Two-year results of renal transplantation in kidney recipients from > or = 65-year-old deceased donors: a French region experience

The use of elderly deceased donors requires refining criteria for both the donor and the recipient. This report attempted to identify parameters susceptible to further improvement. This retrospective multicenter study analyzed the outcomes of kidney recipients from 15 consecutive elderly deceased donors in the south French region (IR9). Donors were 65 to 74 years old. Mean creatinine clearance was 80 mL/min/1.73 m(2). The donor risk factors for allograft dysfunction were stroke, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cardiac death, smoking, arrhythmia, and diabetes. The recipients were 35 to 70 years old. The median cold ischemia time was 24 hours. Four patients (16%) suffered delayed graft function (DGF). Three recipients (12%) died within the first 2 months after transplantation. The postoperative complications (29%) were 2 renal artery thromboses, 4 renal artery stenoses, and 1 toe ischemia. Two years after transplantation, their mean serum creatinine was 157 micromol/L. The patient and graft survivals were 88% and 70%, respectively. These results seemed worse than those reported in the literature, but it was a small cohort and a new experience. DGF is probably linked to improvable management to reduce cold ischemia time. The elevated rate of surgical complications might be related to a lack of experience in donor and recipient evaluations. Kidney transplantation from elderly donors requires an efficient organization and an accurate evaluation of both donor renal function and recipient cardiovascular state.     

Study of the three-way interaction between Trichoderma atroviride, plant and fungal pathogens by using a proteomic approach

The main molecular factors involved in the complex interactions occurring between plants (bean), two different fungal pathogens (Botrytis cinerea, Rhizoctonia solani) and an antagonistic strain of the genus Trichoderma were investigated. Two-dimensional (2-D) electrophoresis was used to analyze separately collected proteomes from each single, two- or three-partner interaction (i.e., plant, pathogenic and antagonistic fungus alone and in all possible combinations). Differential proteins were subjected to mass spectrometry and in silico analysis to search for homologies with known proteins. In the plant proteome, specific pathogenesis-related proteins and other disease-related factors (i.e., potential resistance genes) seem to be associated with the interaction with either one of the two pathogens and/or T. atroviride. This finding is in agreement with the demonstrated ability of Trichoderma spp. to induce systemic resistance against various microbial pathogens. On the other side, many differential proteins obtained from the T. atroviride interaction proteome showed interesting homologies with a fungal hydrophobin, ABC transporters, etc. Virulence factors, like cyclophilins, were up-regulated in the pathogen proteome during the interaction with the plant alone or with the antagonist too. We isolated and confidently identified a large number of protein factors associated to the multi-player interactions examined.     

Morphometric post-mortem studies in bipolar disorder: possible association with oxidative stress and apoptosis

Despite extensive research in the last decades, the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD) remains unclear. Access to post-mortem brain tissue of subjects who had BD offers an opportunity to investigate neurobiology and this approach has led to some progress, particularly, due to the availability of more sophisticated molecular and cellular biological methodologies and well characterized brain collections over the past decade. Here we review the findings of morphometric post-mortem studies in BD and interpret them in the context of a potential physiopathological mechanism involving oxidative stress and apoptosis. A review of the literature was conducted to identify post-mortem studies that investigated cellular changes such as number, density and size of neurons and glia, in brains of subjects with BD. We found decreased density of neurons and glia and decreased size of neurons in frontal and subcortical areas of the brain. Based on recent studies that found evidence of increased apoptosis and oxidative stress in BD, we hypothesize that the cell abnormalities described are due to an increase in the apoptotic process that can be triggered, through its intrinsic pathway, by the existence of an exacerbated production of reactive oxygen species and oxidative damage in the disease.     

Portable Rabies Virus Sequencing in Canine Rabies Endemic Countries Using the Oxford Nanopore MinION

As countries with endemic canine rabies progress towards elimination by 2030, it will become necessary to employ techniques to help plan, monitor, and confirm canine rabies elimination. Sequencing can provide critical information to inform control and vaccination strategies by identifying genetically distinct virus variants that may have different host reservoir species or geographic distributions. However, many rabies testing laboratories lack the resources or expertise for sequencing, especially in remote or rural areas where human rabies deaths are highest. We developed a low-cost, high throughput rabies virus sequencing method using the Oxford Nanopore MinION portable sequencer. A total of 259 sequences were generated from diverse rabies virus isolates in public health laboratories lacking rabies virus sequencing capacity in Guatemala, India, Kenya, and Vietnam. Phylogenetic analysis provided valuable insight into rabies virus diversity and distribution in these countries and identified a new rabies virus lineage in Kenya, the first published canine rabies virus sequence from Guatemala, evidence of rabies spread across an international border in Vietnam, and importation of a rabid dog into a state working to become rabies-free in India. Taken together, our evaluation highlights the MinION’s potential for low-cost, high volume sequencing of pathogens in locations with limited resources.     

Phase angle in systemic sclerosis: a marker for pulmonary function and disease severity

Clinical Rheumatology -