Search results for "Bacterial Infections"

Effectiveness of a new method of disinfecting the root canal, using Er, Cr:YSGG laser to kill Enterococcus faecalis in an infected tooth model.

2013

Some lasers have demonstrated to provide effective disinfection when used as adjunctive device to the conventional treatment. The aim of this in vitro study was to determine the effectiveness of the erbium, chromium:yttrium scandium gallium garnet (Er, Cr:YSGG) laser by measuring its bactericidal effect inside the root canal experimentally colonized with Enterococcus faecalis. The laser was tested at different irradiation times (30 and 60 s) and energy of impulses (75 and 25 mJ). A total of 52 single-rooted extracted human teeth were endodontically prepared with rotary instrumentation. All were sterilized and inoculated with a suspension of E. faecalis (105 bacteria/ml). The teeth were rand…

Novel pathogenic mechanism of microbial metalloproteinases: liberation of membrane-anchored molecules in biologically active form exemplified by stud…

1996

Certain membrane-anchored proteins, including several cytokines and cytokine receptors, can be released into cell supernatants through the action of endogenous membrane-bound metalloproteinases. The shed molecules are then able to fulfill various biological functions; for example, soluble interleukin-6 receptor (sIL-6R) can bind to bystander cells, rendering these cells sensitive to the action of IL-6. Using IL-6R as a model substrate, we report that the metalloproteinase from Serratia marcescens mimics the action of the endogenous shedding proteinase. Treatment of human monocytes with the bacterial protease led to a rapid release of sIL-6R into the supernatant. This effect was inhibitable …

Activity of lupane triterpenoids from Maytenus species as inhibitors of nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2

2005

In the present study, we report that three new lupane triterpenes (1-3), in addition to 16 known ones (4-19), were isolated from the root bark of Maytenus cuzcoina and the leaves of Maytenus chiapensis. Their structures were elucidated by spectral analysis, including homonuclear and heteronuclear correlation NMR experiments (COSY, ROESY, HSQC, and HMBC). The natural compounds and derivatives 6a, 6b, 9a, and 9b have been tested for potential anti-inflammatory activity, and several compounds including 3-epicalenduladiol (2), 11alpha-hydroxy-glochidone (3), rigidenol (6), acetoxy-rigidenol (6a), 11alpha-acetoxy-30-chloro-3-oxo-lup-20(29)-ene (6b), betulin (9), 28-acetoxy-betulin (9a), epibetul…

Quantifying the limits of transition state theory in enzymatic catalysis

2017

Significance Transition state theory (TST) is the most popular theory to calculate the rates of enzymatic reactions. However, in some cases TST could fail due to the violation of the nonrecrossing hypothesis at the transition state. In the present work we show that even for one of the most controversial enzymatic reactions—the hydride transfer catalyzed by dihydrofolate reductase—the error associated to TST represents only a minor correction to the reaction rate. Moreover, this error is actually larger for the reaction in solution than in the enzymatic active site. Based on this finding and on previous studies we propose an “enzymatic shielding” hypothesis which encompasses various aspects …

Cluster of Legionnaires’ Disease in an Italian Prison

2019

Background: Legionella pneumophila (Lp) is the most common etiologic agent causing Legionnaires&rsquo

Generation of GAL4-responsive muscleblind constructs

2002

The muscleblind (mbl) gene encodes protein isoforms Mbl A to Mbl D, which arise by alternative splicing from a common primary transcript. Mbl A, B, and C contain two Zn-finger domains of the type Cys3His, while Mbl D contains only one complete Zn finger. Loss of function mutations in the gene reveal that mbl is involved in both terminal photoreceptor and muscle differentiation in Drosophila. During retina development mbl is essential for rhabdomere differentiation in photoreceptor neuron. Clones homozygous null for mbl completely lack these lightharvesting structures (Begemann et al., 1997). Similarly, the terminal differentiation of the larval body wall muscles is compromised in mbl mutant…

Helicobacter pylori gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and vacuolating cytotoxin promote gastric persistence and immune tolerance

2013

Infection with the gastric bacterial pathogen Helicobacter pylori is typically contracted in early childhood and often persists for decades. The immunomodulatory properties of H. pylori that allow it to colonize humans persistently are believed to also account for H. pylori ’s protective effects against allergic and chronic inflammatory diseases. H. pylori infection efficiently reprograms dendritic cells (DCs) toward a tolerogenic phenotype and induces regulatory T cells (Tregs) with highly suppressive activity in models of allergen-induced asthma. We show here that two H. pylori virulence determinants, the γ-glutamyl transpeptidase GGT and the vacuolating cytotoxin VacA, contribute critic…

208: Impact of posaconazole (POS) vs fluconazole (FLU) on cyclosporine (CsA) and tacrolimus (TAC) dosing in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT)…

2007

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Immune Response in Patients With Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Disease

2021

Subjects with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID), such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), have an intrinsic higher probability to develop active-tuberculosis (TB) compared to the general population. The risk ranges from 2.0 to 8.9 in RA patients not receiving therapies. According to the WHO, the RA prevalence varies between 0.3% and 1% and is more common in women and in developed countries. Therefore, the identification and treatment of TB infection (TBI) in this fragile population is important to propose the TB preventive therapy. We aimed to study the M. tuberculosis (Mtb) specific T-cell response to find immune biomarkers of Mtb burden or Mtb clearance in patients with different TB …

IL-4 depletion enhances host resistance and passive IgA protection against tuberculosis infection in BALB/c mice.

2007

The influence of Th2 cytokines in tuberculosis has been a matter of dispute. Here we report that IL-4 has a profound regulatory effect on the infection of BALB/c mice with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Depletion of IL-4 with a neutralizing mAb caused only evanescent reduction of lung infection, but when combined with i.n. inoculations of IgA anti-mycobacterial alpha-crystallin mAb and mouse rIFN-gamma, we observed a 40-fold reduction of the bacterial counts in the lungs at 3 wks following i.n. infection (p<0.001). In genetically deficient IL-4-/- BALB/c mice, infection in both lung and spleen was substantially reduced for up to 8 wks without further treatment. Reconstitution of IL-4-/- mice w…