Multiplex real-time PCR and blood culture for identification of bloodstream pathogens in patients with suspected sepsis

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Arterial inflammation in mice lacking the interleukin 1 receptor antagonist gene

Branch points and flexures in the high pressure arterial system have long been recognized as sites of unusually high turbulence and consequent stress in humans are foci for atherosclerotic lesions. We show that mice that are homozygous for a null mutation in the gene encoding an endogenous antiinflammatory cytokine, interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), develop lethal arterial inflammation involving branch points and flexures of the aorta and its primary and secondary branches. We observe massive transmural infiltration of neutrophils, macrophages, and CD4(+) T cells. Animals appear to die from vessel wall collapse, stenosis, and organ infarction or from hemorrhage from ruptured aneurysms. Heterozygotes do not die from arteritis within a year of birth but do develop small lesions, which suggests that a reduced level of IL-1ra is insufficient to fully control inflammation in arteries. Our results demonstrate a surprisingly specific role for IL-1ra in the control of spontaneous inflammation in constitutively stressed artery walls, suggesting that expression of IL-1 is likely to have a significant role in signaling artery wall damage

Congenic Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy Reverses Hyperglycemia in Experimental Type 1 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE - A number of clinical trials are underway to test whether mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are effective in treating various diseases, including type 1 diabetes. Although this cell therapy holds great promise, the optimal source of MSCs has yet to be determined with respect to major histocompatibility complex matching. Here, we examine this question by testing the ability of congenic MSCs, obtained from the NOR mouse strain, to reverse recent-onset type 1 diabetes in NOD mice, as well as determine the immunomodulatory effects of NOR MSCs in vivo. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - NOR MSCs were evaluated with regard to their in vitro immunomodulatory function in the context of autoreactive T-cell proliferation and dendritic cell (DC) generation. The in vivo effect of NOR MSC therapy on reversal of recent-onset hyperglycemia and on immunogenic cell subsets in NOD mice was also examined. RESULTS - NOR MSCs were shown to suppress diabetogenic T-cell proliferation via PD-L1 and to suppress generation of myeloid/inflammatory DCs predominantly through an IL-6-dependent mechanism. NOR MSC treatment of experimental type 1 diabetes resulted in long-term reversal of hyperglycemia, and therapy was shown to alter diabetogenic cytokine profile, to diminish T-cell effector frequency in the pancreatic lymph nodes, to alter antigen-presenting cell frequencies, and to augment the frequency of the plasmacytoid subset of DCs. CONCLUSIONS - These studies demonstrate the inimitable benefit of congenic MSC therapy in reversing experimental type 1 diabetes. These data should benefit future clinical trials using MSCs as treatment for type 1 diabetes

Evidence for Regulated Interleukin-4 Expression in Chondrocyte-Scaffolds under In Vitro Inflammatory Conditions

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the anti-inflammatory and anabolic effects of regulated expression of IL-4 in chondrocyte-scaffolds under in vitro inflammatory conditions. METHODS: Mature articular chondrocytes from dogs (n = 3) were conditioned through transient transfection using pcDNA3.1.cIL-4 (constitutive) or pCOX-2.cIL-4 (cytokine-responsive) plasmids. Conditioned cells were seeded in alginate microspheres and rat-tail collagen type I matrix (CaReS®) to generate two types of tissue-engineered 3-dimensional scaffolds. Inflammatory arthritis was simulated in the packed chondrocytes through exogenous addition of recombinant canine (rc) IL-1β (100 ng/ml) plus rcTNFα (50 ng/ml) in culture media for 96 hours. Harvested cells and culture media were analyzed by various assays to monitor the anti-inflammatory and regenerative (anabolic) properties of cIL-4. RESULTS: cIL-4 was expressed from COX-2 promoter exclusively on the addition of rcIL-1β and rcTNFα while its expression from CMV promoter was constitutive. The expressed cIL-4 downregulated the mRNA expression of IL-1β, TNFα, IL-6, iNOS and COX-2 in the cells and inhibited the production of NO and PGE(2) in culture media. At the same time, it up-regulated the expression of IGF-1, IL-1ra, COL2a1 and aggrecan in conditioned chondrocytes in both scaffolds along with a diminished release of total collagen and sGAG into the culture media. An increased amount of cIL-4 protein was detected both in chondrocyte cell lysate and in concentrated culture media. Neutralizing anti-cIL-4 antibody assay confirmed that the anti-inflammatory and regenerative effects seen are exclusively driven by cIL-4. There was a restricted expression of IL-4 under COX-2 promoter possibly due to negative feedback loop while it was over-expressed under CMV promoter (undesirable). Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory /anabolic outcomes from both scaffolds were reproducible and the therapeutic effects of cIL-4 were both scaffold- and promoter-independent. CONCLUSIONS: Regulated expression of therapeutic candidate gene(s) coupled with suitable scaffold(s) could potentially serve as a useful tissue-engineering tool to devise future treatment strategies for osteoarthritis

Dendritic cells loaded with killed breast cancer cells induce differentiation of tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes

BACKGROUND: Early clinical trials, mostly in the setting of melanoma, have shown that dendritic cells (DCs) expressing tumor antigens induce some immune responses and some clinical responses. A major difficulty is the extension to other tumors, such as breast carcinoma, for which few defined tumor-associated antigens are available. We have demonstrated, using both prostate carcinoma and melanoma as model systems, that DCs loaded with killed allogeneic tumor cell lines can induce CD8(+ )T cells to differentiate into cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) specific for shared tumor antigens. METHODS: The present study was designed to determine whether DCs would capture killed breast cancer cells and present their antigens to autologous CD4(+ )and CD8(+ )T cells. RESULTS: We show that killed breast cancer cells are captured by immature DCs that, after induced maturation, can efficiently present MHC class I and class II peptides to CD8(+ )and CD4(+ )T lymphocytes. The elicited CTLs are able to kill the target cells without a need for pretreatment with interferon gamma. CTLs can be obtained by culturing the DCs loaded with killed breast cancer cells with unseparated peripheral blood lymphocytes, indicating that the DCs can overcome any potential inhibitory effects of breast cancer cells. CONCLUSION: Loading DCs with killed breast cancer cells may be considered a novel approach to breast cancer immunotherapy and to identification of shared breast cancer antigens

Associations of IL-4, IL-4R, and IL-13 Gene Polymorphisms in Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis in China: A Case-Control Study

Background: The IL-4, IL-4 receptor (IL4R), and IL-13 genes are crucial immune factors and may influence the course of various diseases. In the present study, we investigated the association between the potential functional polymorphisms in IL-4, IL-4R, and IL-13 and coal workers ’ pneumoconiosis (CWP) risk in a Chinese population. Methods: Six polymorphisms (C-590T in IL-4, Ile50Val, Ser478Pro, and Gln551Arg in IL-4R, C-1055T and Arg130Gln in IL-13) were genotyped and analyzed in a case-control study of 556 CWP and 541 control subjects. Results: Our results revealed that the IL-4 CT/CC genotypes were associated with a significantly decreased risk of CWP (odd

Differential cell reaction upon Toll-like receptor 4 and 9 activation in human alveolar and lung interstitial macrophages

BACKGROUND: Investigations on pulmonary macrophages (MΦ) mostly focus on alveolar MΦ (AM) as a well-defined cell population. Characteristics of MΦ in the interstitium, referred to as lung interstitial MΦ (IM), are rather ill-defined. In this study we therefore aimed to elucidate differences between AM and IM obtained from human lung tissue. METHODS: Human AM and IM were isolated from human non-tumor lung tissue from patients undergoing lung resection. Cell morphology was visualized using either light, electron or confocal microscopy. Phagocytic activity was analyzed by flow cytometry as well as confocal microscopy. Surface marker expression was measured by flow cytometry. Toll-like receptor (TLR) expression patterns as well as cytokine expression upon TLR4 or TLR9 stimulation were assessed by real time RT-PCR and cytokine protein production was measured using a fluorescent bead-based immunoassay. RESULTS: IM were found to be smaller and morphologically more heterogeneous than AM, whereas phagocytic activity was similar in both cell types. HLA-DR expression was markedly higher in IM compared to AM. Although analysis of TLR expression profiles revealed no differences between the two cell populations, AM and IM clearly varied in cell reaction upon activation. Both MΦ populations were markedly activated by LPS as well as DNA isolated from attenuated mycobacterial strains (M. bovis H37Ra and BCG). Whereas AM expressed higher amounts of inflammatory cytokines upon activation, IM were more efficient in producing immunoregulatory cytokines, such as IL10, IL1ra, and IL6.CONCLUSION: AM appear to be more effective as a non-specific first line of defence against inhaled pathogens, whereas IM show a more pronounced regulatory function. These dissimilarities should be taken into consideration in future studies on the role of human lung MΦ in the inflammatory response

A Fluorescence Reporter Model Defines “Tip-DCs” as the Cellular Source of Interferon β in Murine Listeriosis

Production of type I interferons, consisting mainly of multiple IFNα subtypes and IFNβ, represents an essential part of the innate immune defense against invading pathogens. While in most situations, namely viral infections, this class of cytokines is indispensable for host survival they mediate a detrimental effect during infection with L. monocytogenes by rendering macrophages insensitive towards IFNγ signalling which leads to a lethal bacterial pathology in mice. Due to a lack of suitable analytic tools the precise identity of the cell population responsible for type I IFN production remains ill-defined and so far these cells have been described to be macrophages. As in general IFNβ is the first type I interferon to be produced, we took advantage of an IFNβ fluorescence reporter-knockin mouse model in which YFP is expressed from a bicistronic mRNA linked by an IRES to the endogenous ifnb mRNA to assess the IFNβ production on a single cell level in situ. Our results showed highest frequencies and absolute numbers of IFNβ+ cells in the spleen 24 h after infection with L. monocytogenes where they were located predominately in the white pulp within the foci of infection. Detailed FACS surface marker analyses, intracellular cytokine stainings and T cell proliferation assays revealed that the IFNβ+ cells were a phenotypically and functionally further specialized subpopulation of TNF and iNOS producing DCs (Tip-DCs) which are known to be essential for the early containment of L. monocytogenes infection. We proved that the IFNβ+ cells exhibited the hallmark characteristics of Tip-DCs as they produced iNOS and TNF and possessed T cell priming abilities. These results point to a yet unappreciated ambiguous role for a multi-effector, IFNβ producing subpopulation of Tip-DCs in controlling the balance between containment of L. monocytogenes infection and effects detrimental to the host driven by IFNβ