Familial lupus in Tunisia: a series of 14 families

The relatively high prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in familial cases supports genetic susceptibility to this disease. Although many advances have been made in the identification of new genes implicated in lupus pathogenesis, to date, there has been no large study of familial SLE. We report what we believe to be the first study of familial SLE in the North African population. The objectives of this study were to determine the main clinical and laboratory features of familial lupus and to compare them to sporadic lupus in a population of Tunisian patients. Fourteen families in which the diagnosis of lupus could be verified in at least two relatives were included in the study. All patients fulfilled four or more criteria defined by the American College of Rheumatology. Twenty-seven patients (23 females and 4 males) with familial SLE among a cohort of 253 SLE patients were found, resulting in a frequency of 10.67%. No significant differences were found between familial SLE cases and their controls in terms of sex ratio, mean age at onset and clinical and serological manifestations, which is consistent with the results of other series reported in the literature. Our results support the importance of carrying out more genetic studies within families of SLE in order to have a better understanding of the genetic and molecular mechanisms of the disease.

A Novel Design of an Intelligent Drug Delivery System Based on Nanoantenna Particles

Compound nanoparticle drug delivery system plays an important role in the interaction with lymph nodes. There are three primary types of lymphocytes: B cells, T cells, and natural killer cells. When the cells of the immune system turn carcinogenic, they assault body cells. The lymph fluid plays an important role in attacking healthy cells of the body; hence, this paper aimed to design a drug delivery system, which can efficiently direct nanoparticles to target the infected cells, helping in high-speed elimination of such cells. The proposed design depends on the interaction between these molecules, and the intelligent nano-controller has the ability to guide the nanoparticles by anaerobic contact. The proposed design proved that the smaller the nanoparticle size and density, the less dynamic viscosity of the liquid would be, which would reflect its resistance to flow. In addition, it was concluded that hydrogen molecules play a significant role in reducing lymphatic fluid resistance due to their low density.

[Tocilizumab for refractory Takayasu arteritis with aortic aneurysm]

Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a form of large vessel vasculitis (LVV) which affects the aorta and the main arteries. Many reports showed efficacy of biologic drugs (TNF α inhibitors and interleukin 6 inhibitors) in refractory TA cases. We report the case of a 46-year-old woman with refractory TA complicated by giant aortic aneurysm (AA) and severe hypertension, treated efficacy with tocilizumab (anti-interleukin 6 receptor monoclonal antibody).

Activity of Bisnaphthalimidopropyl Derivatives against Trypanosoma brucei

Current treatments for African trypanosomiasis are either toxic, costly, difficult to administer, or prone to elicit resistance. This study evaluated the activity of bisnaphthalimidopropyl (BNIP) derivatives againstTrypanosoma brucei BNIPDiaminobutane (BNIPDabut), the most active of these compounds, showedin vitroinhibition in the single-unit nanomolar range, similar to the activity in the reference drug pentamidine, and presented low toxicity and adequate metabolic stability. Additionally, using a murine model of acute infection and live imaging, a significant decrease in parasite load in BNIPDabut-treated mice was observed. However, cure was not achieved. BNIPDabut constitutes a new scaffold for antitrypanosomal drugs that deserves further consideration.

A novel process for the production of a veterinary rabies vaccine in BHK-21 cells grown on microcarriers in a 20-l bioreactor

We studied BHK-21 cells growth in a 2-l bioreactor and investigated the effects of microcarrier concentration, type of growth medium, culture mode and serum concentration. The highest cell density reached was equal to 4x10(6) cells/ml and was achieved in minimum essential medium supplemented with Hanks' salts, non-essential amino acids and 5% fetal calf serum, using a perfusion culture mode and a microcarrier concentration of 4 g Cytodex 3/l. We studied rabies virus production (PV/BHK-21 strain) by BHK-21 cells grown at the optimal conditions determined previously. We analyzed the effects of multiplicity of infection (MOI) and type of medium used for virus multiplication in spinner-flasks and showed that the highest virus titer reached (when the cells were infected at a MOI of 0.3) in M199 medium supplemented with 0.2% of bovine serum albumin was equal to 8.2x10(7) Fluorescent Focus Units (FFU)/ml. When we grew the cells in a 2-l perfused bioreactor, we obtained a maximal virus titer of 3x10(8) FFU/ml. In addition, we scaled-up to a 20-l bioreactor and obtained similar results for cell density and virus titer. The experimental vaccine we developed meets WHO requirements for vaccine potency. Each run yielded about 40,000 doses of potent vaccine.