Diagnosis of cypress pollen allergy: in vivo and in vitro standardization of a Juniperus ashei pollen extract

BACKGROUND: Cypress pollen allergy is a major cause of rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma in the Mediterranean area. The nonstandardized cypress allergen extracts currently available for the diagnosis of cypress allergy have a low level of activity. The search for an active material has led to the selection of Juniperus ashei (Ja) pollen because of its very high cross-reactivity with cypress extracts and its superior allergenic activity. The aim of this study was to characterize in vitro and calibrate in vivo an in-house reference extract (IHRS) of J. ashei pollen and determine the specificity and sensitivity of a standardized Ja extract for the prick test diagnosis of cypress allergy. METHODS: Juniperus ashei pollen extract was analysed by 2-D electrophoresis. The IHRS Ja extract was calibrated by skin prick testing in 28 cypress-allergic patients. The sensitivity and specificity of cypress allergy diagnosis using a standardized Ja extract was studied by skin prick test in 42 cypress-allergic patients and 53 nonallergic patients. Jun a 1 content of the IHRS was determined by a monoclonal antibody-based electrophoretic technique. RESULTS: The Jun a 1 content of the 100 IR/ml Ja IHRS extract was 180 microg/ml. For in vivo diagnosis of cypress allergy, Ja pollen extract demonstrated a sensitivity of 95%, a specificity of 100%, a negative predictive value of 96%, and a positive predictive value of 100%. CONCLUSION: Standardized Ja pollen extract is therefore a very appropriate tool for the in vivo diagnosis of cypress pollen allergy and good candidate for specific immunotherapy.     

Major role of BAX in apoptosis during retinal development and in establishment of a functional postnatal retina.

Apoptosis plays a major role in the development of the central nervous system. Previous studies of apoptosis induction during retinal development are difficult to interpret, however, because they explored different mouse strains, different developmental periods, and used different assays. Here, we first established a comprehensive sequential pattern of cell death during the whole development of the C57BL/6J mouse retina, from E10.5 to postnatal day (P) 21 by using the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) -mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP)-biotinylated nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay. We confirmed the existence of three previously described apoptotic peaks and identified another, later peak at P15, in both the outer nuclear layer, in which the photoreceptors differentiate, and the ganglion cell layer. Comparison of wild-type C57BL/6 mice, gld mice, defective in the death ligand fasL, and bax-/- mice, defective in the pro-apoptotic BAX protein, revealed a minor role for FAS ligand but a crucial role for BAX in both apoptosis and normal retinal development. The lack of BAX resulted in thicker than normal inner neuroblastic and ganglion cell layers in adults, with larger numbers of cells and an impaired electroretinogram response related to a decreased number of responsive cells. Our findings indicate that cell death during normal retinal development is important for the modeling of a functional vision organ and showed that the pro-apoptotic BAX protein plays a crucial role in this process.     

猪食管神经支配的神经化学研究--一氧化氮类及肽类成分在平滑肌中的分布

采用免疫荧光组织化学技术及迷走神经切断术,探讨猪食管一氧化氮类及肽类神经支配的神经化学特性。在光学显微镜下可观察到肌间神经丛及粘膜下神经丛中有部分神经元呈nNOS、VIP、GAL、NPY、PACAP、L-ENK、SP、5-HT及CB免疫阳性,但未见CGRP及SOM阳性神经元。nNOS及CB免疫阳性产物主要分布于不同的神经元胞体内。将PGP9.5作为神经元胞体的标记物,并采用免疫荧光免疫组织化学双重染色方法,分别观察了PGP9.5与nNOS、VIP、SP的双标情况。结果如下:(1)nNOS免疫阳性神经元约占PGP9.5标记神经元总数的63%,而VIP免疫阳性神经元约占36%,SP免疫阳性神经元约占28%;(2)神经节内神经元的平均数量呈现吻尾方向的递增趋势,且食管腹段神经丛内神经节数量明显高于食管其他部位;(3)食管肌层内VIP/GAL/NPY免疫阳性纤维分布最广,其中部分阳性纤维同时呈nNOS或PACAP免疫阳性;SP和/或L-ENK免疫阳性纤维在粘膜肌层的分布明显多于平滑肌层。CGRP阳性纤维非常少见,这一点不同于对其他动物的观察结果;(4)经一侧迷走神经切断后,肌间神经丛内PACAP及5-HT免疫阳性纤维明显减少,提示这些纤维可能来源于迷走神经;而平滑肌中VIP/GAL/NPY和/或nNOS免疫阳性纤维数量未发现明显变化,可能为内源性来源。     

Time to pregnancy as a function of male and female serum concentrations of 2,2'4,4'5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153) and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-ethylene (p,p'-DDE)

BACKGROUND: Persistent organochlorine pollutants (POP) may affect both the female and male reproductive system in animals as well as in humans. METHODS: Blood samples were collected from pregnant women and their partners from Greenland, Warsaw and Kharkiv, and from a cohort of Swedish fishermen's wives. Blood samples were analysed for 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153) and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-ethylene (p,p'-DDE). Information on the participants' fertility, measured as time to pregnancy (TTP), was collected. In total, 778 men and 1505 women were included in the analyses. RESULTS: The data from Warsaw, Kharkiv and the Swedish fishermen's wives indicated no effect of either male or female exposure to POP on TTP. However, among men and women from Greenland, there seemed to be an association between serum concentrations of CB-153 and p,p'-DDE and prolonged TTP. Due to the strong intra-individual correlation between CB-153 and p,p'-DDE in the Greenlandic population, it was not possible to determine whether the risk was associated with CB-153 or p, p'-DDE or was an interaction between the two compounds. CONCLUSIONS: The overall results of the present study create a somewhat ambiguous pattern, but give some support to the idea that dietary POP exposure might be harmful for couple fertility.     

The value of cytokeratin immunohistochemistry in the evaluation of axillary sentinel lymph nodes in patients with lobular breast carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Cytokeratin immunohistochemistry (IHC) reveals a higher rate of occult lymph node metastases among lobular carcinomas than among ductal breast cancers. IHC is widely used but is seldom recommended for the evaluation of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer patients. Objective: To assess the value of cytokeratin IHC for the detection of metastases in sentinel lymph nodes of patients with invasive lobular carcinoma. METHODS: The value of IHC, the types of metastasis found by this method, and the involvement of non-sentinel lymph nodes were analysed in a multi-institutional cohort of 449 patients with lobular breast carcinoma, staged by sentinel lymph node biopsy and routine assessment of the sentinel lymph nodes by IHC when multilevel haematoxylin and eosin staining revealed no metastasis. RESULTS: 189 patients (42%) had some type of sentinel node involvement, the frequency of this increasing with increasing tumour size. IHC was needed for identification of 65 of these cases: 17 of 19 isolated tumour cells, 40 of 64 micrometastases, and 8 of 106 larger metastases were detected by this means. Non-sentinel-node involvement was noted in 66 of 161 cases undergoing axillary dissection. Although isolated tumour cells were not associated with further lymph node involvement, sentinel node positivity detected by IHC was associated with further nodal metastases in 12 of 50 cases (0.24), a proportion that is higher than previously reported for breast cancer in general. CONCLUSIONS: IHC is recommended for the evaluation of sentinel nodes from patients with lobular breast carcinoma, as the micrometastases or larger metastases demonstrated by this method are often associated with a further metastatic nodal load.     

Neonatal lesions of the ventral hippocampus in rats lead to prefrontal cognitive deficits at two maturational stages

This experiment assessed the effect of neonatal ventral hippocampus lesions in rats, a heuristic approach to model schizophrenia, on continuous delayed alternation and conditional discrimination learning performance before and after complete cerebral maturation. Delays (0, 5, 15, and 30 s) were introduced in the tasks to help dissociate between a hippocampal and a prefrontal cortex dysfunction. At postnatal day (PND) 6 or 7, rats received bilateral microinjections of ibotenic acid or phosphate-buffered saline in the ventral hippocampus. From PND 26 to PND 35, rats were tested on the alternation task in a T-maze; from PND 47 to PND 85, the same rats were tested in the discrimination task where a stimulus and a response location had to be paired. Deficits in ventral hippocampus-lesioned rats were observed in both tasks whether a delay was introduced before a response or not. Impaired performance regardless of delay length, combined with high rates of perseverative errors, suggested a post-lesional prefrontal cortex dysfunction which persisted from the juvenile stage into adulthood. Premature cognitive impairments could not be predicted on the basis of the neurodevelopmental animal model of schizophrenia. Nevertheless, they appear consistent with accounts of premorbidly compromised memory, both immediate and delayed, in subgroups of schizophrenia patients.     

Antimicrobial susceptibility of Proteus mirabilis urinary tract isolates from 1999 to 2005 at Nîmes University Hospital

Aim of the studyTo analyse antimicrobial resistance trends of Proteus mirabilis urinary tract isolates from 1999 to 2005 at the Nîmes University hospital.Materials and methodsWe retrospectively collected non-duplicate urinary tract infections and colonization isolates from inpatients between 1 January 1999 and 31 December 2005.ResultsOne thousand and eight non-duplicate urinary tract isolates were studied, 63.1% were from females and the mean age was 76 years. The mean resistance rate was 59.0% for amoxicillin (AMX), 48.0% for piperacillin (PIP), 3.9% for cefotaxim, 33.9% for amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid (AMC) and 2.8% for piperacillin plus tazobactam (TZP). A significant increase in resistance was observed for AMC and TZP. The mean resistance rate was 35.0% for norfloxacin, 34.8% for ofloxacin and 23.5% for ciprofloxacin. No significant increase in resistance to fluoroquinolones was seen except for ciprofloxacin whereas a significant increase was observed for aminoglycosides. The mean rate resistance for cotrimoxazole was 33.2% with a significant decrease in the resistance during the study period.ConclusionP. mirabilis stilled sensitive to cefotaxim or ceftazidim and to TZP. The significant increase in the rate resistance to AMC and TZP could be explained by production of β-lactamases and in particular extended-spectrum β-lactamases. The increase in resistance observed for fluoroquinolones become a major concern. Amikacine was the most active aminoglycosides. These data suggested for the re-enforcement of the antimicrobial susceptibility surveillance in order to optimise the rational use of antibiotics.     

Hydrophobic cluster analysis and modeling of the human Rh protein three-dimensional structures.

Rh (Rhesus) is a major blood group system in man, which is clinically significant in transfusion medicine. Rh antigens are carried by an oligomer of two major erythroid specific polypeptides, the Rh (D and CcEe) proteins and the RhAG glycoprotein, that shared a common predicted structure with 12 transmembrane a-helices (M0 to M11). Non erythroid homologues of these proteins have been identified (RhBG and RhCG), notably in diverse organs specialized in ammonia production and excretion, such as kidney, liver and intestine. Phylogenetic studies and experimental evidence have shown that these proteins belong to the Amt/Mep/Rh protein superfamily of ammonium/methylammonium permease, but another view suggests that Rh proteins might function as CO2 gas channels. Until recently no information on the structure of these proteins were available. However, in the last two years, new insight has been gained into the structural features of Rh proteins (through the determination of the crystal structures of bacterial AmtB and archeaebacterial Amt-1. Here, models of the subunit and oligomeric architecture of human Rh proteins are proposed, based on a refined alignment with and crystal structure of the bacterial ammonia transporter AmtB, a member of the Amt/Mep/Rh superfamily. This alignment was performed considering invariant structural features, which were revealed through Hydrophobic Cluster Analysis, and led to propose alternative predictions for the less conserved regions, particularly in the N-terminal sequences. The Rh models, on which an additional Rh-specific, N-terminal helix M0 was tentatively positioned, were further assessed through the consideration of biochemical and immunochemical data, as well as of stereochemical and topological constraints. These models highlighted some Rh specific features that have not yet been reported. Among these, are the prediction of some critical residues, which may play a role in the channel function, but also in the stability of the subunit structure and oligomeric assembly. These results provide a basis to further understand the structure/function relationships of Rh proteins, and the alterations occurring in variant phenotypes.     

Distribution of Langerhans cells and mast cells within the human oral mucosa: new application sites of allergens in sublingual immunotherapy?

Background:  Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) represents an alternative to subcutaneous immunotherapy. While antigen-presenting cells such as Langerhans cells (LCs) are thought to contribute to the effectiveness of SLIT, mast cells (MCs) most likely account for adverse reactions such as sublingual edema. As little is known about LCs and MCs within the oral cavity, we investigated their distribution in search for mucosal sites with highest LCs and lowest MCs density.
Methods:  Biopsies were taken simultaneously from human vestibulum, bucca, palatum, lingua, sublingua, gingiva, and skin. Immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry were used to detect MCs, LCs and high affinity receptor for IgE (FcεRI) expression of LCs. Mixed lymphocyte reactions were performed to assess their stimulatory capacity.
Results:  Highest density of MCs was detected within the gingiva, while the lowest density of MCs was found within the palatum and lingua. However, sublingual MCs were located within glands, which might explain swelling of sublingual caruncle in some SLIT patients. Highest density of LCs was detected within the vestibular region with lowest density in sublingual region. Highest expression of FcεRI was detected on LCs within the vestibulum. Furthermore LCs from different regions displayed similar stimulatory capacity towards allogeneic T cells.
Conclusions:  In view of our data, different mucosal regions such as the vestibulum might represent alternative SLIT application sites with potent allergen uptake. Our data might serve as a basis for new application strategies for SLIT to enhance efficiency and reduce local adverse reactions.