Analysis of the immune response of calves to various saponin-based adjuvants for an experimental Mycoplasma bovis vaccine

Mycoplasma bovis is a primary infectious agent of many disorders in cattle including bovine respiratory disease. No commercial vaccines against M. bovis are available in Europe. The immune response of calves to three saponin-based adjuvants combined with a field Polish M. bovis strain was evaluated. Four groups of six calves each were injected subcutaneously with the M. bovis strain combined with either saponin, saponin + Emulsigen®, saponin + Emulsigen® + alphatocopherol acetate, or with phosphate-buffered saline as control group. Blood and nasal swab samples were collected up to day 84 post injection. All formulations effectively stimulated the humoral and the cellular immune response of the calves, but the course of the response depended on the adjuvant formulation. These immunological data provide additional information supporting the findings of previous M. bovis saponin and Emulsigen® vaccine challenge studies to facilitate the development of successful M. bovis vaccines

Cryptic SARS-CoV-2 lineage identified on two mink farms as a possible result of long-term undetected circulation in an unknown animal reservoir, Poland, November 2022 to January 2023

In late 2022 and early 2023, SARS-CoV-2 infections were detected on three mink farms in Poland situated within a few km from each other. Whole-genome sequencing of the viruses on two of the farms showed that they were related to a virus identified in humans in the same region 2 years before (B.1.1.307 lineage). Many mutations were found, including in the S protein typical of adaptations to the mink host. The origin of the virus remains to be determined.</p

Gut resistome of NSCLC patients treated with immunotherapy

BackgroundThe newest method of treatment for patients with NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer) is immunotherapy directed at the immune checkpoints PD-1 (Programmed Cell Death 1) and PD-L1 (Programmed Cell Death Ligand 1). PD-L1 is the only validated predictor factor for immunotherapy efficacy, but it is imperfect. Some patients do not benefit from immunotherapy and may develop primary or secondary resistance. This study aimed to assess the intestinal resistome composition of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors in the context of clinical features and potentially new prediction factors for assessing immunotherapy efficacy.MethodsThe study included 30 advanced NSCLC patients, 19 (57%) men and 11 (33%) women treated with first- or second-line immunotherapy (nivolumab, pembrolizumab or atezolizumab). We evaluated the patient’s gut resistome composition using the high sensitivity of targeted metagenomics.ResultsStudies have shown that resistome richness is associated with clinical and demographic factors of NSCLC patients treated with immunotherapy. Smoking seems to be associated with an increased abundance of macrolides, lincosamides, streptogramins and vancomycin core resistome. The resistome of patients with progression disease appears to be more abundant and diverse, with significantly higher levels of genomic markers of resistance to lincosamides (lnuC). The resistance genes lnuC, msrD, ermG, aph(6), fosA were correlated with progression-free survival or/and overall survival, thus may be considered as factors potentially impacting the disease.ConclusionThe results indicate that the intestinal resistome of NSCLC patients with immune checkpoint inhibitors treatment differs depending on the response to immunotherapy, with several distinguished markers. Since it might impact treatment efficacy, it must be examined more deeply

Does "want equal can": self-regulation processes vs. resilience efficiency

W niniejszej pracy podjęto próbę analizy wzajemnych relacji pomiędzy takimi konstruktami jak samokontrola w znaczeniu kontroli działania Juliusa Kuhla, samoregulacja zachowania celowego w odniesieniu do sprawności w zakresie funkcji wykonawczych ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem uwagi, jej kontroli i przerzutności a prężnością psychiczną traktowaną jako względnie stałą cechę osobowości. Głównym celem podjętego badania była weryfikacja założenia mówiącego o tym, że wysoka sprawność procesów samokontroli i samoregulacji zachowania celowego (intencjonalnego) będzie charakteryzować osoby prężne psychicznie (posiadające wysoki poziom rezyliencji). Eksplorowano również związki pomiędzy poszczególnymi czynnikami zmiennych. Głowna hipoteza została częściowo potwierdzona, ponieważ badanie wykazało silną zależność pomiędzy orientacją na działanie (wymiar sprawnej samokontroli) a prężnością psychiczną.Natomiast nie została potwierdzona hipoteza mówiąca o pozytywnym związku elastyczności poznawczej, która w badaniu była mierzona za pomocą testu przełączania między zadaniami w wersji Switcher v2 oraz Skali Kontroli Uwagowej z prężnością psychiczną. Powyższy wynik może być powodem złego doboru narzędzi badawczych do badanego komponentu elastyczności poznawczej.In the following work, a task was undertaken to analyze mutual relations between constructs such as self-control ( in the meaning of action control (Julius Kuhla), self-regulation of conscious goal-oriented action( in reference to one's capability in executive function (EF), especially including attention (attentional control and attentional switching) and a psychological resilience treated as a relatively constant personality trait.The main goal of the undertook study was to verify the assumption that a high efficiency in self-control process and self-regulation processes are a typical personality trait of resilient people (with a high level of resilience). The relation between individual variable factors was also examined. The hypothesis was partially confirmed. The study showed a strong relation between being action oriented and resilience. Nevertheless, the hypothesis of the relation between attentional control and resilience was not confirmed, what could have been caused by the improper choice of research tools

Application of in situ PCR for the Detection of Bovine Leukaemia Virus (BLV) Infection in Dendritic Cell cultures

The aim of the study was to develop an in situ PCR (IS-PCR) method for detection of bovine leukemia virus (BLV) in cell cultures. Samples from five BLV positive and five BLV negative cows were collected and dendritic cells (DCs) from blood, bone marrow, spleen, and lymph node were cultured. Cultures prepared from healthy animals were infected with BLV. After two weeks, the cells were tested by nested PCR and IS-PCR for the presence of proviral DNA. As a positive control adherent cell line permanently infected with BLV was used. BLV was successfully detected by IS-PCR in DCs from naturally infected cattle and DCs infected in vitro. In control, non-infected DCs, the results of the reaction were negative. The results of provirus detection by IS-PCR were similar with these performed with nested PCR. Additionally, IS-PCR provides many advantages, like specific localisation of infection and smaller number of cells needed as template for PCR

High-throughput sequencing as a potential tool in the quality control of infectious bronchitis vaccines

In Europe, veterinary vaccines are strictly controlled by the Official Medicines Control Laboratories (OMCLs) of the General European OMCL Network, coordinated by the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare. Despite a meticulous verification programme for immunological veterinary medicinal products (IVMPs), the products’ genomic composition has not yet been subject to evaluation in veterinary pharmacy

A Turkey-origin H9N2 Avian Influenza Virus Shows Low Pathogenicity but Different Within-host Diversity in Experimentally Infected Turkeys, Quail and Ducks

Avian influenza virus (AIV) is a highly diverse and widespread poultry pathogen. Its evolution and adaptation may be affected by multiple host and ecological factors, which are still poorly understood. In the present study, a turkey-origin H9N2 AIV was used as a model to investigate the within-host diversity of the virus in turkeys, quail and ducks in conjunction with the clinical course, shedding and seroconversion. Ten birds were inoculated oculonasally with a dose of 106 EID50 of the virus and monitored for 14 days. Virus shedding, transmission and seroconversion were evaluated, and swabs collected at selected time-points were characterized in deep sequencing to assess virus diversity. In general, the virus showed low pathogenicity for the examined bird species, but differences in shedding patterns, seroconversion and clinical outcome were noted. The highest heterogeneity of the virus population as measured by the number of single nucleotide polymorphisms and Shannon entropy was found in oropharyngeal swabs from quail, followed by turkeys and ducks. This suggests a strong bottleneck was imposed on the virus during replication in ducks, which can be explained by its poor adaptation and stronger selection pressure in waterfowl. The high within-host virus diversity in quail with high level of respiratory shedding and asymptomatic course of infection may contribute to our understanding of the role of quail as an intermediate host for adaptation of AIV to other species of poultry. In contrast, low virus complexity was observed in cloacal swabs, mainly from turkeys, showing that the within-host diversity may vary between different replication sites. Consequences of these observations on the virus evolution and adaptation require further investigation

The first description of the complete genome sequence of multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar monophasic Typhimurium (1,4,[5],12:i:-) isolate with the mcr-1.1 gene on IncHI2 found in pig in Poland

Monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium (1,4,[5],12:i:-) is one of the leading Salmonella serovars causing human salmonellosis in Europe. It has been observed in Poland since 2008. This serovar is considered the one with the highest rate of mcr prevalence. This report presents a sequence characteristic of the multidrug-resistant (MDR) monophasic S. Typhimurium isolated from a pig faecal sample with the confirmed presence of the mcr-1.1 gene. The genome was assembled into the complete chromosome and 4 plasmids: IncHI2 (232 119 bp), IncFIB/IncFIC (133 901 bp), ColRNAI (6659 bp), and Col8282 (4066bp). The strain identified as ST34 carried multiple antimicrobial resistance genes located both on chromosome (tet(B)) and plasmids: mcr-1.1 and blaTEM-1B on ST4-IncHI2, and mef(B), blaTEM-1B, aadA1, qacL, dfrA12, aadA2, cmlA1, sul3, tet(M) on IncFIB/FIC. The mcr-1.1 gene was previously identified in E. coli deriving mainly from poultry, but this is the first case of the occurrence of mcr-positive Salmonella in Poland. The obtained results of analysis of the genome content draw attention to the problem of multidrug-resistant pathogens, especially in the context of resistance to colistin which is a last-resort antimicrobial

The Mitochondria-Independent Cytotoxic Effect of Leflunomide on RPMI-8226 Multiple Myeloma Cell Line

Leflunomide, an anti-inflammatory agent, has been shown to be effective in multiple myeloma (MM) treatment; however, the mechanism of this phenomenon has not been fully elucidated. The aim of the study was to assess the role of mitochondria and dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) inhibition in the cytotoxicity of leflunomide in relation to the MM cell line RPMI 8226. The cytotoxic effect of teriflunomide—an active metabolite of leflunomide—was determined using MTT assay, apoptosis detection, and cell cycle analysis. To evaluate DHODH-dependent toxicity, the cultures treated with teriflunomide were supplemented with uridine. Additionally, the level of cellular thiols as oxidative stress symptom was measured as well as mitochondrial membrane potential and protein tyrosine kinases (PTK) activity. The localization of the compound in cell compartments was examined using HPLC method. Teriflunomide cytotoxicity was not abolished in uridine presence. Observed apoptosis occurred in a mitochondria-independent manner, there was also no decrease in cellular thiols level. Teriflunomide arrested cell cycle in the G2/M phase which is not typical for DHODH deficiency. PTK activity was decreased only at the highest drug concentration. Interestingly, teriflunomide was not detected in the mitochondria. The aforementioned results indicate DHODH- and mitochondria-independent mechanism of leflunomide toxicity against RPMI 8226 cell line