Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmatic antibodies and lung disease in cystic fibrosis

AbstractBackground: Bactericidal-permeability-increasing protein (BPI) is a potent anti-microbial protein produced by neutrophil granulocytes. Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmatic antibodies (ANCA) directed against BPI have been detected in up to 91% in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of BPI-ANCA in our CF patients and to determine whether presence of BPI-ANCA is correlated with organ damage. Methods: Twenty-four patients performed respiratory function testing and pulmonary high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). HRCT was scored by using a modified Bhalla method. Serum samples were analysed by direct binding enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for BPI-ANCA. Results: The prevalence of anti-BPI-IgG was 71% and anti-BPI-IgA 33%. Twenty-nine percent of our patients were positive for both BPI-ANCA isotypes. Mean HRCT score was 8.0 ranging from 0 to 22, bronchiectasis presented the most common finding (79%). There was a significant correlation between BPI-ANCA and both HRCT score and FEV1 (p<0.01). High levels of BPI-ANCA were correlated to chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection (p<0.01). Conclusions: BPI-ANCA was common in our study group. Highly significant correlations between BPI-ANCA and parameters to evaluate lung disease in CF may be a consequence of the inflammation process, or it may indicate a pathogenic role of BPI-ANCA levels in the development of lung disease. More research is needed and the clinical significance of our findings needs further evaluation

Switching dynamics in cholesteric blue phases

Blue phases are networks of disclination lines, which occur in cholesteric liquid crystals near the transition to the isotropic phase. They have recently been used for the new generation of fast switching liquid crystal displays. Here we study numerically the steady states and switching hydrodynamics of blue phase I (BPI) and blue phase II (BPII) cells subjected to an electric field. When the field is on, there are three regimes: for very weak fields (and strong anchoring at the boundaries) the blue phases are almost unaffected, for intermediate fields the disclinations twist (for BPI) and unzip (for BPII), whereas for very large voltages the network dissolves in the bulk of the cell. Interestingly, we find that a BPII cell can recover its original structure when the field is switched off, whereas a BPI cell is found to be trapped more easily into metastable configurations. The kinetic pathways followed during switching on and off entails dramatic reorganisation of the disclination networks. We also discuss the effect of changing the director field anchoring at the boundary planes and of varying the direction of the applied field.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figure

Functional outcome of neurotization to the musculocutaneous nerve in traumatic brachial plexus injury

Introduction: Neurotization procedures to the elbow flexors are commonly done in traumatic brachial plexus injury (BPI). The objective of this study was to evaluate the recovery of elbow flexors in patients who underwent neurotization procedure to musculocutaneous nerve in the panplexus and upper trunk BPI. Materials and Methods: This was a cross sectional study involving 70 patients who underwent neurotization to elbow flexor. A total of 31 patients (44%) had panplexus injury and 39 (56%) had upper trunk BPI. Elbow flexor motor power and post-operative Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) score were evaluated. Results: The mean age of the patients was 22.7 years. Patients with panplexus BPI underwent neurotization to the elbow flexor using spinal accessory nerve as a donor and patients with upper trunk BPI used either ulnar or median nerve as a donor. The results of elbow flexors recovery in panplexus BPI were good (MRC grade 4 and 5) in 11 patients (35.5%) and poor in 20 patients (64.5%). Conversely, the recovery of elbow flexors in upper trunk BPI were better with 28 patients (71.8%). Good post-operative DASH score (score <50 points) were noted in 29 patients (74.4%) with upper trunk BPI. Only seven patients (22.6%) with panplexus BPI showed good post-operative DASH score. Majority of patients with panplexus BPI demonstrated poor recovery of elbow flexor and post-operative DASH score as compare to upper trunk BPI (p= 0.002). Conclusion: Overall, this study showed significantly better functional outcome of neurotization procedure to elbow flexor in upper trunk BPI than in panplexus BPI

Time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay for bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein

Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) is a cationic antimicrobial protein produced by polymorphonuclear leukocytes, that specifically interacts with and kills Gram-negative bacteria. BPl competes with lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) secreted by liver cells into blood plasma for binding to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and thus reduces the proinflammatory effects of LPS. We have developed a time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay for BPI and measured the concentration of BPI in human serum and plasma samples. The assay is based on a rabbit antibody against recombinant BPI. This antibody specifically adheres to polymorphonuclear leukocytes in immunostained human tissues. The difference in the serum concentration of BPI between unselected hospitalized patients with and without an infection was statistically significant. The mean concentration of BPI in serum samples was 28.3 μg/l (range 1.64–132, S.D. 26.8, n = 83). In contrast, there was no difference between the two groups in the BPI levels in plasma samples. For all individuals tested, BPI levels were consistently higher in plasma samples compared to the matched serum samples. The mean concentration of BPI in plasma samples was 52.3 μg/l (range 0.9–403, S.D. 60.6, n = 90). There was a positive correlation between the concentration of BPI and the white blood cell count as well as between the BPI concentration and C-reactive protein (CRP) in serum samples. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that BPI can be quantified reliably by time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay in human serum samples

Bifunctional Peptide Inhibitors Suppress Interleukin-6 Proliferation and Ameliorates Murine Collagen-Induced Arthritis

This is the published version. Copyright 2014 OMICS InternationalThe objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and potential mechanism of action of type-II collagen bifunctional peptide inhibitor (CII-BPI) molecules in suppressing rheumatoid arthritis in the collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mouse model. CII-BPI molecules (CII-BPI-1, CII-BPI-2, and CII-BPI-3) were formed through conjugation between an antigenic peptide derived from type-II collagen and a cell adhesion peptide LABL (CD11a237-246) from the I-domain of LFA-1 via a linker molecule. The hypothesis is that the CII-BPI molecules simultaneously bind to MHC-II and ICAM-1 on the surface of APC and block maturation of the immunological synapse. As a result, the differentiation of naïve T cells is altered from inflammatory to regulatory and/or suppressor T cells. The efficacies of CII-BPI molecules were evaluated upon intravenous injections in CIA mice. Results showed that CII-BPI-1 and CIIBPI- 2 suppressed the joint inflammations in CIA mice in a dose-dependent manner and were more potent than the respective antigenic peptides alone. CII-BPI-3 was not as efficacious as CII-BPI-1 and CII-BPI-2. Significantly less joint damage was observed in CII-BPI-2 and CII-2 treated mice than in the control. The production of IL-6 was significantly lower at the peak of disease in mice treated with CII-BPI-2 compared to those treated with CII-2 and control. In conclusion, this is the first proof-of-concept study showing that BPI molecules can be used to suppress RA and may be a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

Similarity "Investment Cost Model in Business Process Intelligence in Banking and Electricity Company"

Higher demand from the top management in measuring business process performance causes the incremental implementation of BPM and BI in the enterprise. The problem faced by top managements is how to integrate their data from all system used to support the business and process the data become information that able to support the decision-making processes. Our literature review elaborates several implementations of BPI on companies in Australia and Germany, challenges faced by organizations in developing BPI solution in their organizations and some cost model to calculate the investment of BPI solutions. This paper shows the success in BPI application of banks and assurance companies in German and electricity work in Australia aims to give a vision about the importance of BPI application. Many challenges in BPI application of companies in German and Australia, BPI solution, and data warehouse design development have been discussed to add insight in future BPI development. And the last is an explanation about how to analyze cost associated with BPI solution investment

Can cancer patients assess the influence of pain on functions? A randomised, controlled study of the pain interference items in the Brief Pain Inventory

BACKGROUND: The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) is recommended as a pain measurement tool by the Expert Working Group of the European Association of Palliative Care. The BPI is designed to assess both pain severity and interference with functions caused by pain. The purpose of this study was to investigate if pain interference items are influenced by other factors than pain. METHODS: We asked adult cancer patients to complete the original and a revised BPI on two study days. In the original version of the BPI the patients were asked how, during the last 24 hours, pain has interfered with functions. In the revised BPI this question was changed to how, during the last 24 hours, these functions are affected in general. Heath related quality of life was assessed at both study days applying the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire. RESULTS: Forty-eight of the 55 included patients completed both assessments. The BPI pain intensities scores and the health related quality of life scores were similar at the two study days. Except for mood this study observed no significant distinctions between the patients' BPI interference items scores in the original (pain influence on function) and the revised BPI (function in general). Seventeen patients reported higher influence from pain on functions than the total influence on function from all causes. CONCLUSION: We observed similar scores in the original BPI interference scores (pain influence on function) compared with the revised BPI interference scores (decreased function in general). This finding might imply that the BPI interference scale measures are partly responded to as more of a global interference measure