Respiratory antiviral immunity and immunobiotics: Beneficial effects on inflammation-coagulation interaction during influenza virus infection

Influenza virus (IFV) is a major respiratory pathogen of global importance, and the cause of a high degree of morbidity and mortality, especially in high-risk populations such as infants, elderly, and immunocompromised hosts. Given its high capacity to change antigenically, acquired immunity is often not effective to limit IFV infection and therefore vaccination must be constantly redesigned to achieve effective protection. Improvement of respiratory and systemic innate immune mechanisms has been proposed to reduce the incidence and severity of IFV disease. In the last decade, several research works have demonstrated that microbes with the capacity to modulate the mucosal immune system (immunobiotics) are a potential alternative to beneficially modulate the outcome of IFV infection. This review provides an update of the current status on the modulation of respiratory immunity by orally and nasally administered immunobiotics, and their beneficial impact on IFV clearance and inflammatory-mediated lung tissue damage. In particular, we describe the research of our group that investigated the influence of immunobiotics on inflammation-coagulation interactions during IFV infection. Studies have clearly demonstrated that hostile inflammation is accompanied by dysfunctional coagulation in respiratory IFV disease, and our investigations have proved that some immunobiotic strains are able to reduce viral disease severity through their capacity to modulate the immune-coagulative responses in the respiratory tract.Fil: Zelaya, María Hortensia del Rosario. Grupo de Investigación de Inmunobioticos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia. Instituto de Bioquímica Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Alvarez, Gladis Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Centro de Referencia Para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Grupo de Investigación de Inmunobioticos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia. Instituto de Bioquímica Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Kitazawa, Haruki. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Villena, Julio Cesar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Centro de Referencia Para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Grupo de Investigación de Inmunobioticos; Argentin

Dimensional Changes of Upper Airway after Rapid Maxillary Expansion: A Prospective Cone-beam Computed Tomography Study

Introduction: The aim of this prospective study was to use cone-beam computed tomography to assess the dimensional changes of the upper airway in orthodontic patients with maxillary constriction treated by rapid maxillary expansion. Methods: Fourteen orthodontic patients (mean age, 12.9 years; range, 9.7-16 years) were recruited. The patients with posterior crossbite and constricted maxilla were treated with rapid maxillary expansion as the initial part of their comprehensive orthodontic treatments. Before and after rapid maxillary expansion conebeam computed tomography scans were taken to measure the retropalatal and retroglossal airway changes in terms of volume, and sagittal and cross-sectional areas. The transverse expansions by rapid maxillary expansion were assessed between the midlingual alveolar bone plates at the maxillary first molar and first premolar levels. The measurements of the before and after rapid maxillary expansion scans were compared by using paired t tests with the Bonferroni adjustment for multiple comparisons. Results: After rapid maxillary expansion, significant and equal amounts of 4.8 mm of expansion were observed at the first molar (P 5 0.0000) and the first premolar (P 5 0.0000) levels. The width increase at the first premolar level (20.0%) was significantly greater than that at the first molar level (15.0%) (P 5 0.035). As the primary outcome variable, the cross-sectional airway measured from the posterior nasal spine to basion level was the only parameter showing a significant increase of 99.4 mm2 (59.6%) after rapid maxillary expansion (P 5 0.0004). Conclusions: These results confirm the findings of previous studies of the effect of rapid maxillary expansion on the maxilla. Additionally, we found that only the cross-sectional area of the upper airway at the posterior nasal spine to basion level significantly gains a moderate increase after rapid maxillary expansion

Keratoprostheses for corneal blindness: a review of contemporary devices

According to the World Health Organization, globally 4.9 million are blind due to corneal pathology. Corneal transplantation is successful and curative of the blindness for a majority of these cases. However, it is less successful in a number of diseases that produce corneal neovascularization, dry ocular surface and recurrent inflammation, or infections. A keratoprosthesis or KPro is the only alternative to restore vision when corneal graft is a doomed failure. Although a number of KPros have been proposed, only two devices, Boston type-1 KPro and osteo-odonto-KPro, have came to the fore. The former is totally synthetic and the latter is semi-biological in constitution. These two KPros have different surgical techniques and indications. Keratoprosthetic surgery is complex and should only be undertaken in specialized centers, where expertise, multidisciplinary teams, and resources are available. In this article, we briefly discuss some of the prominent historical KPros and contemporary devices

Synthetic Nanoparticles for Vaccines and Immunotherapy

The immune system plays a critical role in our health. No other component of human physiology plays a decisive role in as diverse an array of maladies, from deadly diseases with which we are all familiar to equally terrible esoteric conditions: HIV, malaria, pneumococcal and influenza infections; cancer; atherosclerosis; autoimmune diseases such as lupus, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. The importance of understanding the function of the immune system and learning how to modulate immunity to protect against or treat disease thus cannot be overstated. Fortunately, we are entering an exciting era where the science of immunology is defining pathways for the rational manipulation of the immune system at the cellular and molecular level, and this understanding is leading to dramatic advances in the clinic that are transforming the future of medicine.1,2 These initial advances are being made primarily through biologic drugs– recombinant proteins (especially antibodies) or patient-derived cell therapies– but exciting data from preclinical studies suggest that a marriage of approaches based in biotechnology with the materials science and chemistry of nanomaterials, especially nanoparticles, could enable more effective and safer immune engineering strategies. This review will examine these nanoparticle-based strategies to immune modulation in detail, and discuss the promise and outstanding challenges facing the field of immune engineering from a chemical biology/materials engineering perspectiveNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grants AI111860, CA174795, CA172164, AI091693, and AI095109)United States. Department of Defense (W911NF-13-D-0001 and Awards W911NF-07-D-0004

Influenza and memory T cells : how to awake the force

Annual influenza vaccination is an effective way to prevent human influenza. Current vaccines are mainly focused on eliciting a strain-matched humoral immune response, requiring yearly updates, and do not provide protection for all vaccinated individuals. The past few years, the importance of cellular immunity, and especially memory T cells, in long-lived protection against influenza virus has become clear. To overcome the shortcomings of current influenza vaccines, eliciting both humoral and cellular immunity is imperative. Today, several new vaccines such as infection-permissive and recombinant T cell inducing vaccines, are being developed and show promising results. These vaccines will allow us to stay several steps ahead of the constantly evolving influenza virus

To respond or not to respond - a personal perspective of intestinal tolerance

For many years, the intestine was one of the poor relations of the immunology world, being a realm inhabited mostly by specialists and those interested in unusual phenomena. However, this has changed dramatically in recent years with the realization of how important the microbiota is in shaping immune function throughout the body, and almost every major immunology institution now includes the intestine as an area of interest. One of the most important aspects of the intestinal immune system is how it discriminates carefully between harmless and harmful antigens, in particular, its ability to generate active tolerance to materials such as commensal bacteria and food proteins. This phenomenon has been recognized for more than 100 years, and it is essential for preventing inflammatory disease in the intestine, but its basis remains enigmatic. Here, I discuss the progress that has been made in understanding oral tolerance during my 40 years in the field and highlight the topics that will be the focus of future research