Retinoic acid inhibits the infectivity and growth of Chlamydia pneumoniae in epithelial and endothelial cells through different receptors

Prevalence of Microorganisms in Atherosclerotic Plaques of Coronary Arteries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the existence of pathogens in atherosclerotic plaques of coronary arteries was investigated in coronary arteries diseases (CAD) patients.

Methods

This study was designed and implemented up to 31 August 2020. The findings present according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) checklist. Two independent reviewers (I.RJ and S.H) performed a comprehensive search on four different English databases including PubMed, ISI, Scopus, and Embase. In order to assess the quality of the articles, a checklist prepared by The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) was used.

Results

Finally, 44 studies were selected. The prevalence of different microorganisms in coronary arteries were as follows: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (46.2%), Campylobacter rectus (43.0%), Chlamydia pneumonia (42.8%), Cytomegalovirus (29.1%), Helicobacter pylori (18.9%), Herpes simplex virus type 1 (5.9%), Porphyromonas gingivalis (42.6%), Prevotella intermedia (47.6%), Tannerella forsythia (43.7%), and Treponema denticola (32.9%).

Conclusion

Based on the result of this meta-analysis, Prevotella intermedia and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans are the most common microorganisms in atherosclerotic plaques of coronary arteries and may have an important role in the development of atherosclerosis.

The Fox and the Rabbits-Environmental Variables and Population Genetics (1) Replication Problems in Association Studies and the Untapped Power of GWAS (2) Vitamin A Deficiency, Herpes Simplex Reactivation and Other Causes of Alzheimer's Disease

Classical population genetics shows that varying permutations of genes and risk factors permit or disallow the effects of causative agents, depending on circumstance. For example, genes and environment determine whether a fox kills black or white rabbits on snow or black ash covered islands. Risk promoting effects are different on each island, but obscured by meta-analysis or GWAS data from both islands, unless partitioned by different contributory factors. In Alzheimer's disease, the foxes appear to be herpes, borrelia or chlamydial infection, hypercholesterolemia, hyperhomocysteinaemia, diabetes, cerebral hypoperfusion, oestrogen depletion, or vitamin A deficiency, all of which promote beta-amyloid deposition in animal models—without the aid of gene variants. All relate to risk factors and subsets of susceptibility genes, which condition their effects. All are less prevalent in convents, where nuns appear less susceptible to the ravages of ageing. Antagonism of the antimicrobial properties of beta-amyloid by Abeta autoantibodies in the ageing population, likely generated by antibodies raised to beta-amyloid/pathogen protein homologues, may play a role in this scenario. These agents are treatable by diet and drugs, vitamin supplementation, pathogen detection and elimination, and autoantibody removal, although again, the beneficial effects of individual treatments may be tempered by genes and environment.

Development of a terbium complex-based luminescent probe for imaging endogenous hydrogen peroxide generation in plant tissues

A highly sensitive Tb(3+) complex-based luminescent probe, N,N,N(1),N(1)-[2,6-(3'-aminomethyl-1'-pyrazolyl)-4-(3'',4''-diaminophenoxy)methylene-pyridine] tetrakis(acetate)-Tb(3+) (BMTA-Tb(3+)), has been designed and synthesized for the recognition and detection of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) in aqueous solutions. This probe is almost nonluminescent because the Tb(3+) luminescence is effectively quenched by the electron-rich moiety, diaminophenyl, on the basis of the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanism. In the presence of peroxidase, the probe can react with H(2)O(2) to cause the cleavage of the diaminophenyl ether, which affords a highly luminescent Tb(3+) complex, N,N,N(1),N(1)-[2,6-bis(3'-aminomethyl-1'-pyrazolyl)-4-hydroxymethyl-pyridine] tetrakis(acetate)-Tb(3+) (BHTA-Tb(3+)), accompanied by a 39-fold increase in luminescence quantum yield with the increase of luminescence lifetime from 1.95 to 2.76 ms. The dose-dependent luminescence enhancement of the probe shows a good linearity with a detection limit of 3.7 nM for H(2)O(2), which is approximately 14-fold lower than those of the commonly used fluorescent probes. The probe was used for the time-resolved luminescence imaging detection of the oligosaccharide-induced H(2)O(2) generation in tobacco leaf epidermal tissues. On the basis of the probe, a background-free time-resolved luminescence imaging method for detecting H(2)O(2) in complicated biological systems was successfully established.

Retinoic acid prevents Chlamydia pneumoniae-induced foam cell development in a mouse model of atherosclerosis

Chlamydia pneumoniae, a common respiratory pathogen, has been associated with cardiovascular disease. C. pneumoniae infection accelerates atherosclerotic lesion development in hyperlipidemic animals. Retinoic acid, an anti-oxidant, inhibits infection of endothelial cells by C. pneumoniae. The present study demonstrated that retinoic acid suppresses the acceleration of foam cell lesion development induced by C. pneumoniae in hyperlipidemic C57BL/6J mice. Retinoic acid treatment had no effect on foam cell lesion development in uninfected animals. Lung infection and duration was decreased in treated mice, suggesting one mechanism by which retinoic acid reduces C. pneumoniae-accelerated foam cell lesion formation in hyperlipidemic mice.