Heligmosomoides polygyrus inhibits established colitis in IL-10-deficient mice

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is prevalent in industrialized countries, but rare in less-developed countries. Helminths, common in less-developed countries, may induce immunoregulatory circuits protective against IBD. IL-10(-/-) mice given piroxicam develop severe and persistent colitis. Lamina propria mononuclear cells from colitic IL-10(-/-) mice released IFN-gamma and IL-12. The ongoing piroxicam-induced colitis could be partially blocked with anti-IL-12 monoclonal antibody suggesting that the inflammation was at least partly IL-12 dependent. Colonization of piroxicam-treated colitic IL-10(-/-) mice with Heligmosomoides polygyrus (an intestinal helminth) suppressed established inflammation and inhibited mucosal IL-12 and IFN-gamma production. H. polygyrus augmented mucosal IL-13, but not IL-4 or IL-5 production. Transfer of mesenteric lymph node (MLN) T cells from IL-10(-/-) animals harboring H. polygyrus into colitic IL-10(-/-) recipients inhibited colitis. MLN T cells from worm-free mice did not. Foxp3 (scurfin) drives regulatory T cell function. H. polygyrus enhanced Foxp3 mRNA expression in MLN T cells that had regulatory activity. This suggests that H. polygyrus inhibits ongoing IL-10(-/-) colitis in part through blocking mucosal Th1 cytokine production. Resolution of inflammation is associated with increased IL-13 production and can be adoptively transferred by MLN T cells.     

Analysis of genomic downsizing on the basis of region-of-difference polymorphism profiling of Mycobacterium tuberculosis patient isolates reveals geographic partitioning

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the etiological agent of tuberculosis, has lost many coding and noncoding regions in its genome during the course of evolution. We performed region-of-difference (RD) analysis using PCR-based genotyping of 131 M. tuberculosis clinical isolates obtained from four different countries, namely, India, Peru, Libya, and Angola. Our studies revealed that RD patterns are often distinct for strains circulating in specific geographical regions and can be used to trace the descent and spread of an isolate from its original reservoir. We describe our findings, which show that no single isolate from the four countries (n = 131) had all the 15 RDs either deleted or retained. Tuberculosis-specific deletion 1 (TbD1) was found to be conserved in 23% of the Indian isolates, indicating their possible ancient origin. RD9 was the most conserved region, RD11 was predominantly deleted, and RD6 was the most variable among the isolates in our collection irrespective of their geographic region. In contrast to earlier reports, our results demonstrate that the deletion of RD1 does not correlate with a decrease in the virulence potential of M. tuberculosis, as Indian isolates (n = 30) examined by us were from diseased individuals and yet had lost the RD1 region. Our results further illustrated that the intactness of the RD5 region may be associated with increased virulence of the organism. This study highlights that the RDs in M. tuberculosis genomes are geographically distributed and specific and may possibly be associated with virulence spectrum.     

Serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae causing invasive childhood infections in Bangladesh, 1992 to 1995.

One hundred sixty-five invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae strains were isolated from children under five at Dhaka Shishu (Children's) Hospital during the period 1992 to 1995. Ninety-four strains were from cerebrospinal fluid, and 71 were from blood. More than 91% of the strains were isolated from patients aged 24 months or less. Predominant serotypes were, in descending order 7F, 12F, 14, 15B, 18, 5, and 22A. These comprised 70% of all isolates. The marked differences in serotype distribution in different countries indicate the need for a sentinel surveillance study for the countries of South Asia, particularly Bangladesh, China, India, and Pakistan.     

Ellis‐van Creveld syndrome in a patient from Tanzania

We report an African infant with Ellis‐van Creveld (EVC) syndrome. EVC syndrome is a chondral and ectodermal dysplasia with autosomal recessive transmission. The baby presented with polydactyly, short limbs and atrioventricular septal defect, but was withdrawn from clinical follow up for the first year of life. Initial hematological abnormalities could not be explained and normalized later. EVC syndrome was confirmed by genetic analysis that showed two pathogenic mutations in the EVC2 gene, c.653_654del, p.Val218Glyfs*12 in exon 5, and c.2710C>T, p.Gln904* in exon 16. The variant c.653_654del; p.Val218Glyfs*12 in exon 5 has not been described before. Our review of medical literature suggested this is the first molecularly confirmed case of EVC syndrome in sub‐Saharan Africa.     

In Vitro and In Vivo Interactions of Haemophilus ducreyi with Host Phagocytes

We investigated the phagocytosis of Haemophilus ducreyi both in vitro and in vivo. Human granulocyte and monocyte phagocytosis of opsonized and nonopsonized, fluorescence-labeled H. ducreyi was assessed by flow cytometry. Both Escherichia coli and noncapsulated H. influenzae were included as controls. The maximal percentage of granulocytes taken up by H. ducreyi was 35% after 90 min. In contrast, 95% of H. influenzae bacteria were phagocytosed by granulocytes after 30 min. These results indicated that H. ducreyi phagocytosis was slow and inefficient. Bacterial opsonization by using specific antibodies increased the percentage of granulocytes phagocytosing H. ducreyi from 24 to 49%. The nonphagocytosed bacteria were completely resistant to phagocytosis even when reexposed to granulocytes, indicating that the H. ducreyi culture comprised a mixture of phenotypes. The intracellular survival of H. ducreyi in granulocytes, in monocytes/macrophages, and in a monocyte cell line (THP-1) was quantified after application of gentamicin treatment to kill extracellular bacteria. H. ducreyi survival within phagocytes was poor; approximately 11 and <0.1% of the added bacteria survived intracellularly after 2 and 20 h of incubation, respectively, while no intracellular H. influenzae bacteria were recovered after 2 h of incubation with phagocytes. The role of phagocytes in the development of skin lesions due to H. ducreyi was also studied in vivo. Mice that were depleted of granulocytes and/or monocytes and SCID mice, which lacked T and B cells, were injected intradermally with approximately 10⁶ CFU of H. ducreyi. Within 4 days of inoculation, the granulocyte-depleted mice developed lesions that persisted throughout the experimental period. This result reinforces the importance of granulocytes in the early innate defense against H. ducreyi infection. In conclusion, H. ducreyi is insufficiently phagocytosed to achieve complete eradication of the bacteria. Indeed, H. ducreyi has the ability to survive intracellularly for short periods within phagocytic cells in vitro. Since granulocytes play a major role in the innate defense against H. ducreyi infection in vivo, bacterial resistance to phagocytosis probably plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of chancroid.     

Dual effect of temperature on the human epithelial Na+ channel

The amiloride-sensitive epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) is the rate-limiting step for sodium reabsorption in the distal segments of the nephron, in the colon and in the airways. Its activity is regulated by intracellular and extracellular factors but the mechanisms of this regulation are not yet completely understood. Recently, we have shown that the fast regulation of ENaC by the extracellular [Na⁺], a phenomenon termed self-inhibition, is temperature dependent. In the present study we examined the effects of temperature on the single-channel properties of ENaC. Single-channel recordings from excised patches showed that the channel open probability (P _o, estimated from the number of open channels N·P _o, where N is the total number of channels) increased on average two- to threefold while the single-channel conductance decreased by about half when the temperature of the perfusion solution was lowered from ~30 to ~15 °C. The effects of temperature on the single-channel conductance and P _o explain the changes of the macroscopic current that can be observed upon temperature changes and, in particular, the paradoxical effect of temperature on the current carried by ENaC.     

Thymic-dependent anti-hapten response in congenitally athymic (nude) mice immunized with DNP-thymosin.

Immunization of congenitally athymic (nu/nu) and adult thymectomized, irradiated bone marrow, reconstituted (TxBm) mice with DNP5-thymosin (dinitrophenylated-bovine thymosin fraction 5) was found to elcit IgM and IgG anti-DNP plaque-forming cells in these animals. Further studies indicated that this response was antigen specific and not due to polyclonal activation. Since the hormonal properties of the thymosin were retained following linkage with hapten and DNP-thymosin was immunogenic in CBA/N and CBA/N female X DBA/2 male)F1 male mice, animals previously shown to have an X-linked inability to respond to thymus-independent antigens, it was concluded that DNP-thymosin functions both as a hormone and as a T-dependent antigen in eliciting an immune response in nu/nu and TxBm mice. Additional support for this conclusion was provided by the demonstration that DNP-thymosin could specifically prime for and elicit an anamnestic response in nu/nu mice. These results indicate that further investigation of the immune activities of DNP-thymosin may provide valuable insight in characterizing the maturation of helper T cells and their subsequent interaction with B cells.     

Bacteremia and urinary tract infection associated with CDC group Vd biovar 2.

A case of urinary tract infection and bacteremia caused by CDC group Vd biovar 2 in a 23-year-old woman with Hodgkin's disease is described. This is the first report of CDC group Vd biovar 2 isolated from a clinical specimen and considered as a pathogen. Detailed antimicrobial susceptibility data are presented.     

Abnormalities of cholesterol metabolism in autism spectrum disorders.

Although Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome (SLOS), a genetic condition of impaired cholesterol biosynthesis, is associated with autism [Tierney et al., 2001; Am J Med Genet 98:191-200.], the incidence of SLOS and other sterol disorders among individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is unknown. This study investigated (1) the incidence of biochemically diagnosed SLOS in blood samples from a cohort of subjects with ASD from families in which more than one individual had ASD and (2) the type and incidence of other sterol disorders in the same group. Using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, cholesterol, and its precursor sterols were quantified in 100 samples from subjects with ASD obtained from the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) specimen repository. Although no sample had sterol levels consistent with SLOS, 19 samples had total cholesterol levels lower than 100 mg/dl, which is below the 5th centile for children over age 2 years. These findings suggest that, in addition to SLOS, there may be other disorders of sterol metabolism or homeostasis associated with ASD.