Up-regulation of histamine H1 receptors in an allergic rat nasal mucosa model

Inflammation Research -     

Comparative analysis of NK/T-cell lymphoma and peripheral T-cell lymphoma in Korea: Clinicopathological correlations and analysis of EBV strain type and 30-bp deletion variant LMP1

Natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NKTL) and peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL) are prevalent in the Asian population and exhibit a high association with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Moreover, differentiation of these two groups is often difficult and problematic. We investigated 35 cases of NKTL (22 nasal cases and 13 extranasal cases) and 30 cases of PTCL in terms of their clinical features, immunohistology, EBV positivity, EBV strain-type polymorphism and latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) deletion variant distribution. Eighteen cases (82%) of nasal NKTL and seven (54%) of extranasal NKTL showed EBV positivity by EBV in situ hybridization. Fifteen cases (50%) of PTCL revealed EBV positivity. EBV strain type A was predominant in NKTL (18:5), and EBV strain types A and B were distributed evenly in PTCL (6:6). EBV-positive patients had significantly shorter survival than EBV-negative patients (P < 0.05), and EBV positivity correlated with advanced clinical stage (P < 0.05). Patients harboring type A EBV showed slightly poorer prognoses than those having type B, though it was not obviously statistically different (P = 0.07). The LMP1 deletion variant was prevalent in both NKTL (three wild-type LMP1, 15 deletion variants) and PTCL (three wild-type LMP1, eight deletion variants, two coexistent forms) patients, but did not have prognostic impact. Our results indicate that EBV acts as a negative prognostic factor in NKTL and PTCL, and that the intrinsic properties of a specific viral strain might influence the clinical behavior of these diseases.     

Effect of aging on NADPH-diaphorase neurons in laterodorsal tegmental nucleus and striatum of mice

Age-related changes of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase (NADPH-d)-containing neurons were examined quantitatively in the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (TLD) and the caudate-putamen of mice. Six 2-month-old and six 25- to 30-month-old DDD mice were studied using computer-assisted image analysis. Although no age-related changes in neuronal counts were found in the TLD, the cell size in this nucleus showed a statistically significant reduction with aging. In addition, the degree of the age-related neuronal shrinkage differed within the TLD; the most significant occurring in the rostral, less in the caudal third and no significant alteration being found in the middle third portion of TLD. In contrast, NADPH-d-positive neurons in the striatum did not show distinct age-related changes. NADPH-d-containing neurons in the TLD correspond to cholinergic cells, which project to the forebrain. Thus, the age-related shrinkage of NADPH-d neurons in the TLD may be related to the cholinergic dysfunctions seen in the forebrain of senescent mice.     

Bcl11b is required for differentiation and survival of alphabeta T lymphocytes

The gene Bcl11b, which encodes zinc finger proteins, and its paralog, Bcl11a, are associated with immune-system malignancies. We have generated Bcl11b-deficient mice that show a block at the CD4-CD8- double-negative stage of thymocyte development without any impairment in cells of B- or gammadelta T cell lineages. The Bcl11b-/- thymocytes showed unsuccessful recombination of V(beta) to D(beta) and lacked the pre-T cell receptor (TCR) complex on the cell surface, owing to the absence of Tcrb mRNA expression. In addition, we saw profound apoptosis in the thymus of neonatal Bcl11b-/- mice. These results suggest that Bcl11b is a key regulator of both differentiation and survival during thymocyte development.