Clinical and subclinical cardiovascular disease in female SLE patients: Interplay between body mass index and bone mineral density

Background and aims

Since accelerated atherosclerosis has been reported in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), predictive biomarkers of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are needed. Among non-traditional risk factors, bone mineral density (BMD) has been related to CVD. However, its role in SLE remains controversial. This study aims to analyze the associations of subclinical atherosclerosis with traditional and non-traditional CV risk factors.

Program for the Prevention of Smoking in Secondary School Students

Background and ObjectiveSchool smoking prevention programs have never yielded the expected results. The aim of this study was to analyze the efficacy of an intensive smoking prevention program created by the educational community in which it was to be applied.Population and MethodA 3-year smoking prevention program was carried out among the students of Fuentesaúco Secondary School in Zamora, Spain. The Babilafuente Secondary School in Salamanca, Spain was the control group. The program included both prevention and treatment activities. The former were carried out in the school, in out-of-school situations, and in the community. The questionnaire of the European Smoking Prevention Framework Approach was used.ResultsA total of 417 students aged 12 to 17 years participated in the study. Of these, 54.4% belonged to the intervention group and 45.6% to the control group. Smokers represented 36.7% of the population. After the intervention smokers represented 40.1% of the Fuentesaúco students compared with 46.1% of the Babilafuente students, though the difference was not statistically significant. With respect to the cognitive determinants of smoking behavior, after the intervention significant differences in favor of the intervention group were only observed in the subjects’ perception of the behavior of their siblings, peers, and teachers.ConclusionsThe use of smoking prevention programs in schools should be reconsidered, and their evaluation should be based on educational rather than clinical criteria. Proposed changes in the program include decreasing its intensity, starting with students of an earlier age and seeking greater involvement of parents.     

El cultivo celular en la investigación básica del cáncer de mama

Resumen La técnica del cultivo celular es la que ha permitido conocer el comportamientoin vitro de las células cancerosas. En esta revisión pretendemos introducir las peculiaridades básicas del cultivo celular, referido especialmente a líneas cancerosas mamarias, relacionar el origen de las líneas celulares más utilizadas en la investigación de este cáncer, mencionar las técnicas de laboratorio que pueden aplicarse sobre estos cultivos y ejemplificar la utilidad de las mismas, tomando como modelo diversos trabajos que estudian los efectos del factor de crecimiento epidérmico sobre líneas celulares hormonoindependientes de cáncer de mama.      

Perceived adherence to prescribed treatment in juvenile idiopathic arthritis over a one‐year period

Objective

To document perceived adherence to treatment (taking medications and performing exercises) in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) over a 1‐year period and to identify related factors.

Methods

We surveyed parents of patients with JIA at the Montreal Children's Hospital and British Columbia's Children's Hospital in Vancouver. Parents were asked to respond to a series of questionnaires every 3 months over a 12‐month period. Perceived adherence was evaluated on a 100‐mm visual analog scale (VAS) in the Parent Adherence Report Questionnaire (PARQ). Parental coping, distress, child function, disease severity and duration, perceived helpfulness of treatment, problems encountered, and sociodemographic data were also assessed.

Results

The mean age of our sample of 175 children was 10.2 years; mean age at diagnosis was 6.1 years and mean disease duration was 4.1 years. Perceived adherence to medications was consistently high, with average adherence at baseline, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months being 86.1, 91.7, 90.4, 92.0, and 88.8, respectively, on the PARQ VAS. Perceived adherence to exercise was lower but remained steady, with corresponding means of 54.5, 64.1, 61.2, 63.0, and 54.3, respectively. Using generalized estimating equation analysis, factors associated with higher perceived adherence to medications included perceived helpfulness of medications and lower disease severity; those associated with higher perceived adherence to exercise were younger age of the child, child involvement in responsibility for treatment, and higher perceived helpfulness of the treatment.

Conclusion

Belief in helpfulness of treatment is associated with higher parental perceived adherence to treatment.     

Mouse Sperm Rosette: Assembling During Epididymal Transit,in vitro Disassemble,and Oligosaccharide Participation in the Linkage Material

In many mammals, sperm associations had been observed, but not in the mouse. In this work, mouse sperm rosettes are morphologically described inside the epididymis and during its dissolution in a culture medium. Also characterized are the saccharides present in the linking material. Sperm association and other epididymal actions are supported by sperm during epididymal transit and are verified at the caudal region, suggesting a relation between epididymal transit and sperm maturation. In drops of epididymal content obtained from distal (cauda), but not from proximal (caput and corpus) regions; dissolved in culture medium, rosettes appear to be 10 to 15 motile sperm joined by their heads. After 3 min, sperm progressively detach, disassembling the rosette. These structures are studied by several techniques, including optic, electronic (scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy), and video microscopy. At the ultrastructural level, a dense network of electron‐dense material was observed between sperm heads, joining them. Based on previous works in rat, several lectins were used to characterize the type of saccharides present in this linking material. To avoid the contact between sperm and epididymal fluid from distal region—that probably exerts an influence on sperm association—a ligature was placed between caput and corpus. This epididymal content isolated from caput did not display any rosettes after 28 days. Anat Rec, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Immunity in HIV-1-Infected Adults with a Previous State of Moderate-Severe Immune-Suppression and More Than 500 CD4+ T Cell After Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy

We evaluated phenotypic and functional parameters of immune restoration of 27 HIV-infected patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) (HIV-cases) with HIV-RNA levels below detectable limits at least during 18 months, and CD4+ cell per microliter higher than 500 at the moment of the study and lower than 300 anytime before. These patients were compared with 11 HIV-controls that never had less than 500 CD4+ cell per microliter and 20 healthy-controls (HIV seronegative subjects) in a cross-sectional study. HIV-cases had lower counts of naïve CD4+ than HIV-controls and healthy-controls. HIV-patients (both HIV-cases and HIV-controls) showed higher values of naïve and memory CD8+ counts than healthy-controls. TREC-bearing cell levels were significantly lower in HIV-cases than in healthy-controls. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) cultures, HIV-cases had lower values in proliferation to streptokinase (SK) and tetanus toxin (TT) than in healthy-controls. HIV-cases had lower IFN-γ and higher IL-5 production with pokeweed than healthy-controls (P < 0.01). However, IL-5 production of HIV-cases after TT stimulation was lower than in HIV-controls and healthy-controls. Total IgG and IgG1 levels were significantly higher in HIV-cases than in HIV-controls and healthy-controls. Also, IgM levels were significantly higher in HIV-cases than in healthy-controls. Nevertheless, IgG2 levels were significantly lower in HIV-cases and HIV-controls than in healthy-controls. The levels of specific Igs antipneumococcal capsular polysaccharide and TT were significantly lower in HIV-cases than in healthy-controls. HIV-patients with a previous state of severe-moderate immunosuppression normalizing their CD4+ counts have a incomplete immune reconstitution after HAART. Long-term consequences of this subclinical immune deficiency remain to be determined.     

Characterization of adenovirus hexons by their epitope composition

Summary For the investigation of epitope composition of different adenovirus hexon types sixty-one mouse ascitic fluids containing monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) developed in three different panels were used. The distinction and marking of the different epitopes recognized by the MAbs were carried out by the determination of the composite cross-reactivity pattern, the titer and the correlation coefficient of all the 61 MAbs with 21 different hexon types representing all the six human subgenera, as well as different bovine and simian adenoviruses. The distinct epitopes were marked by two numbers refering the homologous hexon type to which the MAbs were directed and the serial number of the epitope specified by the different members of the given panel of the MAbs. The three panels of MAbs recognized 22 epitopes on the 21 hexon types among them a genus and three type specific ones and 18 different bi- and multilateral intertype (IT) specific epitopes that grouped adenoviruses within the genus, independently from the subgenus they belong to. Considering that the type specific epitope could be present only on the homologous hexon type, the largest number of the different epitopes distinguishable by the MAbs used could be 20 on the homologous hexon and 19 on the heterologous ones. It was found that the total number of IT specific epitopes on the hexons varied between 2 and 18. The distribution of the distinct specific epitopes on the different hexon types was different, as expected. The antigenic structure of the individual hexon types were characterized by the determination of their IT specific epitope spectrum. By pairwise analysis ten human hexon types formed three epitope clusters (types 4 and 19; types 8, 9, 9/13 and 10; as well as all types of subgenus C) showing identical epitope spectra. No clustering was found with human type 7, 12, 13, 18, 26, 27, 35 and 41, as well as with bovine and simian adenovirus hexons studied. However, they displayed a closer or looser antigenic relationship among each other and to members of the epitope clusters. The degree of antigenic relationship could be expressed by the similarity/dissimilarity percentage calculated from the number of the identical and different epitopes present on any two given hexon types.     

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis can be prevented and cured by infection with Trypanosoma cruzi

Trypanosoma cruzi is an intracellular parasite that induces a strong Th1-type response and immunosuppression during the acute phase of infection. To study how the infection with T. cruzi would modulate the development of an autoimmune disease, we immunized C57BL/6 mice and IL-10 or iNOS knock-out mice of the same background with the encephalitogenic MOG 35-55 peptide and infected them with T. cruzi. Our results demonstrate that infection with T. cruzi completely prevents EAE development and furthermore induces complete and lasting remission in mice that were infected with this parasite after they had developed clinical EAE. Nitric oxide and IL-10 participate in triggering the mechanisms associated with EAE suppression by the infection. Decreased lymphoproliferation and increased frequencies of Annexin-positive cells and of T cells bearing CD95, CD95L or CTLA-4 were observed in the spleen from immunized/infected mice, as well as lower IL-2 and increased TGF-beta production in comparison with only immunized mice. Our results indicate that several effector and regulatory mechanisms of the immune response that arise during the acute phase of T. cruzi infection lastingly affect the expansion and/or effector functions of encephalitogenic cells, preventing the onset or inducing complete remission of EAE.