Cat scratch disease without a history of cat exposure

A patient complaining of swelling and tenderness in her left axilla was diagnosed with cat scratch disease despite no apparent history of cat exposure. Zoonosis can occur even in the absence of cat exposure because cat flea Ctenocephalides felts is also the vector of the pathogen through the flea feces

A comprehensive study on the immunological reactivity of the Hsp90 molecular chaperone.

Periodontitis is a chronic infectious disease, Porphyromonas gingivalis being the most implicated pathogen. In the present study, we investigated the role of P. gingivalis HtpG (PgHtpG), a bacterial ortholog of mammalian Hsp90, in the growth of P. gingivalis and also assessed the immunological cross-reactivity of the members of the Hsp90 family. Antiserum against rat liver Hsp90 potently reacted with yeast Hsp90, called Hsc82, and also weakly with human Hsp90 (hHsp90) and human mitochondrial paralog Trap1, but did not react with PgHtpG, Escherichia coli HtpG, or human endoplasmic reticulum paralog Grp94. Moreover, among 19 monoclonal antibodies raised against hHsp90, nine cross-reacted with yeast Hsc82, and one with human Grp94, but none bound to PgHtpG or E. coli HtpG. Among them, three mAbs that strongly reacted with yeast Hsc82 recognized Asn(291)-Ile(304), a conserved region of the family protein. The polyclonal antibody raised against a peptide, Met(315)-Glu(328), of human Grp94, which corresponded to the conserved region of hHsp90, cross-reacted with hHsp90, but not with other Hsp90-family members. Thus, although mammalian Hsp90 shares some immunological reactivity with yeast Hsc82, human Grp94, and human Trap1, it is considerably distinct from its bacterial ortholog, HtpG. Disruption of the P. gingivalis htpG gene neither affected bacterial survival nor altered the sensitivity of P. gingivalis to various forms of stress

Cat scratch disease without a history of cat exposure

A patient complaining of swelling and tenderness in her left axilla was diagnosed with cat scratch disease despite no apparent history of cat exposure. Zoonosis can occur even in the absence of cat exposure because cat flea Ctenocephalides felts is also the vector of the pathogen through the flea feces

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) roots have iodate reduction activity in response to iodine

Although iodine is not an essential nutrient for higher plants, their roots take up and transport the element. However, the exact mechanisms involved in iodine uptake and metabolism in higher plants have yet to be elucidated. In this study, we compared two cultivars differing in iodine tolerance (“Nipponbare” and “Gohyakumangoku”) to increasing levels of I− and IO3- in the root solutions of water-cultured rice (Oryza sativa L.). We found that IO3- added to the root solutions was converted to I− in the presence of roots. Iodate reduction occurred over the course of several hours. Furthermore, the iodate reduction activity of “Nipponbare” (iodine-sensitive) and “Gohyakumangoku” (iodine-tolerant) roots increased after adding IO3- or I−. The roots of barley and soybean also showed iodate reduction activity and the activity responded to iodine treatment either with IO3- and I−. This study suggests that plant roots biologically reduce iodate to iodide and indicates that the iodate reduction activity of roots responds to external iodine conditions

High-throughput synthesis and characterization of (Ba_xSr_1–x)_1+yTi_1–yO_3-δ and (Ba_xSr_1–x)_1+yTi_1–yO_3–zN_z perovskite thin films

Thin films of (BaxSr1–x)1+yTi1–y and Zr, Gd codoped (BaxSr1–x)1+yTi1–y were deposited on platinized sapphire substrates at 640 °C under constant flux of atomic oxygen or a mixture of atomic oxygen and nitrogen to synthesize perovskites of (BaxSr1–x)1+yTi1–yO3-δ (also referred to as BSTO), (BaxSr1–x)1+yTi1–yO3–zNz (also referred to as BSTON), and Zr, Gd codoped (BaxSr1–x)1+yTi1–yO3–zNz. Structural characterization was done via XRD and XPS, and electrical characterization was done via LCR (dielectric properties and tunability under DC bias) and P–E measurements. Although the levels of nitrogen incorporated within the perovskite structure appear to be very low as determined by XPS analysis, definite improvements in dielectric properties and tunability have been achieved by synthesis of the BSTON oxynitride films. For a composition of Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3–zNz an improvement by a factor of 1.72 for tunability and 1.44 for relative permittivity has been observed between the oxide and the oxynitride. The oxynitride achieved a tunability ratio of 6.78 to 1 (close to 7:1) under an applied electrical field of 34 kV/mm. The high throughput approach allowed us to highlight a compositional shift for the material with the best dielectric properties when comparing the oxide with the oxynitride thin films. Effects of codoping the perovskite structure with Zr and Gd have also been investigated and although the tunability and dielectric constant of the thin films were not improved, some improvements in dielectric losses were observed, along with a superparaelectric state as observed by P–E hysteresis measurements

Pituitary dysfunction induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors is associated with better overall survival in both malignant melanoma and non-small cell lung carcinoma: a prospective study

Background Several immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are reported to be associated with therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors, yet whether pituitary dysfunction, a life-threatening irAE, affects overall survival (OS) in patients with malignancies is unclear. This prospective study examined the association of pituitary dysfunction (pituitary-irAE) with OS of patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) or malignant melanoma (MM).Methods A total of 174 patients (NSCLC, 108; MM, 66) treated with ipilimumab, nivolumab, pembrolizumab, or atezolizumab at Nagoya University Hospital were evaluated for OS and the development of pituitary-irAE. Kaplan-Meier curves of OS as a function of the development of pituitary-irAE were produced with the log-rank test as a primary endpoint.Results Pituitary-irAE was observed in 16 patients (4 (3.7%) with NSCLC, 12 (18.2%) with MM) having two different disease types: hypophysitis with deficiency of multiple anterior pituitary hormones accompanied by pituitary enlargement, and isolated adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) deficiency without pituitary enlargement. Among these patients, 6 developed pituitary-irAE while being treated with ipilimumab (6/25 patients (24.0%) treated with ipilimumab) and 10 developed pituitary-irAE during treatment with nivolumab or pembrolizumab (10/167 (6.0%)). All 16 patients had ACTH deficiency and were treated with physiological doses of hydrocortisone. The development of pituitary-irAE was associated with better OS in patients with NSCLC (not reached vs 441 (95% CI not calculated) days, p<0.05) and MM (885 (95% CI 434 to 1336) vs 298 (95% CI 84 to 512) days, p<0.05).Conclusions In our study cohort, the incidence of pituitary-irAE was higher than previously reported and the development of pituitary-irAE predicted better prognosis for both NSCLC and MM when patients were treated with physiological doses of hydrocortisone.Clinical trials registration UMIN000019024