CD4+ T-lymphocytes exhibit biphasic kinetics post-myocardial infarction

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TNFR1 contributes to activation-induced cell death of pathological CD4+ T lymphocytes during ischemic heart failure

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Correlation between CD4 counts of HIV patients and enteric protozoan in different seasons – An experience of a tertiary care hospital in Varanasi (India)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Protozoan infections are the most serious among all the superimposed infections in HIV patients and claim a number of lives every year. The line of treatment being different for diverse parasites necessitates a definitive diagnosis of the etiological agents to avoid empirical treatment. Thus, the present study has been aimed to elucidate the associations between diarrhoea and CD4 counts and to study the effect of HAART along with management of diarrhoea in HIV positive patients. This study is the first of its kind in this area where an attempt was made to correlate seasonal variation and intestinal protozoan infestations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study period was from January 2006 to October 2007 wherein stool samples were collected from 366 HIV positive patients with diarrhea attending the ART centre, inpatient department and ICTC of S.S. hospital, I.M.S., B.H.U., Varanasi. Simultaneously, CD4 counts were recorded to assess the status of HIV infection vis-à-vis parasitic infection. The identification of pathogens was done on the basis of direct microscopy and different staining techniques.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 366 patients, 112 had acute and 254 had chronic diarrhea. The percentages of intestinal protozoa detected were 78.5% in acute and 50.7% in chronic cases respectively. Immune restoration was observed in 36.6% patients after treatment on the basis of clinical observation and CD4 counts. In 39.8% of HIV positive cases <it>Cryptosporidium </it>spp. was detected followed by <it>Microsporidia </it>spp. (26.7%). The highest incidence of intestinal infection was in the rainy season. However, infection with <it>Cyclospora </it>spp. was at its peak in the summer. Patients with chronic diarrhea had lower CD4 cell counts. The maximum parasitic isolation was in the patients whose CD4 cell counts were below 200 cells/μl.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There was an inverse relation between the CD4 counts and duration of diarrhea. <it>Cryptosporidium </it>spp. was isolated maximum among all the parasites in the HIV patients. The highest incidence of infection was seen in the rainy season.</p

Multiple cutaneous reticulohistiocytoma in middle aged female

Multiple cutaneous reticulohistiocytoma (MCR) and multicentric reticulohistiocytosis (MR) are rare, idiopathic histiocytic granulomatous disorders presenting in a spectrum. A 35-year-old female presented with multiple, firm, discrete, asymptomatic nodules, 1-2 cm in size over face, back, abdomen, thighs, and legs. There were no systemic symptoms. Histopathology of a nodule over trunk showed diffuse, dense infiltrate of large histiocytes, and histiocytic giant cells. The histiocytes had rounded vesicular nuclei and abundant pink homogenously stained ground glass cytoplasm. The diagnosis of MCR was made. Systemic evaluation did not reveal any abnormality. Considering the cosmetic appearance of facial lesions, patient was referred to the plastic surgeon. No treatment was advised for rest of lesions and patient was asked to review every 6 months or if any new complaints develop

Post COVID vaccination (COVAXIN™ -BB152 V) pauci-immune crescentic glomerulonephritis

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is responsible for widespread morbidity and mortality. The vaccination against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) infection, the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, is currently ongoing across the globe. Rapid vaccination is of paramount importance to mitigate this pandemic. Although considered safe in general, these vaccines have their share of rare adverse events. We report a case of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated pauci-immune crescentic glomerulonephritis 15 days post 2nd dose of a killed COVID-19 (COVAXIN™ -BB152 V) vaccine. We hypothesize that vaccination triggered a systemic immune response in a susceptible patient to develop ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), leading to rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN)

Mononuclear Phagocytes Are Dispensable for Cardiac Remodeling in Established Pressure-Overload Heart Failure.

Although cardiac and splenic mononuclear phagocytes (MPs), i.e., monocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs), are key contributors to cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction, their role in pressure-overload remodeling is unclear. We tested the hypothesis that these immune cells are required for the progression of remodeling in pressure-overload heart failure (HF), and that MP depletion would ameliorate remodeling.C57BL/6 mice were subjected to transverse aortic constriction (TAC) or sham operation, and assessed for alterations in MPs. As compared with sham, TAC mice exhibited expansion of circulating LyC6hi monocytes and pro-inflammatory CD206- cardiac macrophages early (1 w) after pressure-overload, prior to significant hypertrophy and systolic dysfunction, with subsequent resolution during chronic HF. In contrast, classical DCs were expanded in the heart in a biphasic manner, with peaks both early, analogous to macrophages, and late (8 w), during established HF. There was no significant expansion of circulating DCs, or Ly6C+ monocytes and DCs in the spleen. Periodic systemic MP depletion from 2 to 16 w after TAC in macrophage Fas-induced apoptosis (MaFIA) transgenic mice did not alter cardiac remodeling progression, nor did splenectomy in mice with established HF after TAC. Lastly, adoptive transfer of splenocytes from TAC HF mice into naïve recipients did not induce immediate or long-term cardiac dysfunction in recipient mice.Mononuclear phagocytes populations expand in a phasic manner in the heart during pressure-overload. However, they are dispensable for the progression of remodeling and failure once significant hypertrophy is evident and blood monocytosis has normalized

Mild hyperthermia enhances transport of liposomal gemcitabine and improves in vivo therapeutic response

Obstructive biological barriers limit the transport and efficacy of cancer nanotherapeutics. Creative manipulation of tumor microenvironment provides promising avenues towards improving chemotherapeutic response. Such strategies include the use of mechanical stimuli to overcome barriers, and increase drug delivery and therapeutic efficacy. The rational use of gold nanorod-mediated mild hyperthermia treatment (MHT) alters tumor transport properties, increases liposomal gemcitabine (Gem Lip) delivery, and antitumor efficacy in pancreatic cancer CAPAN-1 tumor model. MHT treatment leads to a threefold increase in accumulation of 80-nm liposomes and enhances spatial interstitial distribution. I.v. injection of Gem Lip and MHT treatment lead to a threefold increase in intratumor gemcitabine concentration compared to chemotherapeutic infusion alone. Furthermore, combination of MHT treatment with infusion of 12 mg kg(-1) Gem Lip leads to a twofold increase in therapeutic efficacy and inhibition of CAPAN-1 tumor growth when compared to equimolar chemotherapeutic treatment alone. Enhanced therapeutic effect is confirmed by reduction in tumor size and increase in apoptotic index where MHT treatment combined with 12 mg kg(-1) Gem Lip achieves similar therapeutic efficacy as the use of 60 mg kg(-1) free gemcitabine. In conclusion, improvements in vivo efficacy are demonstrated resulting from MHT treatment that overcome transport barriers, promote delivery, improve efficacy of nanomedicines

Cardiac macrophage abundance during pressure-overload remodeling.

<p><b><i>A</i>,</b> Representative gating strategy used to identify cardiac macrophages, as well as CD206⁺ and CD206⁻ macrophage subsets, in mouse hearts. <b><i>B</i></b>, Quantitation of flow cytometry data collected from cardiac mononuclear cell isolates at the indicated time points after TAC or sham operation, including total CD45⁺ leukocytes, total CD45⁺CD11b⁺F480⁺MHCII⁺ macrophages, and <b><i>C</i>,</b> CD206⁻ (M1) and CD206⁺ (M2) macrophages. <b><i>D</i>,</b> Quantitation of flow cytometry data for Lin^–CD11b⁺Ly6C^hi and Lin^–CD11b⁺Ly6C^low peripheral blood monocytes at the indicated time points. n = 6–10 in sham groups; n = 6–12 in TAC groups. *p<0.05 vs. sham.</p

Dendritic cell populations in the heart during pressure-overload remodeling.

<p><b><i>A</i>,</b> Representative gating strategy used to identify cardiac DCs, including plasmacytoid and classical DCs, in the same mouse hearts as in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0170781#pone.0170781.g002" target="_blank">Fig 2</a>. <b><i>B</i></b>, Quantitation of flow cytometry data from the heart at the indicated time points after TAC or sham operation, including total CD45⁺CD11c⁺MHCII⁺ DCs, CD11c^lowMHCII⁺B220⁺ plasmacytoid DCs, and CD11c⁺MHCII⁺B220⁻ classical DCs. *p<0.05 vs. sham.</p