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Dendritic Cell-Specific Deletion of β-Catenin Results in Fewer Regulatory T-Cells without Exacerbating Autoimmune Collagen-Induced Arthritis.
2015
Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen presenting cells that have the dual ability to stimulate immunity and maintain tolerance. However, the signalling pathways mediating tolerogenic DC function in vivo remain largely unknown. The beta-catenin pathway has been suggested to promote a regulatory DC phenotype. The aim of this study was to unravel the role of beta-catenin signalling to control DC function in the autoimmune collagen-induced arthritis model (CIA). Deletion of beta-catenin specifically in DCs was achieved by crossing conditional knockout mice with a CD11c-Cre transgenic mouse line. Bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs) were generated and used to study the maturation profile of …
Spontaneous labour at term is associated with fetal monocyte activation.
1999
SUMMARYThe aetiology of both term and preterm labour remains incompletely understood. Maternal infectious diseases as well as intra-uterine infections were shown to be a well established cause of uncontrollable preterm delivery, indicating that inflammatory reactions, regulated by maternal immunecompetent cells, are implicated in labour-promoting mechanisms. To investigate the possibility that the activation of the fetal immune system may be involved in labour induction, we examined cytokine production patterns of different cord blood cell populations obtained from neonates after spontaneous onset of normal term labour and vaginal delivery (n = 25), vaginal delivery but induced term labour …
T cell–mediated response to SARS‐CoV‐2 in liver transplant recipients with prior COVID‐19
2021
Abstract Whether immunosuppression impairs severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2‐specific T‐cell‐mediated immunity (SARS‐CoV‐2‐CMI) after liver transplantation (LT) remains unknown. We included 31 LT recipients in whom SARS‐CoV‐2‐CMI was assessed by intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) and interferon (IFN)‐γ FluoroSpot assay after a median of 103 days from COVID‐19 diagnosis. Serum SARS‐CoV‐2 IgG antibodies were measured by ELISA. A control group of non‐transplant immunocompetent patients were matched (1:1 ratio) by age and time from diagnosis. Post‐transplant SARS‐CoV‐2‐CMI was detected by ICS in 90.3% (28/31) of recipients, with higher proportions for IFN‐γ‐producing CD4+ than …
Mid- to Long-Term Outcomes of Cervical Disc Arthroplasty versus Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion for Treatment of Symptomatic Cervical Disc Di…
2015
Purpose This study aimed to investigate the mid- to long-term outcomes of cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA) versus anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) for the treatment of 1-level or 2-level symptomatic cervical disc disease. Methods Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases were searched to identify relevant randomized controlled trials that reported mid- to long-term outcomes (at least 48 months) of CDA versus ACDF. All data were analyzed by Review Manager 5.3 software. The relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for dichotomous variables. The weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95%CIs were calculated for conti…
Bacteriophage Adherence to Mucus Mediates Preventive Protection against Pathogenic Bacteria
2019
The mucosal surfaces of animals are habitat for microbes, including viruses. Bacteriophages—viruses that infect bacteria—were shown to be able to bind to mucus. This may result in a symbiotic relationship in which phages find bacterial hosts to infect, protecting the mucus-producing animal from bacterial infections in the process. Here, we studied phage binding on mucus and the effect of mucin on phage-bacterium interactions. The significance of our research is in showing that phage adhesion to mucus results in preventive protection against bacterial infections, which will serve as basis for the development of prophylactic phage therapy approaches. Besides, we also reveal that exposure to m…
What we learn about bipolar disorder from large-scale neuroimaging
2020
Abstract MRI‐derived brain measures offer a link between genes, the environment and behavior and have been widely studied in bipolar disorder (BD). However, many neuroimaging studies of BD have been underpowered, leading to varied results and uncertainty regarding effects. The Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta‐Analysis (ENIGMA) Bipolar Disorder Working Group was formed in 2012 to empower discoveries, generate consensus findings and inform future hypothesis‐driven studies of BD. Through this effort, over 150 researchers from 20 countries and 55 institutions pool data and resources to produce the largest neuroimaging studies of BD ever conducted. The ENIGMA Bipolar Disorder Workin…
Impairment in Theory of Mind in Parkinson's Disease Is Explained by Deficits in Inhibition
2019
Objective: Several studies have reported that people with Parkinson's disease (PD) perform poorly on tests of Theory of Mind' (ToM), suggesting impairment in the ability to understand and infer other people's thoughts and feelings. However, few studies have sought to separate the processes involved in social reasoning from those involved in managing the inhibitory demands on these tests. In this study, we investigated the contribution of inhibition to ToM performance in PD. Methods. 18 PD patients and 22 age-matched healthy controls performed a ToM test that separates the ability to infer someone else's perspective from the ability to inhibit one's own. Participants also completed a battery…
Microbiome: pro-inflammatory Prevotella?
2013
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a prevalent systemic autoimmune disease, caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Animal models suggest a role for intestinal bacteria in supporting the systemic immune response required for joint inflammation. Here we performed 16S sequencing on 114 stool samples from rheumatoid arthritis patients and controls, and shotgun sequencing on a subset of 44 such samples. We identified the presence of Prevotella copri as strongly correlated with disease in new-onset untreated rheumatoid arthritis (NORA) patients. Increases in Prevotella abundance correlated with a reduction in Bacteroides and a loss of reportedly beneficial microbes in NORA subjec…
Tuberculosis among Migrant Populations in Sicily: A Field Report
2021
Background. In the EU, tuberculosis (TB) mainly affects vulnerable people, including migrants. From 2014 to 2017, we have estimated the frequency of both tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among the migrant population hosted in 41 reception centers in western Sicily (ITaCA network). Materials and Methods. All migrants were consecutively recruited for the screening of TB infection with physical examination and TST in 1,020 migrants and with IGRA in the others 2,690. The screening was carried out 4–8 weeks after landing in Sicily. For all migrants with a positive screening test, chest X-ray and smear examination were performed. LTBI was defined by positivity of TST or IGRA …
Examining mediators of change in wellbeing, stress, and depression in a blended, Internet-based, ACT intervention for university students
2020
A coach-guided Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention that uses a blended approach of two face-to-face and five online sessions (iACT; N = 33) has been found to be more effective than a waiting-list control condition (WLC; N = 35) at enhancing the wellbeing of university students while also reducing stress and depression. The present study explored possible mediators of change that may account for the outcomes of the study. Mediation analyses revealed that changes in the non-reactivity subscale of mindfulness mediated changes in wellbeing, depression, and stress in the iACT group. In addition, changes in the sense of coherence subscale of meaningfulness mediated changes in all…