1,528 research outputs found
Early immune development, atopy and asthma: insights from ATS 2001, May 18-23, San Francisco
There is rising evidence that the initiation of atopy and asthma may occur in early life or even during fetal life. At the American Thoracic Society meeting 2001 in San Francisco, multiple reports addressed epidemiological and immunological factors and their influence on the early immune system, as well as the development of atopy and asthma. Epidemiologic studies presented at the meeting suggest a protective effect of farming and pet exposure. Early-life exposure to endotoxin, a cell wall component of Gram-negative bacteria which can be found in high levels in the presence of pets, may have a protective effect. Investigations of the mechanism of the early immune system indicate that mononuclear cord blood cells have the ability to mount a lymphoproliferative response to mitogens and allergens. Reports suggest, however, that the validity of Th1/Th2 paradigm may need to be scrutinized in early human immune responses, particularly regarding the assumption that the neonate immune system is Th2 skewed. The prospective longitudinal follow-up of these studies is promising to give further insight into risk and protective factors in the development in atopy and asthma
S100B is increased in mood disorders and may be reduced by antidepressive treatment
Previous studies have reported alterations of glial cells and particularly astrocytes in mood disorders. Therefore, serum concentration of the astrocytic marker S100B was ascertained with an immunoluminometric assay in 20 patients with mood disorder and 12 healthy age-matched controls. Serum S100B was elevated in major depression (median after admission 410 ng/l, at discharge < 100 ng/l) and mania (130, 160 ng/l), when compared with controls (< 100 ng/l; rho< 0.01). Antidepressive treatment reduced S100B in conjunction with severity of depressive symptoms ( rho< 0.01). The severity of depression (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) was positively correlated with S100B (r(s) = 0.51, rho< 0.005). Elevated serum S100B during depressive and manic episodes of mood disorders may indicate alterations of astrocytes, which are reversed by antidepressive treatment
First Energy and Angle differential Measurements of e^+e^- -pairs emitted by Internal Pair Conversion of excited Heavy Nuclei
We present the first energy and angle resolved measurements of e+e- pairs
emitted from heavy nuclei (Z>=40) at rest by internal pair conversion (IPC) of
transitions with energies of less than 2MeV as well as recent theoretical
results using the DWBA method, which takes full account of relativistic
effects, magnetic substates and finite size of the nucleus. The 1.76MeV E0
transition in Zr90 (Sr source) and the 1.77MeV M1 transition in Pb207 (Bi
source) have been investigated experimentally using the essentially improved
set-up at the double-ORANGE beta-spectrometer of GSI. The measurements prove
the capability of the setup to cleanly identify the IPC pairs in the presence
of five orders of magnitude higher beta- and gamma background from the same
source and to yield essentially background-free sum spectra despite the large
background. Using the ability of the ORANGE setup to directly determine the
opening angle of the e+e- pairs, the angular correlation of the emitted pairs
was measured. In the Zr90 case the correlation could be deduced for a wide
range of energy differences of the pairs. The Zr90 results are in good
agreement with recent theory. The angular correlation deduced for the M1
transition in Pb207 is in strong disagreement with theoretical predictions
derived within the Born approximation and shows almost isotropic character.
This is again in agreement with the new theoretical results.Comment: LaTeX, 28 pages incl. 10 PS figures; Accepted by Z.Phys.
Ectoine can enhance structural changes in DNA in vitro
Strand breaks and conformational changes of DNA have consequences for the
physiological role of DNA. The natural protecting molecule ectoine is
beneficial to entire bacterial cells and biomolecules such as proteins by
mitigating detrimental effects of environmental stresses. It was postulated
that ectoine-like molecules bind to negatively charged spheres that mimic DNA
surfaces. We investigated the effect of ectoine on DNA and whether ectoine is
able to protect DNA from damages caused by ultraviolet radiation (UV-A). In
order to determine different isoforms of DNA, agarose gel electrophoresis and
atomic force microscopy experiments were carried out with plasmid pUC19 DNA.
Our quantitative results revealed that a prolonged incubation of DNA with
ectoine leads to an increase in transitions from supercoiled (undamaged) to
open circular (single-strand break) conformation at pH 6.6. The effect is pH
dependent and no significant changes were observed at physiological pH of 7.5.
After UV-A irradiation in ectoine solution, changes in DNA conformation were
even more pronounced and this effect was pH dependent. We hypothesize that
ectoine is attracted to the negatively charge surface of DNA at lower pH and
therefore fails to act as a stabilizing agent for DNA in our in vitro
experiments
Molecular mimicry of NMDA receptors may contribute to neuropsychiatric symptoms in severe COVID-19 cases
Approximately 30% of individuals with severe SARS-CoV-2 infections also develop neurological and psychiatric complaints. In rare cases, the occurrence of autoimmune encephalitis has been reported after SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this systematic review, we have identified eight SARS-CoV-2-associated cases of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. All had cerebrospinal fluid antibodies against the NMDA receptor and a recent onset of working memory deficits, altered mental status, or psychiatric symptoms, such as confusion, agitation, auditory hallucination, catatonia and speech dysfunction. All patients received high-dose steroid and immunoglobulin therapeutics and conditions improved in each case. These findings suggest that clinical attention should be paid to warning signs of autoimmune encephalitis in severe COVID-19 cases. If characteristic features of autoimmune encephalitis are present, autoantibody diagnostics should be performed and confirmed cases should be treated with immunotherapy to minimize neurological impairments
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