Tropical pyomyositis

A 22 year old male presented with symptoms of diffuse muscle pain and multiple abnormal laboratory findings that were eventually attributed to tropical myositis. Computed tomography scan was more reliable than ultrasound and served as a guide to needle aspiration and pathologic diagnosis.     

Impact of tumor-derived CCL2 on T cell effector function

To study the effects of tumor-derived monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1, CCL2) on the anti-tumor immune response we used the 4T1 murine mammary carcinoma which constitutively expresses CCL2. We generated 4T1 that do not express detectable levels of CCL2 and found that the T cell response to the tumors were altered. Lymph nodes draining the CCL2- tumor contained CD62Llo cells that produced greater levels of INF-gamma in response to the tumor than CD62Llo cells from lymph nodes draining a tumor that produced CCL2. Moreover, exposure of splenic T cells to recombinant CCL2 in vitro decreased the ability of the T cells to produce IFN-gamma. However, despite the enhanced effector function evident in the absence of CCL2, vaccination/challenge experiments failed to reveal an increase in immunogenicity of the CCL2 null cells relative to the CCL2+ cells. Collectively, these data indicate that tumor-derived CCL2 could decrease T cell effector function, yet not the overall immunogenicity of the tumor.     

NK and NKT-like cells in granulomatous and fibrotic lung diseases

Clinical and Experimental Medicine - Background The pathogenetic and regulatory roles of natural killer (NK) and natural killer T-like cells in interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), fibrotic and...