Are Polyfunctional Cells Protective in M. tuberculosis Infection?

Materials / States of matte

Chapter Are Polyfunctional Cells Protective in M. tuberculosis Infection

Materials / States of matte

An Outbreak of Q fever in a prison in Italy

We observed an outbreak of Q fever in a prison population. Overall, 65 of the 600 prison inmates developed the disease. The location of the prison cells had no apparent effect on the risk of infection. The outbreak was probably due to exposure to dust contaminated by a passing flock of sheep, which at the time of the outbreak was engaged in lambing. These findings highlight the possible emergence of Q fever in settings and populations not normally thought of as being at risk of exposure to the infection

Structure and phase behavior of colloidal dumbbells with tunable attractive interactions

We investigate thermodynamic and structural properties of colloidal dumbbells in the framework provided by the Reference Interaction Site Model (RISM) theory of molecular fluids and Monte Carlo simulations. We consider two different models: in the first one we set identical square-well attractions on the two tangent spheres composing the molecule (SW-SW model); in the second scheme, one of square-well interactions is switched off (HS-SW model). Appreciable differences emerge between the physical properties of the two models. Specifically, the $k \to 0$ behavior of SW-SW structure factors $S(k)$ points to the presence of a gas-liquid coexistence, as confirmed by subsequent fluid phase equilibria calculations. Conversely, the HS-SW $S(k)$ develops a low-$k$ peak, signaling the presence of aggregates; such a process destabilizes the gas-liquid phase separation, promoting at low temperatures the formation of a cluster phase, whose structure depends on the system density. We further investigate such differences by studying the phase behavior of a series of intermediate models, obtained from the original SW-SW by progressively reducing the depth of one square-well interaction. RISM structural predictions positively reproduce the simulation data, including the rise of $S(k \to 0$) in the SW-SW model and the low-$k$ peak in the HS-SW structure factor. As for the phase behavior, RISM agrees with Monte Carlo simulations in predicting a gas-liquid coexistence for the SW-SW model (though the critical parameters appears overestimated by the theory) and its progressive disappearance moving toward the HS-SW model.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures, 1 table, 78 reference

Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in adolescents with or without syndromic obesity: two years follow-up

Introduction Childhood obesity is an emerging health problem. Surgical treatment of obese adolescents, particularly those affected by congenital syndrome, represents a controversial issue. The aim of this multicenter study was to retrospectively assess the results of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) in a cohort of adolescents affected by morbid obesity, with or without congenital syndromes. Materials and methods Forty-one obese (BMI 49 ± 6 kg/m2) adolescents with mean age of 16 ± 3 years (58.5% with previous intragastric balloon failure), and subjected to LSG, were retrospectively evaluated for complications rate, % excess weight loss (%EWL), and inhibition of co-morbidities after 2 years of follow-up. Results All the operations were completed laparoscopically and no intra-operative complications were recorded. No mortality was recorded while peri- or post-operative complications only occurred in two patients (4.9%). The EWL% at 6, 12, and 24 months were 42.3, 58.3, and 59.4, respectively. %EWL was comparable (p = 0.7) between non-syndromic and syndromic obese adolescents at 24 months. Conversely patients with previous intragastric balloon surgery had a significant lower EWL (%) at 24 month (p < 0.01). Moreover, at the same time point, co-morbidity resolution rate was 78.2% while improvement rate was 57.6%. Specifically, remission rate of type 2 diabetes (T2DM), hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) were 71, 75 and 61%, respectively. Conclusion LSG is advantageous in the treatment of morbidly obese juveniles concerning safety, weight loss and co-morbidity control and at same time presenting, a possible effective therapeutic option for patients affected by congenital syndrom

Atypical Human Effector/Memory CD4+ T Cells With a Naive-Like Phenotype

The induction of adaptive immunological memory, mediated by T and B cells, plays an important role in protective immunity to pathogens induced by previous infections or vaccination. Naive CD4+ T cells that have been primed by antigen develop into memory or effector cells, which may be distinguished by their capability to exert a long-term and rapid response upon re-challenge by antigen, to produce distinct cytokines and surface marker expression phenotypes such as CD45RA/RO, CD27, CD62L, and CCR7. Moreover, a distinct lineage of memory T cells populates tissues (tissue-resident memory T cells or TRM cells) which orchestratea the response to pathogens re encountered at tissue sites. Recent evidence, however, has highlighted that CD4+ naive T cells are much more heterogeneous that previously thought, and that they harbor diversity in phenotypes, differentiation stages, persistence, functions, and anatomic localizations. These cells represent cellular subsets that are extremely heterogeneous and multifunctional at their very initial stages of differentiation, with the potential to become “atypical” memory and effector cells. In this mini review, we focus on recently obtained data from studies in humans, in which this newly recognized heterogeneity in the naive T cell pool was discovered in terms of surface marker expression, cytokine production, or transcriptomic profiles. The deep analysis of immune functions at the single cell level combined with a better understanding of the generation and maintenance of the various atypical memory CD4+ T cell subsets with a naive-like phenotype will be important in immune-monitoring of vaccination and immunotherapies in infectious diseases

Homocysteine, vitamin determinants and neurological diseases.

This review focuses on the putative role of hyper-homocysteinemia in the pathogenesis of different diseases affecting the nervous system, including stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. However, a firm pathogenic role of homocysteine in these diseases has never been established. Lowering plasma homocysteine levels trough vitamin therapy failed to prevent vascular diseases. Conversely, normalization of hyper-homocysteinemia caused improvement in patients with cognitive impairment. B vitamin deficiency is the main determinant of homocysteine levels. However, it has been hypothesized that homocysteine might be a mere marker of vitamin deficiency or an indicator of disease rather than a risk factor. A more consistent use of thresholds to define deficiency is needed to recommend routine screening, monitoring and supplementation of B vitamins to ameliorate the prognosis of the above mentioned disorders. To date, data are insufficient to firmly establish which one of the hypotheses made is correct and the question concerning the real meaning of hyper-homocysteinemia in the pathology of the nervous system still remains an intriguing medical dilemma

Distribution, function and predictive value of tumor-infiltrating γδ T lymphocytes

Although γδ T cells are known to exert both tumor-preventing and tumor-promoting activity, there is still little information on the functional characteristics and clinical significance of γδ T cells isolated from the tumor site. In a recent study, we have investigated the distribution of different γδ T-cell populations in melanoma and their impact on disease outcom

The Benefit of Sleeve Gastrectomy in Obese Adolescents on Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis and Hepatic Fibrosis

Objective To determine whether bariatric surgery is effective for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in adolescence, we compared the efficacy of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) with that of lifestyle intervention (nonsurgical weight loss [NSWL]) for NASH reversal in obese adolescents. Study design Obese (body mass index ≥ 35 kg/m2) adolescents (13-17 years of age) with biopsy-proven NAFLD underwent LSG, lifestyle intervention plus intragastric weight loss devices (IGWLD), or only NSWL. At baseline and 1 year after treatment, patients underwent clinical and psychosocial evaluation, blood tests, liver biopsy, polysomnography, and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure estimation. Results Twenty patients (21%) underwent LSG, 20 (21%) underwent IGWLD, and 53 (58%) received lifestyle intervention alone (NSWL). One year after treatment, patients who underwent LSG lost 21.5% of their baseline body weight, whereas patients who underwent IGWLD lost 3.4%, and patients who underwent NSWL increase 1.7%. In patients who underwent LSG, NASH reverted completely in all patients and hepatic fibrosis stage 2 disappeared in 18 patients (90%). After IGWLD, NASH reverted in 6 patients (24%) and fibrosis in 7 (37%). Patients who received the NSWL intervention did not improve significantly. Hypertension resolved in all patients who underwent LSG with preoperative hypertension (12/12) versus 50% (4/8) of the patients who underwent IGWLD (P = .02). The cohort-specific changes in impaired glucose metabolism were similar: 100% (9/9) of affected patients who underwent LSG versus 50% (1/2) of patients who underwent IGWLD (P = .02). LSG was also more affective in resolving dyslipidemia (55% [7/12] vs 26% [10/19]; P = .05) and sleep apnea (78% [2/9] vs 30% [11/20]; P = .001). Conclusion LSG was more effective than lifestyle intervention, even when combined with intragastric devices, for reducing NASH and liver fibrosis in obese adolescents after 1 year of treatment