Pathophysiological lessons from rare associations of immunological disorders

Rare associations of immunological disorders can often tell more than mice and rats about the pathogenesis of immunologically mediated human kidney disease. Cases of glomerular disease with thyroiditis and Graves’ disease and of minimal change disease with lymphoepithelioma-like thymic carcinoma and lymphomatoid papulosis were recently reported in Pediatric Nephrology. These rare associations can contribute to the unraveling of the pathogenesis of membranous nephropathy (MN) and minimal change disease (MCD) and lead to the testing of novel research hypotheses. In MN, the target antigen may be thyroglobulin or another thyroid-released antigen that becomes planted in the glomerulus, but other scenarios can be envisaged, including epitope spreading, polyreactivity of pathogenic antibodies, and dysregulation of T regulatory cells, leading to the production of a variety of auto-antibodies with different specificities [immune dysregulation, polyendocrinopathy, enteropathy, X-linked (IPEX syndrome)]. The occurrence of MCD with hemopathies supports the role of T cells in the pathogenesis of proteinuria, although the characteristics of those T cells remain to be established and the glomerular permeability factor(s) identified

Annual variations of air pollution in Jahra, Kuwait

A study of air pollution in Jahra residential area has been conducted over a period of five years on a 24 hours basis. Measurements of air pollutants and meteorological parameters were taken at 5 minutes intervals at Jahra from 2000-2004. The measured pollutants included sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx), particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), methane hydrocarbons (MHC) and non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC)). Meteorological parameters monitored simultaneously included ambient temperature and solar intensity. Hourly averages were calculated from the measured data. Air pollution emissions in Jahra were estimated at the following locations: Ali Salem Air Base, Kuwait International Airport, Doha power stations, Jahra industrial area 1 and 2. Motor vehicles emissions were modeled as line source represented by known highways in the Jahra area. Comparison of measured data for CO, NOx, and SO2 were made against US-EPA (Environmental Protection Agency standards). Analysis of this data show that some pollutants are within or below the US-EPA standards, however, other pollutants such as NOx and SO2 exceeded these limits. Higher NOx and SO2 values were caused by increase in the density of population, motor vehicles, power generation, and industrial activities