Differential expression of CCR2 and CX3CR1 on CD16+ monocyte subsets is associated with asthma severity

Funding Reem Al-Rashoudi was funded as part of the Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau, External Joint Supervision Program (EJSP) to do a PhD degree jointly between Aberdeen University, UK and King Saud University, SA. The funding body played no part in the preparation of the data or the manuscript. Acknowledgments This work was supported by a grant from ‘Research Center, Center for Female Scientific and Medical Colleges, Deanship of Scientific Research, King Saud University. Support from the Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau and External Joint Supervision Program (EJSP) is also gratefully acknowledged. Professor Graeme Devereux (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) provided helpful discussion on asthma. Dr. Raif Yuecel and Amer Al-Mazrou provided expertise for flow cytometry and analysis.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Interleukin (IL)-17A and IL-17F and asthma in Saudi Arabia: mRNA transcript levels and gene polymorphisms

Asthma is a multifactorial disorder and both genetic and environmental factors contribute to its development. The present study explored cytokines interleukin (IL)-17A and IL17F levels as usable parameters for the diagnosis of asthmatics Saudi patients. Blood samples were collected from 100 asthma patients and 100 matched controls. The transcript mRNA levels in whole blood were determined by real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Expression studies showed that levels of IL17A and IL17F were significantly higher in asthma patients compared to controls [IL17A: 1.112 (2.088) vs 0.938 (1.363)]; IL17F: 0.707 (1.33) vs 0.667 (0.590). The mRNA transcripts of IL17A and IL17F were positively and significantly correlated in all subjects examined in this study: controls as well as asthma patients (r = 0.455, P < 0.01 for controls and r = 0.644, P < 0.01 for patients). These findings suggest that asthma is characterized by an elevation of cytokines IL17A and IL17F and the measurement of their expression can be a valuable parameter for the diagnosis of asthma.Keywords: Asthma, interleukin-17F (IL17F), interleukin-17A (IL17A), gene expression, real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Saudi Arabia.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(23), pp. 3615-362

Altered respiratory microbiota composition and functionality associated with asthma early in life

BACKGROUND: The microbiota of the respiratory tract has an important role in maintaining respiratory health. However, little is known on the respiratory microbiota in asthmatic patients among Middle Eastern populations. This study investigated the respiratory microbiota composition and functionality associated with asthma in Emirati subjects. METHODS: We performed 16S rRNA and ITS2-gene based microbial profiling of 40 expectorated sputum samples from adult and pediatric Emirati individuals averaging 52 and 7 years of age, respectively with or without asthma. RESULTS: We report bacterial difference belonging to Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria and Proteobacteria phyla between asthmatic and non-asthmatic controls. Similarly, fungal difference belonging to Ascomycota, Basidiomycota phyla and other unclassified fungi. Differential abundance testing among asthmatic individuals with relation to Asthma Control Test show a significant depletion of Penicillium aethiopicum and Alternaria spp., among poorly controlled asthmatics. Moreover, data suggest a significant expansion of Malassezia spp. and other unclassified fungi in the airways of those receiving steroids and leukotriene receptor antagonists’ combination therapy, in contrast to those receiving steroids alone. Functional profiling from 16S data showed marked differences between pediatric asthmatic and non-asthmatic controls, with pediatric asthmatic patients showing an increase in amino acid (p-value < 5.03 × 10− 7), carbohydrate (p-value < 4.76 × 10− 7), and fatty acid degradation (p-value < 6.65 × 10− 7) pathways, whereas non-asthmatic controls are associated with increase in amino acid (p-value < 8.34 × 10− 7), carbohydrate (p-value < 3.65 × 10− 7), and fatty acid (p-value < 2.18 × 10− 6) biosynthesis pathways in concordance with enterotype composition. CONCLUSIONS: These differences provide an insight into respiratory microbiota composition in Emirati population and its possible role in the development of asthma early in life. This study provides important information that may eventually lead to the development of screening biomarkers to predict early asthma development and novel therapeutic approaches

Expressing entitlement in colonial Algeria: villagers, medical doctors, and the state in the early 20th century

This article expands our understanding of state–society interactions in rural Algeria under French colonial rule, focusing specifically on villages in the eastern department of Constantine. I analyze previously unstudied administrative records, newspapers, petitions, and complaints to show how sanitary regulations and medical expertise came to shape relationships among villagers, local elites, and the colonial state from the early 20th century. Villagers responded to state-led medicalization by seeking the protection of medical doctors, not only from disease but also from the state itself. In particular, they sought to avoid heavy-handed treatment by qaʾids and local elites who applied disease control measures without appropriate medical knowledge. Furthermore, close examination of petitions sent during World War I suggests that hardships experienced by rural communities during the war accentuated nascent feelings of entitlement across demographic, ethnic, and religious communal boundaries toward state medical treatment

Commercial Serological Antibody Detection Tests for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review

Based on a systematic review, Madhukar Pai and colleagues conclude that none of the commercial immune-based tests for pulmonary tuberculosis so far evaluated perform well enough to replace sputum smear microscopy