

Ac-AP-12, a novel factor Xa anticoagulant peptide from the esophageal glands of adult Ancylostoma caninum

Immunoscreening an Ancylostoma caninum cDNA library with canine hookworm-infected dog serum resulted in the isolation of a 461 bp cDNA encoding Ac-AP-12, a new 9.1 kDa anticoagulant peptide (100 amino acids) with 43-69% amino acid homology to other nematode anticoagulant peptides (NAPs) from Ancylostoma hookworms. Messenger RNA transcription and expression of Ac-AP-12 was unique to the adult stage of A. caninum. The yeast expressed recombinant Ac-AP-12 demonstrated potent anticoagulant activity on human blood plasma in a concentration dependent manner, and was shown to specifically inhibit human factor Xa activity. Immunolocalization with specific rabbit antiserum showed that Ac-AP-12 was exclusively located in the esophageal glands of adult hookworm. Ac-AP-12 is hypothesized to facilitate both parasite blood feeding and digestion.

Electric acoustic stimulation of the auditory system: experience and results of ten patients using MED-EL's M and FlexEAS electrodes

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the hearing preservation rate and speech perception scores in patients with profound high frequency hearing loss and acoustically aidable low frequency hearing, managed with the MED-EL electric acoustic stimulation system referenced to the insertion depth of the electrode array.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective data analysis.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Ten patients implanted at the Auditory Implant Centre, Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital, London, UK.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Pure tone audiometry, speech perception tests and electrode insertion depth angle.

RESULTS

Postoperatively, functional hearing preservation allowing electric acoustic stimulation was achieved in eight patients and total preservation of residual hearing in five patients with follow-up periods of more than 12 months. Three of four (75%) patients with an insertion depth of >360 degrees had a threshold shift of >25 dB, and all four patients had a threshold shift of >10 dB. All patients with total hearing preservation had the electrode inserted up to 360 degrees at maximum. Overall, speech perception outcomes increased significantly and hearing impairment was significantly reduced after electric acoustic stimulation or electric stimulation alone as compared with the preoperative scores.

CONCLUSION

Electric acoustic stimulation provides significant benefit to individuals with profound high frequency hearing loss. Studies with larger number of patients are needed to establish the optimal electrode insertion angle as well as to further analyse the benefit of electric acoustic stimulation.

Thymectomy resulted in complete remission of pure red cell aplasia when associated with thymoma

Patients with thymoma associated with pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) are rare and the relevant literature is limited. Prognostic evaluations into the appropriate surgical management of this rare coincidence of diseases are controversial, with some authors believing that none of their cases experienced remission of anemia after thymectomy. Despite the extreme rare concomitance of thymoma and PRCA, we report three consecutive cases, who experienced long-term complete remission of PRCA after extended thymectomy as their only therapy over a 6-year period. Possible features leading to the favorable outcome are discussed.

Characterization of some culture factors affecting oxalate degradation by the mycoparasite Coniothyrium minitans

AIMS

To find possible approaches to utilize the mechanism of oxalate degradation by Coniothyrium minitans (Cm) in controlling the plant pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Ss).

METHODS AND RESULTS

Differences in oxalate degradation by different Cm strains and effects of the initial oxalate concentration, ambient pH and nutrient factors on mycelial growth and oxalate degradation by Cm were studied in shaken cultures. Results showed that two wild-type Cm strains, Chy-1 and ZS-1, did not differ in oxalate degradation in modified potato dextrose broth (mPDB) amended with oxalic acid (OA). Cm could grow in mPDB amended with sodium oxalate (SO-mPDB) at pH 6.5 or with ammonium oxalate (AO-PDB) at pH 6.2, but oxalate degradation was very low; oxalate degradation was greatly enhanced in SO- or AO-mPDB with pH being lowered to 2.8-2.9. Similarly, oxalate degradation was higher than 90% in OA-amended mPDB at pH 4.4 but was reduced to be <22% at pH 7.0. Five carbon sources and three nitrogen sources investigated and nutrients from mycelia and sclerotia of Ss were favorable for the growth of Cm and OA degradation by Cm.

CONCLUSIONS

Cm can degrade oxalate under acidic pH. Exudates from mycelia or sclerotia of Ss may serve as nutrients for Cm mycelial growth and degradation of oxalate secreted by Ss.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

The finding of oxalate degradation laid a foundation for mining-related genes in Cm for engineering plant resistance against Ss. Elucidation of the importance of acidic pH and nutrients from Ss in oxalate degradation by Cm will help to understand the interaction between Cm and Ss.

Optical fiber magnetic field sensors with TbDyFe magnetostrictive thin films as sensing materials

Different from usually-used bulk magnetostrictive materials, magnetostrictive TbDyFe thin films were firstly proposed as sensing materials for fiber-optic magnetic field sensing characterization. By magnetron sputtering process, TbDyFe thin films were deposited on etched side circle of a fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) as sensing element. There exists more than 45pm change of FBG wavelength when magnet field increase up to 50 mT. The response to magnetic field is reversible, and could be applicable for magnetic and current sensing.

An enzymatically inactivated hemoglobinase from Necator americanus induces neutralizing antibodies against multiple hookworm species and protects dogs against heterologous hookworm infection

Hookworms digest hemoglobin from erythrocytes via a proteolytic cascade that begins with the aspartic protease, APR-1. Ac-APR-1 from the dog hookworm, Ancylostoma caninum, protects dogs against hookworm infection via antibodies that neutralize enzymatic activity and interrupt blood-feeding. Toward developing a human hookworm vaccine, we expressed both wild-type (Na-APR-1_wt) and mutant (Na-APR-1_mut—mutagenesis of the catalytic aspartic acids) forms of Na-APR-1 from the human hookworm, Necator americanus. Refolded Na-APR-1_wt was catalytically active, and Na-APR-1_mut was catalytically inactive but still bound substrates. Vaccination of canines with Na-APR-1_mut and heterologous challenge with A. caninum resulted in significantly reduced parasite egg burdens (P=0.034) and weight loss (P=0.022). Vaccinated dogs also had less gut pathology, fewer adult worms, and reduced blood loss compared to controls but these did not reach statistical significance. Vaccination with Na-APR-1_mut induced antibodies that bound the native enzyme in the parasite gut and neutralized enzymatic activity of Na-APR-1_wt and APR-1 orthologues from three other hookworm species that infect humans. IgG1 against Na-APR-1_mut was the most prominently detected antibody in sera from people resident in high-transmission areas for N. americanus, indicating that natural boosting may occur in exposed humans. Na-APR-1_mut is now a lead antigen for the development of an antihematophagy vaccine for human hookworm disease.—Pearson, M. S., Bethony, J. M., Pickering, D. A., de Oliveira, L. M., Jariwala, A., Santiago, H., Miles, A. P., Zhan, B., Jiang, D., Ranjit, N., Mulvenna, J., Tribolet, L., Plieskatt, J., Smith, T., Bottazzi, M. E., Jones, K., Keegan, B., Hotez, P. J., Loukas, A. An enzymatically inactivated hemoglobinase from Necator americanus induces neutralizing antibodies against multiple hookworm species and protects dogs against heterologous hookworm infection.

In-line extreme ultraviolet polarizer with hybrid configuration

A novel hybrid Au-multilayer-Au in-line extreme ultraviolet (EUV) optical polarizer is presented in this paper. Different from all-Mo/Si multilayer EUV polarizer, this polarizer is based on the concept that Au surfaces work as reflecting elements for in-line optics routine, while polarization effect is realized by polarizing multilayer. Simulation shows that the proposed polarizer with 80 degrees-70 degrees-80 degrees angle configuration has about 30% of transmission and 12 eV of bandwidth half maximum, which enables more throughput and broader bandwidth than the all-multilayer one.

The experimental study of cardiac allograft vasculopathy and myocardial fibrosis in rats

We sought to analyze the development of myocardial fibrosis and cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) as a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of rejection. Heterotopic cardiac transplantation was performed from Wistar rats to Sprague-Dawley rats. The recipients pretreated with donor splenocyte (SPC) infusion followed by cyclophosphamide (CP) were divided into 3 groups: Control animals without immunosuppression (Group 1; n = 10); Group 2, CsA treatment (n = 10) with euthanasia 2-3 months posttransplantation; and Group 3 (n = 20), CP plus SPC treatment with 10 recipients euthanized at 2 weeks posttransplantation and 10 animals monitored for at least 1 year posttransplantation. Histological studies were performed to evaluate myocardial fibrosis and CAV; 2-3 days after transplantation, there was abundant infiltration of collagenous fibers in the adventitia and intima of the coronary arteries in Group 1 allografts. Group 2 allografts demonstrated abundant infiltration of collagenous fibers in the adventitia and intima of arteries and arterioles resulting in significant luminal stenosis. In contrast, pretreatment of animals with SPC and CP induced long-term allograft survival; myocardial fibrosis and CAV were dramatically reduced in Group 3 compared with Groups 1 and 2. The infiltration of collagenous fibers in coronary arteries was one of the major causes of CAV. Preconditioning of recipients with SPC followed by CP not only induced immune tolerance but also alleviated myocardial fibrosis and CAV in allografts.

Molecular cloning and characterization of Ac-TMP-2, a tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase secreted by adult Ancylostoma caninum

Ac-TMP-2, an immunodominant hookworm antigen encoding a tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP) was cloned by immunoscreening an Ancylostoma caninum larval cDNA library with sera pooled from dogs immunized with irradiated A. caninum third stage larvae (ir-L3). The open reading frame of Ac-tmp-2 cDNA encoded a 244 amino acids (predicted molecular weight of 27.7 kDa), which shared a common N-terminus with other vertebrate and invertebrate TIMPs, including Ac-TMP-1, the most abundant adult hookworm secreted protein. However Ac-TMP-2 also contains an unusual multicopy (ten) repeat of the amino acid sequence, KTVEENDE. By immunoblotting, Ac-TMP-2 was detected only in adult hookworms and their excretory secretory products although the corresponding mRNA was also detected in L3. Immunolocalization with specific antiserum showed that native Ac-TMP-2 was located in adult worm's esophagus and cephalic glands. Recombinant Ac-TMP-2 expressed in bacteria was highly immunogenic and recognized by ir-L3 immunized dog immune sera. The recombinant Ac-TMP-2 protein inhibited the human matrix metalloproteinases, MMP-2, MMP-7 and MMP-13. As an immunodominant protein having a possible role in the parasite-host relationship of canine hookworm infection, recombinant Ac-TMP-2 represents a plausible target for vaccine development.

High rate of maternal vitamin B12 deficiency nearly a decade after Canadian folic acid flour fortification

Vitamin B12 deficiency may be an independent risk factor for neural tube defects (NTD). We determined the prevalence of biochemical B12 deficiency (<125 pmol/l) among 10 622 Ontarian women aged 15-46 years who underwent concomitant testing of serum bhCG and B12 9 years after the implementation of Canadian folic acid flour fortification. The overall prevalence of biochemical B12 deficiency was 7.4%. Relative to non-pregnant women, the adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of biochemical B12 deficiency was 0.78 (0.60-1.0) among women pregnant 28 days gestation or less and was 1.4 (1.1-1.8) after 28 days gestation. About 1 in 20 women may be deficient in B12 in early pregnancy. The impact on maternal and fetal well-being, including preventable NTD, should be considered.