Search results for "pathogen"
showing 10 items of 1657 documents
Serum lipoproteins are not associated with the severity of asthma
2018
Abstract Background Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the bronchi with a complicated and largely unknown pathogenesis . In this context, an emerging role is attributed to the apolipoproteins which serve as structural components of plasma lipoproteins . Low density lipoproteins (LDL) may be involved in the inflammatory pathways of the asthmatic airways; in particular, small dense LDL (sdLDL) particles were associated with increased oxidative susceptibility compared to medium and large sized LDL. In our previous study, we found a positive correlation between forced expiratory volume 1 s (FEV 1) % predicted and larger LDL particles (LDL-1), and an inverse correlation between FEV1% p…
Increased expression of the homeostatic chemokines CCL19 and CCL21 in clinical and experimental Rickettsia conorii infection
2013
Background: Based on their essential role in concerting immunological and inflammatory responses we hypothesized that the homeostatic chemokines CCL19 and CCL21 may play a pathogenic role in rickettsiae infection. Methods: Serum levels of CCL19 and CCL21 in patients with R. africae and R. conorii infection were analyzed by enzyme immunoassays. Lungs from R. conorii infected mice were examined for CCL19, CCL21 and CCR7 expression by immunohistochemistry. Results: We found that patients with R. africae infection (n = 15) and in particular those with R. conorii infection (n = 16) had elevated serum levels of CCL19 on admission, with a decline during follow-up. While a similar pattern was seen …
Neutralizing antibody and clinical status of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals
1989
An assay based on inhibition of cytopathic effect of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) strains in Molt 4 cells was developed to quantitate neutralizing antibodies (NA) in sera of HIV-infected individuals. The assay was specific and gave results comparable to those obtained by the inhibition of immunofluorescence (IFI) and reverse transcriptase (RT) activity. Attempts were made to correlate the presence and the antibody titres with the clinical status of HIV-infected individuals classified according to Walter Reed staging classification scheme. NA titres correlated inversely with the stage of HIV infection: Compared with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients, HIV-infected subje…
A CTLA4high genotype is associated with myasthenia gravis in thymoma patients
2005
Myasthenia gravis (MG) in thymoma patients depends critically on intratumorous generation and export of mature autoreactive CD4+ T cells. Why non-MG thymomas fail to produce CD4+ T cells is unknown. We studied three single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte–associated antigen 4(CTLA4) gene in thymoma patients, nonthymoma early-onset MG patients, and control subjects. Surprisingly, the CTLA4high genotype +49A/A, which is protective against several autoimmune diseases, exerted a prominent predisposing effect to paraneoplastic MG in thymoma patients. The unusual disease association with a CTLA4high genotype implies a unique pathogenesis of paraneoplastic MG, with high CTLA4…
Immunohistochemical analysis of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and p53 expression in pterygium from Tunisian patients.
2009
A pterygium is characterized by abnormal fibrovascular corneoconjunctival tissue. A number of investigations have attempted to elucidate this incompletely understood pathology. Since vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and p53 are known to participate in tumor vascularization, our purpose was to study VEGF and p53 expression in active primary and recurrent pterygium from Tunisian patients. To this end, 15 cases of active primary pterygium and five cases of recurrent pterygium from Tunisia were studied by immunohistochemistry. Antibodies raised against VEGF and p53 were used to analyze the distribution and expression of these markers in pterygium and normal human conjunctiva were used …
Effects of a nutraceutical formulation based on the combination of antioxidants and ω-3 essential fatty acids in the expression of inflamma…
2013
Maria D Pinazo-Durán,1,* Carmen Galbis-Estrada,1,* Sheila Pons-Vázquez,1 Jorge Cantú-Dibildox,2 Carla Marco-Ramírez,1 Javier Benítez-del-Castillo21Ophthalmic Research Unit Santiago Grisolia, Department of Surgery/Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital of Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain*These authors contributed equally to this workBackground: Women, and those older than 65 years of age, are particularly susceptible to dry eye disorders (DEDs). Inflammation is clearly involved in the pathogenesis of DEDs, and there is mounting evidence on the antioxidant and …
Elevated protein carbonyl and HIF-1α levels in eyes with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.
2013
Purpose: To evaluate the role of protein carbonyls and hypoxia inducible factor-1a (HIF-1a) in diabetic eyes with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Methods: Prospective consecutive controlled observational study was performed. Vitreous samples were collected at the start of the 3-ppp vitrectomy. Protein carbonylation analysis was performed by Western blotting with antibody against 2,4-Dinitrophenol (anti-DNP), following derivatization of protein carbonyls with 2,4 Dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNHP). Protein carbonylation was quantified by scanning densitometry analysis and relativized to the total amount of protein into the ponceau staining of membranes. Vitreous HIF-1 a was determined w…
Clinical impact of broad-spectrum empirical antibiotic therapy in patients with healthcare-associated pneumonia: a multicenter interventional study
2012
Healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) has been proposed as a new category of pneumonia distinct from community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). A multicenter observational study in 2008 finds that patients with HCAP have a mortality rate significantly higher than patients with CAP, and a worse outcome is associated at logistic regression analysis with a low adherence to empirical antibiotic therapy recommended by ATS/IDSA guidelines. We designed a prospective interventional study to establish whether administration of a broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy consistent with the 2005 ATS/IDSA guidelines has an effect on the clinical outcome of hospitalized patients with HCAP. All patients with HCAP pro…
MFAP5 Loss-of-Function Mutations Underscore the Involvement of Matrix Alteration in the Pathogenesis of Familial Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms and Dissec…
2014
Thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection (TAAD) is an autosomal-dominant disorder with major life-threatening complications. The disease displays great genetic heterogeneity with some forms allelic to Marfan and Loeys-Dietz syndrome, and an important number of cases still remain unexplained at the molecular level. Through whole-exome sequencing of affected members in a large TAAD-affected family, we identified the c.472CT (p.Arg158(∗)) nonsense mutation in MFAP5 encoding the extracellular matrix component MAGP-2. This protein interacts with elastin fibers and the microfibrillar network. Mutation screening of 403 additional probands identified an additional missense mutation of MFAP5 (c.62GT …
Thyroid Stimulating Antibodies Are Highly Prevalent in Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and Associated Orbitopathy
2016
Thyroid-associated orbitopathy (TAO) rarely occurs in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT).There is evidence that TSH receptor stimulating antibodies (TSAb) play a role in the pathogenesis of TAO. In this report, the prevalence of TSAb in HT patients with and without TAO was studied.This is a longitudinal observational study.The study took place in an academic joint thyroid-eye clinic.A total of 1055 subjects were included.TSAb was measured with a Food and Drug Administration-cleared bioassay that uses Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing a chimeric TSH receptor and a cAMP response element-dependent luciferase. Results of TSAb activity were reported as percentage of specimen-to-refe…