Epidemiological and Environmental Investigations of Legionella pneumophila Infection in Cattle and Case Report of Fatal Pneumonia in a Calf

A fatal pneumonia due to Legionella pneumophila was diagnosed in a young calf reared in a dairy herd located in northern Italy. Clinical symptoms consisted of watery diarrhea, hyperthermia, anorexia, and severe dyspnea. The pathological and histological findings were very similar to those observed in human legionellosis. Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 (SG1) and SG10 were isolated from the calf’s lung, and L. pneumophila SG1 was isolated from the calf’s liver. L. pneumophila SG1 was also demonstrated in the lung tissue by immunofluorescence and immunohistochemical examinations. Nine of 10 L. pneumophila SG1 isolates belonged to the Olda subtype, and 1 belonged to the Camperdown subtype. A very low prevalence of antibodies to Legionella was detected in cows and calves reared in the same herd. Cultures of aqueous sediment of an old electric water heater which supplied hot water for the feeding of the calves yielded L. pneumophila SG1. Four of the colonies tested belonged to the Olda subtype. Ten clinical and four environmental isolates were examined for the presence of plasmids. Nine of them were also examined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis assay, and the same patterns were found for L. pneumophila SG1 Olda strains isolated from the calf and from the electric heater. This is the first report of a documented case of a naturally occurring Legionella pneumonia in an animal. Cattle probably act as accidental hosts for legionellae, much the same as humans.     

Self class I molecules protect normal cells from lysis mediated by autologous natural killer cells

The surface expression of given HLA class I alleles protects target cells from lysis mediated by natural killer (NK) clones specific for these (or related) alleles. We could define two groups of NK clones specifically recognizing either Cw4 and related C alleles (“group 1”) or Cw3 and related C alleles (“group 2”), respectively. Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to class I molecules should interfere with the interaction between NK receptors and class I molecules, thus resulting in lysis of protected target cells. However, none of the numerous available mAb to class I molecules had this effect. Therefore, we attempted to select new mAb on the basis of their ability to induce lysis of Cw4- or Cw3-protected lymphoblastoid cell lines by “group 1” or “group 2” NK clones, respectively. From mice immunized with phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-activated lymphocytes expressing either Cw3 or Cw4 alleles, two mAb were selected, the 6A4 (IgG1) and the A6-136 (IgM), on the basis of their ability to induce lysis of protected target cell. Both mAb immunoprecipitated molecules which, in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, gave two bands of 45 and 12 kDa, typical of the class I heavy chain and β2 microglobulin, respectively. It has been proposed (but not proven), that self major histocompatibility complex class I molecules protect normal cells from autologous NK cell lysis. Thus, we used the 6A4 and A6-136 mAb to assess this possibility directly. Cw4-specific (“group 1”) and Cw3-specific (“group 2”) NK clones were isolated from donors expressing the corresponding (or related) protective C alleles. None of these clones lysed autologous PHA-induced blasts, used as target cells. However, addition of the F(ab′)₂ of 6A4 mAb or the A6-136 mAb resulted in lysis of autologous target cells by “group 1” or “group 2” NK clones, respectively. These data provide direct evidence that the expression of class I molecules protects normal cells from lysis by autologous NK cells.     

Dpc4 is expressed in virtually all primary and metastatic pancreatic endocrine carcinomas

DPC4/Smad4 is inactivated in about 50% of pancreatic ductal cancers. It has been recently reported that this gene is also inactivated in neoplasms arising from pancreatic islet cells, a phenomenon suggested to be related to similar progressions of malignancy found in common ductal cancers. To evaluate this possibility, we analysed 20 metastases of pancreatic endocrine carcinomas and their corresponding primary lesion for inactivation of DPC4 using immunohistochemical staining. In fact, immunohistochemical labelling has been shown to correlate with DPC4 gene status with high sensitivity and specificity. The cancers included 18 nonfunctioning tumours, one gastrinoma and one ViPoma all with liver, nodal and/or adrenal metastases. Seventeen were well-differentiated and three poorly differentiated endocrine carcinomas. Dpc4 expression was absent in only one primary well-differentiated endocrine cancer and its liver metastasis, while all the remaining 19 primary tumours and their metastases stained positive for the protein. All positively staining cases showed diffuse cytoplasmic and nuclear staining in virtually all neoplastic cells. Our data suggest that DPC4 is only rarely involved in pancreatic endocrine tumourigenesis and give further weight to the hypothesis that tumours arising from pancreatic exocrine and endocrine epithelia are genetically distinct.     

Clinical,immunological, and molecular analysis in a large cohort of patients with X-linked agammaglobulinemia: an Italian multicenter study

A questionnaire-based retrospective clinical and immunological survey was conducted in 73 males with a definite diagnosis of X-linked agammaglobulinemia based on BTK sequence analysis. Forty-four were sporadic and 29 familial cases. At December 2000, the patients' ages ranged from 2 to 33 years; mean age at diagnosis and mean duration of follow-up were 3.5 and 10 years respectively. After the mid-1980s all but 2 were on intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) substitution therapy, with residual IgG >500 mg/dl in 94% of the patients at the time of enrollment. Respiratory infections were the most frequent manifestation both prior to diagnosis and over follow-up. Chronic lung disease (CLD) was present in 24 patients, in 15 already at diagnosis and in 9 more by 2000. The cumulative risk to present at diagnosis with CLD increased from 0.17 to 0.40 and 0.78 when the diagnosis was made at the ages of 5, 10, and 15 years respectively. For the 9 patients who developed CLD during follow-up, the duration of follow-up, rather than age at diagnosis; previous administration of intramuscular immunoglobulin; and residual IgG levels had a significant effect on the development of CLD. Chronic sinusitis was present in 35 patients (48%), in 15 already at diagnosis and in 20 by 2000. Sistemic infections such as sepsis and meningitis/meningoencephalitis decreased over follow-up, probably due to optimal protection provided by high circulating IgG levels reached with IVIG.     

Successful xenografting of cryopreserved primary pancreatic cancers

In order to assess the suitability of cryopreserved neoplastic tissues for xenografting into nude (nu/nu) mice, we compared the take rate in 28 samples of pancreatic ductal carcinoma. Eleven fresh samples were implanted in nu/nu mice, and 17 were frozen in cryopreserving solution and implanted at a later time. All samples were examined for the presence of neoplastic tissue in cryostat sections. A total of 15 tumors grew in the animals; five from the freshly implanted samples and ten from those cryopreserved. Ten xenografted tumors were characterized for alterations in p53, K-ras, and p16 genes, which were found in six, eight, and nine cases, respectively. Our results demonstrate that the take rate for xenografting is comparable between cryopreserved and fresh tissue samples. The procedure allows for the exchange of tumor material between institutions and permits the establishment of centralized facilities for the storage of an array of different primary tumor samples suitable for the production of in vivo models of cancers.     

S-100 protein in white preadipocytes: An lmmunoelectronmicroscopic study

Differentiation of adipocytes from their precursor cells (preadipocytes) is an important problem in the study of the pathogenesis of obesity. Unfortunately, among the immature stages of adipocytes, only relatively differentiated forms can be identified by their fine structure; because early preadipocytes cannot be distinguished from fibroblasts solely on the basis of their morphology, it is impossible to assess the size of the preadipocyte population. S-100 protein has been identified in various mammalian tissues and recently mature adipocytes have been shown to be positive for this protein. Because fibroblasts are negative for S-100 protein, the present study tested the S-100 immunoreactivity of preadipocytes by the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) preembedding method at the ultrastructural level both in vivo and in culture. Mature adipocytes and early preadipocytes, including fibroblast-like cells devoid of lipid droplets, were positive both in vivo and in culture. Endothelial cells and pericytes were negative; but flattened, lipid-free, fibroblast-like cells surrounding the pericytes were positive. True fibroblasts both in vivo and in culture were negative. Therefore, S-100 protein can be a useful biochemical marker in distinguishing fibroblasts from early preadipocytes.     

Tumor cell purging by ex vivo expansion of hemopoietic stem cells from breast cancer patients combined with targeting ErbB receptors.

Tumor cell contamination might induce relapse after autologous transplantation in breast cancer patients. We used an ex vivo purging strategy to decrease the number of contaminating breast tumor cells in leukaphereses without altering the engraftment potential of the hemopoietic progenitor cells. This method is based on immunoselection of CD34+ cells derived from mobilized peripheral blood of patients with metastatic breast cancer and expansion in the presence of flt3 ligand, stem cell factor, interleukin 6, and thrombopoietin. Tumor contamination before and after culture was monitored by mammaglobin messenger RNA amplification by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We analyzed both adherent and suspended cells obtained after 2 weeks of culture. Hemopoietic progenitors were increased among suspended cells. In this fraction, tumor cell contamination was decreased, whereas it increased within the adherent cell fraction. Experimental models using CD34+ cells from healthy donors spiked with breast cancer cells were also constructed to investigate whether treatment with anti-ErbB-receptor drugs could further reduce the tumor load without affecting the clonogenic potential of hemopoietic cells. For this purpose, we successfully assayed trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody against ErbB-2, and gefitinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase receptor inhibitor. These results suggest that positively selected CD34+ cells from cancer patients contain tumor cells and that ex vivo expansion can reduce the tumor load of the suspended fraction. Target-based agents against ErbB-2, epidermal growth factor receptor, or both--such as trastuzumab or gefitinib--might increase the efficiency of purging.