Baseline disease burden in severe asthma patients treated with biologics, and eligible but not treated : Spanish patients in the ISAR Registry

Peer reviewe

Ceramide in apoptosis and oxidative stress in allergic inflammation and asthma

Background Nothing is known about the mechanisms by which increased ceramide levels in the lung contribute to allergic responses and asthma severity. Objective We sought to investigate the functional role of ceramide in mouse models of allergic airway disease that recapitulate the cardinal clinical features of human allergic asthma. Methods Allergic airway disease was induced in mice by repeated intranasal administration of house dust mite or the fungal allergen Alternaria alternata. Processes that can be regulated by ceramide and are important for severity of allergic asthma were correlated with ceramide levels measured by mass spectrometry. Results Both allergens induced massive pulmonary apoptosis and also significantly increased reactive oxygen species in the lung. Prevention of increases in lung ceramide levels mitigated allergen-induced apoptosis, reactive oxygen species, and neutrophil infiltration. In contrast, dietary supplementation of the antioxidant α-tocopherol decreased reactive oxygen species but had no significant effects on elevation of ceramide level or apoptosis, indicating that the increases in lung ceramide levels in allergen-challenged mice are not mediated by oxidative stress. Moreover, specific ceramide species were altered in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with severe asthma compared with in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from individuals without asthma. Conclusion Our data suggest that elevation of ceramide level after allergen challenge contributes to the apoptosis, reactive oxygen species generation, and neutrophilic infiltrate that characterize the severe asthmatic phenotype. Ceramide might be the trigger of formation of Creola bodies found in the sputum of patients with severe asthma and could be a biomarker to optimize diagnosis and to monitor and improve clinical outcomes in this disease

Maxi’mâle – Optimisation de la gestion des reproducteurs mâles dans les schémas de sélection des petits ruminants

International audienceMaxi’mâle project focused on male management in selection scheme of small ruminants. Tools havebeen produced for AI (Animal Insemination) centers to help them to optimize male breeding, especially:1) use of ultrasonography to detect male with abnormalities of parenchyma texture and as an earlypredictor of sexual function set up, in order to anticipate involuntary cullings 2) breeding and semencollection practices recommendations with the aim of facilitating sperm collection and reduce the rate ofmales with behavioral problems, 3) estimated breeding values to improve males genetic level onmorphology and semen production traits.Le projet Maxi’mâle s’est intéressé à la gestion des mâles reproducteurs dans les schémas de sélectionde petits ruminants. Des outils ont été fournis aux centres d’élevage et de production de semence pourles aider à optimiser l’élevage de leurs animaux, en particulier : 1) l’utilisation de l’échographie pourrepérer les mâles présentant des anomalies structurelles au niveau du parenchyme testiculaire etcomme indicateur précoce de la mise en place de la fonction sexuelle, de façon à anticiper les réformessubies 2) des recommandations au niveau de l’élevage et des pratiques d’entraînement, afin de faciliterla collecte et de réduire le taux de mâles avec des problèmes de comportement , 3) des index pouraméliorer le niveau génétique des mâles sur des caractères de morphologie fonctionnelle et deproduction de semenc

The economic burden of tuberous sclerosis complex in the UK: A retrospective cohort study in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink

Background: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a multi-system genetic disorder characterized by the development of diverse clinical manifestations. The complexity of this disease is likely to result in substantial challenges and costs in disease management throughout the patient’s lifetime. This retrospective database study aims to quantify healthcare resources utilized by TSC patients. Methods: TSC patients in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked to the Hospital Episodes Statistics database were identified between January 1987 and June 2013. Analyses were conducted over the most recent 3-year period of data and stratified by pediatric (< 18) and adult patients. Prescriptions, procedures, diagnostic tests, and healthcare encounters were reported in comparison with a matched comparator cohort. Costs and key economic drivers by primary organ system manifestations were also examined. Results: A total of 286 patients with TSC were identified and consistently reported 2-fold greater resource use than the matched presumably healthy controls. Despite this comparatively greater resource use, half of TSC patients did not record any procedures, and 20% of patients did not record any diagnostic tests; however, inpatient hospitalizations were greater for the TSC cohort (3.1 vs 1.3), but length of stay was comparable. TSC patients had costs totaling £12,681 per patient over the 3-year period, a figure 2.7-fold greater than the total costs in the comparator cohort (£4,777). Costs for patients with specific primary manifestations were even greater, with brain manifestations incurring £22,139 per affected patient. Kidney and nervous system manifestations were the main cost drivers. Conclusions: The economic burden of TSC and its impact on NHS healthcare resources is mostly attributable to the broad spectrum of manifestations that develop within multiple organ systems. TSC patients may benefit from co-ordinated care based on their requirement for high numbers of healthcare visits across specialties

PAPUA NUEVA GUINEA. Mapas generales (1872). 1:7000000

Escala hallada a partir de cinco grados de la latitud [= 8,3 cm]. Coordenadas referidas a un meridiano que no se especifica (E126°30'-E150°30'/N2°00'-S12°00')Relieve representado por normalesIndica veriles y bajosPertenece al 'Bulletin de Societe de Géographie. Novembre 1872'Procede de la 'Colección Coello

Lineage specific evolution of an alternative social strategy in Tetramorium ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The western Palearctic ant, Tetramorium moravicum, is the only species of the large genus known to display two alternative social strategies: macrogyny-monoygyny (characterized by one large queen per colony) and microgyny-polygyny (multiple small queens per colony). The microgyne colonies of this ant are confined to the westernmost part of its distribution area and occasionally co-occur with macrogyne colonies. We investigated phylogenetic and geographical patterns in relation to social strategy by analysing 1031 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene of T. moravicum from the entire known species range. Phylogenetic analyses revealed two clear-cut lineages coinciding with the eastern and western populations, which probably were separated after the late Quaternary glacial periods. Geographical distance analysis suggested allopatric fragmentation of the two lineages. We hypothesize that the two lineages colonized Central Europe postglacially from two directions. The current distribution gap of 500 km between the tip of the eastern lineage, in the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary, and the western lineage, in Germany, was confirmed by hierarchical population analysis. Macrogyny-monogyny probably was the original condition in T. moravicum; the alternative strategy of microgyny-polygyny may have evolved at the tip of the western lineage, as recently as the early Holocene