Catecholamines trigger IL-10 release in acute systemic stress reaction by direct stimulation of its promoter/enhancer activity in monocytic cells

Acute stress reactions (e.g. linked with trauma, major surgery, psychic stress and myocardial infarction) are accompanied with temporary systemic release of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 followed by immunodepression. Since an association between activation of the sympathetic system and IL-10 release has been described, we studied the influence of catecholamines on its promoter activity in vitro. Using reporter gene assays we demonstrated that catecholamines in monocytic cells directly stimulate the IL-10 promoter/enhancer via a cAMP/protein kinase A-dependent pathway. A cAMP responsive element was identified as major target. Thus, catecholamines are directly involved in the regulation of immunoresponsiveness under stressful conditions.     

Do pediatricians manage influenza differently than internists?

Background  

Little is known about how pediatricians or internists manage influenza symptoms. Recent guidelines on antiviral prescribing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) make almost no distinction between adults and children. Our objective was to describe how pediatricians in two large academic medical institutions manage influenza and compare them to internists.     

Measurement of renin in segmental renal veins of hypertensives

In 27 of 270 patients studies for possible renovascular hypertension, a lesion affecting a segmental renal artery was seen on angiography. In 22 patients who had sufficient data, the significance of measuring segmental-renal-vein renin in the diagnosis and treatment of segmental disease was evaluated. In 11 (50%), the renin values of segmental vessels supported the clinical diagnosis. In four (36%) of these 11, a high-renin-release area would not have been identified without the stress of upright posture. Successful treatment of hypertension was achieved in six of nine patients who had a revascularization procedure or resection of the segmental vessels. Samples from involved and uninvolved segments of the kidney as well as from the contralateral renal vein and inferior vena cava, together with the stimuli of sodium and volume depletion augmented by upright posture, enabled confirmation of the angiographic diagnosis of segmental-renovascular hypertension.     

Use of genetic complementation to identify gene(s) which specify species-specific organ tropism of Leishmania

We have employed a genetic complementation screening to identify genetic markers of heat stress tolerance and visceralisation of Leishmania infection. Leishmania major, which has a low thermotolerance and which causes cutaneous lesions, was transfected with a cosmid library of L. donovani DNA. The recombinant parasites were then screened either for thermotolerance or selected by repeated passage in BALB/c mice. Cosmids which conferred selective advantage were isolated. Several strategies were tested to identify the gene(s) within the cosmids responsible for the observed selective advantages. Of the approaches tested, the complete sequence analysis of the cosmids and subsequent screening of defined candidate ORFs proved to be the method of choice. Other approaches, such as creation of sub-libraries or transposon insertion strategies proved to be unsuccessful.