Infections at the bottom end of the gastrointestinal tract

This article concentrates on specific infections of the distal gastrointestinal (GI) tract, particularly those that are transmitted sexually, by anal intercourse. Syphilis, gonorrhoea and lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) are age old and well known diseases, but the features may be unfamiliar to GI histopathologists. Every histopathology trainee will have seen Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection of squamous epithelium (e.g. oesophagus, vulva and anus), but the HSV pseudotumour of the anus/perineum can present a pitfall to those who have not previously encountered this entity. Another, more recently described, entity that has a predilection for the ano-rectal region is Epstein–Barr Virus (EBV) positive mucocutaneous ulcer, and this also presents a diagnostic trap to the unwary.     

超声引导下椎旁神经阻滞治疗带状疱疹相关疼痛的Meta分析

文题释义： 椎旁神经阻滞：是通过将局麻药物注射到椎旁间隙内而实现,阻滞包括椎旁脊神经和其分支以及交感干,具有简单、易行、有效及低廉等特点。 带状疱疹相关疼痛：是由于潜伏在感觉神经节的水痘带状疱疹病毒被重新激活引起的近期或远期疼痛。主要包括带状疱疹急性期疼痛(即带状疱疹痛)和带状疱疹后神经痛。疼痛常表现为典型的病理性神经痛特点,主要特征是自发痛、痛觉过敏、感觉异常等,呈电击样、烧灼样、针刺样等疼痛。 背景：目前临床研究显示超声引导下椎旁神经阻滞治疗胸腰段带状疱疹相关疼痛有显著效果,并在临床上得到了广泛使用。 目的：系统评价超声引导下椎旁神经阻滞治疗胸腰段带状疱疹相关疼痛的有效性及安全性,为临床治疗提供参考依据。 方法：检索PubMed、The Cochrane Library、EMBASE、CNKI、WanFang Data、VIP以及CBM等数据库,检索时限为建库至2019-01-01。根据制定的纳入和排除标准,收集有关超声引导下椎旁神经阻滞治疗及药物治疗胸腰段带状疱疹急性期疼痛或带状疱疹后神经痛的随机对照试验,以超声引导下胸椎旁神经阻滞组作为实验组,药物治疗组或传统椎旁神经阻滞组作为对照组。依据Cochrane Handbook 5.1.0偏倚风险评估工具评价纳入文献质量。通过Revman 5.3软件对文献数据进行Meta分析。 结果与结论：①最终纳入11项随机对照试验研究文献,共916例受试者;②Meta分析结果显示：与对照组相比,超声引导下椎旁神经阻滞组的镇痛效果更好,在1-4周内临床镇痛效果最佳,采用随机效应模型下分析,1周：MD=-0.91,95%CI(-1.22,-0.61),P < 0.000 01;2周：MD=-1.11,95%CI(-1.52,-0.70),P < 0.000 01;3周：MD= -1.26,95%CI(-1.79,-0.74),P < 0.000 01;4周：MD= -0.90,95%CI(-1.57,-0.24),P=0.007;同时睡眠质量及治疗有效率均有提高[固定效应模型下分析,OR=3.63,95%CI(2.38,5.53),P < 0.000 01],统计结果差异有显著性意义,并且具有未增加整个治疗过程的不良反应等优点;③结果说明,超声引导下椎旁神经阻滞治疗胸腰段带状疱疹相关疼痛是安全和有效的。 ORCID: 0000-0001-7945-6411(宋旭东) 中国组织工程研究杂志出版内容重点：组织构建;骨细胞;软骨细胞;细胞培养;成纤维细胞;血管内皮细胞;骨质疏松;组织工程     

HSV-1 and HSV-2 in herpes simplex encephalitis: A study of sixty-four cases in the United Kingdom

The incidence of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) in herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) was investigated using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from sixty-four cases of HSE. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) employing primers flanking a region of the HSV thymidine kinase gene common to both HSV-1 and HSV-2 was used to detect HSV in the CSF. HSV-1 and HSV-2 were differentiated by digestion with restriction enzymes. Two enzymes were employed; AvaI which cleaved only the HSV-2 gene product and AvaII which cleaved only the HSV-1 gene product. Sixty-three cases of HSE were found to be due to HSV-1; one case due to HSV-2. These data confirm previous observations that HSV-2 is a rare cause of post-neonatal herpes encephalitis but indicates that a PCR procedure capable of detection of both viruses is essential for efficient diagnosis of HSE. J. Med. Virol. 53:1–3, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Defensins: Natural component of human innate immunity

The widespread use of antibiotics has contributed to a huge increase in the number of resistant bacteria. New classes of drugs are therefore being developed of which defensins are a potential source. Defensins are a group of antimicrobial peptides found in different living organisms, involved in the first line of defense in their innate immune response against pathogens. This review summarizes the results of studies of this family of human antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). There is a special emphasis on describing the entire group and individual peptides, history of their discovery, their functions and expression sites. The results of the recent studies on the use of the biologically active peptides in human medicine are also presented. The pharmaceutical potential of human defensins cannot be ignored, especially considering their strong antimicrobial activity and properties such as low molecular weight, reduced immunogenicity, broad activity spectrum and resistance to proteolysis, but there are still many challenges and questions regarding the possibilities of their practical application.     

Herpes zoster due to Oka vaccine strain of varicella zoster virus in an immunosuppressed child post cord blood transplant

A 5-year-old boy was vaccinated with the Oka strain of varicella zoster virus vaccine before cord blood transplant for chronic granulomatous disease in 2005. In 2006, he developed herpes zoster on his left arm. DNA from the vesicular rash confirmed the Oka vaccine strain of varicella zoster virus caused this complication. He responded well to 10 days of aciclovir treatment.     

Regulatory T cells in virus infections

Summary: This review discusses situations when the magnitude and function of immune responses to virus infection are influenced by regulatory T cells (Tregs). The focus is on CD4⁺CD25⁺ forkhead box protein 3⁺ natural Tregs (nTregs). The immune response may be limited in magnitude and efficacy when animals with normal nTreg function are infected with virus. This limitation can be observed both in vitro and in vivo. In the case of herpes simplex virus (HSV), animals depleted of nTregs prior to infection more effectively control the virus. With some virus infections, Treg responses (either nTregs or interleukin‐10‐dependent adaptive Tregs) appear to contribute to immune dysfunction, accounting for viral persistence and chronic tissue damage. This may occur with hepatitis C virus and some retrovirus infections that include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Under other circumstances, the nTreg response is judged to be beneficial, as it may help limit the severity of tissue damage associated with an immunoinflammatory reaction to virus infection. Such a situation occurs in HSV‐induced immunopathological lesions in the eye. With HIV, nTregs may help limit chronic immune activation that may precede collapse of the immune system. This review also discusses how virus infections become recognized by nTreg responses and how such responses might be manipulated to increase immunity or to limit virus‐induced immunopathology.     

Human Toll-like receptor-dependent induction of interferons in protective immunity to viruses

Summary: Five of the 10 human Toll-like receptors (TLRs) (TLR3, TLR4, TLR7, TLR8, and TLR9), and four of the 12 mouse TLRs (TLR3, TLR4, TLR7, TLR9) can trigger interferon (IFN)-α, IFN-β, and IFN-λ, which are critical for antiviral immunity. Moreover, TLR3, TLR7, TLR8, and TLR9 differ from TLR4 in two particularly important ways for antiviral immunity: they can be activated by nucleic acid agonists mimicking compounds produced during the viral cycle, and they are typically present within the cell, along the endocytic pathway, where they sense viral products in the intraluminal space. Investigations in mice have demonstrated that the TLR7/9–IFN and TLR3–IFN pathways are different and critical for protective immunity to various experimental viral infections. Investigations in humans with interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase-4 (IRAK-4) deficiency (unresponsive to TLR7, TLR8, and TLR9), UNC-93B deficiency (unresponsive to TLR3, TLR7, TLR8, and TLR9), and TLR3 deficiency have recently shed light on the role of these two pathways in antiviral immunity in natural conditions. UNC-93B- and TLR3-deficient patients appear to be specifically prone to herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) encephalitis, although clinical penetrance is incomplete, whereas IRAK-4-deficient patients appear to be normally resistant to most viruses, including HSV-1. These experiments of nature suggest that the TLR7-, TLR8-, and TLR9-dependent induction of IFN-α, IFN-β, and IFN-λ is largely redundant in human antiviral immunity, whereas the TLR3-dependent induction of IFN-α, IFN-β, and IFN-λ is critical for primary immunity to HSV-1 in the central nervous system in children but redundant for immunity to most other viral infections.     

Human cytomegalovirus, human herpesvirus-6 and human herpesvirus-7 in neutropenic patients with fever of unknown origin

Objective  To investigate the appearance of cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA, human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) DNA and human herpesvirus-7 (HHV-7) DNA in plasma as a sign of reactivation and possible causes of fever of unknown origin (FUO) during neutropenia.
Methods  From 134 patients with febrile neutropenia following cytotoxic chemotherapy during the years 1996–2000, 20 severely neutropenic patients (granulocyte count < 0.1 × 10⁹/L) were selected. Ten were patients with bacteremia and ten were patients with FUO. Five samples from each patient were selected at the start of chemotherapy, at the time of blood culture and fever, after 24 and 48 hours of fever, and, finally, after two to three days without fever. Virus DNA was detected by real-time quantitative and nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Results  CMV-DNA was detected in two out of ten FUO-patients in all samples drawn during fever. From another FUO and during two bacteremia episodes, CMV-DNA was detected after 48 hours of fever. DNA from HHV-6 and HHV-7 was not detected in any of the 20 febrile episodes.
Conclusions  HHV-6 and HHV-7 as a possible explanation for FUO in severely neutropenic patients treated with cytotoxic chemotherapy seems not be very likely. However, CMV was identified in 5/20 patients and the febrile episodes in the two FUO-patients with constant DNA-emia may have been caused by a reactivation of CMV. This implies that CMV infection can be expected not only in transplant patients but also in chemotherapy-treated neutropenic patients.     

Viral loads of herpes simplex virus in clinical samples—A 5‐year retrospective analysis

Viral loads of herpes simplex virus (HSV) are not monitored usually for the effective clinical management of HSV‐related diseases. However, recently, there has been more interest about the typical HSV levels in clinical specimens, and how such data may improve understanding of the behavior of this virus in such clinical presentations, particularly in immunocompromised patients, where more prolonged therapy using higher doses of antiviral drugs may be required. Using an in‐house quantitative HSV‐1/HSV‐2 polymerase chain reaction assay, an observational, retrospective 5‐year analysis of diagnostic, quantitative HSV‐1 and HSV‐2 DNA levels was conducted. The results (all in median log₁₀ DNA copies/ml), including perhaps the first quantitative comparison of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) HSV viral loads, were as follows: CSF: HSV‐1, 3.40 (range 2.30–8.98) versus HSV‐2, 3.60 (range 2.31–6.86) (P = 0.559); plasma: HSV‐1, 3.20 (range 2.23–5.51) versus HSV‐2, 3.20 (range 3.18–3.41) (P = 0.905); genital swabs: HSV‐1, 6.79 (range 2.28–8.48) versus HSV‐2, 6.97 (range 3.40–9.66) (P = 0.810); oral swabs: HSV‐1, 7.28 (range 2.46–10.04) versus HSV‐2, 5.62 (range 4.60–6.63) (P = 0.529). Note that with the samples usually collected for HSV testing (i.e., CSF, plasma, oral, and genital swabs) there was no significant difference in the viral loads between HSV‐1 and HSV‐2 types, nor between immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients for each of these different HSV types. Indeed, even between immunocompromised patients with similar diseases, for these samples, the HSV loads were found to vary considerably. These findings may therefore limit the usefulness of monitoring HSV loads in everyday clinical practice. J. Med. Virol. 82:1911–1916, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Content of Proinflammatory Cytokine in Patients with Clinical Remission of Chronic Herpes Infection during Immunocorrection

The concentrations of cytokines (interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, and interferon-γ) in blood plasma from patients with remission of chronic herpes infection were measured during immunocorrective therapy. Our results indicate that immunocorrection is pathogenetically substantiated and immunologically effective. It was manifested in reduction of inflammation and activation of antiviral protection Translated from Byulleten’ Eksperimental’noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Suppl. 1, pp. 63–66, 2008