IRAK4 gene polymorphism and odontogenic maxillary sinusitis

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate whether a specific interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase-4 (IRAK4) gene polymorphism had any influence on the development of changes in maxillary sinus, particularly in the presence of etiological factors of dental origin.Materials and methods The study population included 153 Portuguese Caucasians that were selected from a database of 504 retrospectively analysed computed tomography (CT) scans. A genetic test was performed, and a model was created through logistic analysis and regression coefficients. The statistical methodologies included were the independent Chi test, Fisher's exact test, binary logistic regression and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Results The estimated prevalence of IRAK4 gene polymorphism found in a Portuguese Caucasian population was 26.8 % (CI 95 %) [20.1, 34.7 %]. A model to predict the inflammatory response in the maxillary sinus in the presence etiological factors of dental origin was constructed. This model had the following as variables: previously diagnosed sinusitis, sinus pressure symptoms, cortical bone loss observed on CT, positive genetic test result and radiographic examination that revealed the roots of the teeth communication with the maxillary sinus, which are interpreted as risk factors.Conclusions The constructed model should be considered an initial clinical tool. The area under the ROC curve found, AUC=0.91, revealed that the model correctly predicts the outcome in 91.1 % of cases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impaired antiviral response in human hepatoma cells

AbstractHepatitis B, C, and D viruses can infect liver cells and in some individuals establish a chronic phase of infection. Presently, relatively little information is available on the antiviral mechanisms in liver cells. Because no good in vitro model infection systems for hepatitis viruses are available, we have used influenza A, Sendai, and vesicular stomatitis (VSV) viruses to characterize interferon (IFN) responses and IFN-induced antiviral mechanisms in human hepatoma cell lines. HepG2 or HuH7 cells did not show any detectable IFN-α/β production in response to influenza A or Sendai virus infections. Treatment of cells with IFN-α resulted in upregulation of IFN-α-inducible Mx, 2′,5′-oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) and HLA class I gene expression but only with exceptionally high levels of IFN-α (≥100 IU/ml). Accordingly, high pretreatment levels of IFN-α, 1000 IU/ml for influenza A and VSV and 100 IU/ml for Sendai virus, were required before any detectable antiviral activity against these viruses was seen. IFN-γ had some antiviral effect against influenza A virus but appeared to be ineffective against VSV and Sendai virus. IFN-γ upregulated HLA class I protein expression, whereas Mx or OAS expression levels were not increased. There was a modest upregulation of HLA class I expression during Sendai virus infection, whereas influenza A virus infection resulted, after an initial weak upregulation, in a clear decrease in HLA class I expression at late times of infection. The results suggest that hepatoma cells may have intrinsically poor ability to produce and respond to type I IFNs, which may contribute to their inability to efficiently resist viral infections

DNA methylation and allergic sensitizations, a genome-scale longitudinal study during adolescence

Background: the presence of allergic sensitization has a major influence on the development and course of common childhood conditions such as asthma and rhinitis. The etiology of allergic sensitization is poorly understood and its underlying biological mechanisms are not well established. Several studies showed that DNA methylation (DNAm) at some CpGs is associated with allergic sensitization. However, no studies have focused on the critical adolescence period.Methods: we assessed the association of pre- and post-adolescence genome-wide DNAm with allergic sensitization against indoor, outdoor and food allergens, using linear mixed models. We hypothesized that DNAm is associated with sensitization in general, and with poly-sensitization status, and these associations are ageand gender-specific. We tested these hypotheses in the IoW cohort (n=376) and examined the findings in the BAMSE cohort (n=267).Results: via linear mixed models, we identified 35 CpGs in IoW associated with allergic sensitization (at false discovery rate of 0.05), of which 33 were available in BAMSE and replicated with respect to the direction of associations with allergic sensitization. At the 35 CpGs except for cg19210306 on C13orf27, a reduction in methylation among atopic subjects was observed, most notably for cg21220721 and cg11699125 (ACOT7). DNAm at cg10159529 was strongly correlated with expression of IL5RA in peripheral blood (p-value=6.76×10-20). Three CpGs (cg14121142, cg23842695, and cg26496795) were identified in IoW with age-specific association between DNAm and allergic sensitization.Conclusion: in adolescence, the status of allergic sensitization was associated with DNAm differentiation and at some CpGs the association is likely to be age-specific