Lipopolysaccharide Binding Protein and sCD14 are Not Produced as Acute Phase Proteins in Cardiac Surgery

Objectives. The changes in the serum levels of lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP) and sCD14 during cardiac surgery were followed in this study. Design. Thirty-four patients, 17 in each group, were randomly assigned to coronary artery bypass grafting surgery performed either with (“on-pump”) or without (“off-pump”) cardiopulmonary bypass. LBP and sCD14 were evaluated by ELISA. Results. The serum levels of LBP were gradually increased from the 1st postoperative day and reached their maximum on the 3rd postoperative day in both “on-pump” and “off-pump” patients (30.33±9.96 μg/mL; 37.99±16.58 μg/mL), respectively. There were no significant differences between “on-pump” and “off-pump” patients regarding LBP. The significantly increased levels of sCD14 from the 1st up to the 7th postoperative day in both “on-pump” and “off-pump” patients were found with no significant differences between these groups. No correlations between LBP and sCD14 and IL-6, CRP and long pentraxin PTX3 levels were found. Conclusions. The levels of LBP and sCD14 are elevated in cardiac surgical patients being similar in both groups. These molecules are not produced as acute phase proteins in these patients

Early Expression of FcγRI (CD64) on Monocytes of Cardiac Surgical Patients and Higher Density of Monocyte Anti-Inflammatory Scavenger CD163 Receptor in “On-Pump” Patients

Objective. Activation of innate immunity cells is inseparably linked to cardiac surgical operation. The aim of this study was to assess the kinetics in the expression of receptor for Fc part of IgG, FcγRI (CD64), and scavenger receptor CD163 on peripheral blood cells of cardiac surgical patients and to examine the effect of cardiac bypass as a separable influence on the systemic acute inflammatory response. Methods. Forty patients, twenty in each group, were randomly assigned to CABG surgery performed either with “on-pump” or without “off-pump” cardiopulmonary bypass. Standardized quantitative flow cytometry method was used to determine the expression of surface markers. Results. The density of CD64 molecule on monocytes reached maximum on the 1st postoperative day (P<.001) whereas the peak for CD64 molecule expression on granulocytes was postponed to the 3rd postoperative day (P<.001). The expression of CD163 scavenger molecule on monocytes reached maximum on the 1st postoperative day (P<.001). The density of CD163 molecule on monocytes on the 1st postoperative day is significantly higher in “on-pump” patients in comparison with “off-pump” patients (P<.001). Conclusion. In cardiac surgical patients the expression of activation marker FcγR1 (CD64) on monocytes is increased earlier in comparison with granulocytes in both “on-pump” and “off-pump” patients. The expression of scavenger molecule CD163 on monocytes is significantly higher in “on-pump” patients

TLR2 in Pleural Fluid Is Modulated by Talc Particles during Pleurodesis

The aim of this study was to examine the role of TLR2 molecule in pleural space during thoracoscopic talc pleurodesis period in patients with malignant pleural effusion. We analyzed TLR2 molecule in soluble form as well as on membrane of granulocytes in pleural fluid. Pleural fluid examination was done at three intervals during pleurodesis procedure: 1st—before the thoracoscopic procedure, 2nd—2 hours after the terminating thoracoscopic procedure with talc insufflation, 3rd—24 hours after the thoracoscopic procedure. We reported significant increase of soluble TLR2 molecule in pleural fluid effusion during talc pleurodesis from preoperative value. This increase was approximately 8-fold in the interval of 24 hours. The changes on granulocyte population were quite different. The mean fluorescent intensity of membrane TLR2 molecule examined by flow cytometry on granulocyte population significantly decreased after talc exposure with comparison to prethoracoscopic density. To estimate the prognostic value of TLR2 expression in pleural fluid patients were retrospectively classified into either prognostically favourable or unfavourable groups. Our results proved that patients with favourable prognosis had more than 3-fold higher soluble TLR2 level in pleural fluid early, 2 hours after talc pleurodesis intervention

Solar Wind Turbulence and the Role of Ion Instabilities

International audienc

Genetic instability and anti-HPV immune response as drivers of infertility associated with HPV infection

Funding Information: RFBR grant 17–54-30002, Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Agreement No. 075–15–2019-1660) to Olga Smirnova. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection common among men and women of reproductive age worldwide. HPV viruses are associated with epithelial lesions and cancers. HPV infections have been shown to be significantly associated with many adverse effects in reproductive function. Infection with HPVs, specifically of high-oncogenic risk types (HR HPVs), affects different stages of human reproduction, resulting in a series of adverse outcomes: 1) reduction of male fertility (male infertility), characterized by qualitative and quantitative semen alterations; 2) impairment of couple fertility with increase of blastocyst apoptosis and reduction of endometrial implantation of trophoblastic cells; 3) defects of embryos and fetal development, with increase of spontaneous abortion and spontaneous preterm birth. The actual molecular mechanism(s) by which HPV infection is involved remain unclear. HPV-associated infertility as Janus, has two faces: one reflecting anti-HPV immunity, and the other, direct pathogenic effects of HPVs, specifically, of HR HPVs on the infected/HPV-replicating cells. Adverse effects observed for HR HPVs differ depending on the genotype of infecting virus, reflecting differential response of the host immune system as well as functional differences between HPVs and their individual proteins/antigens, including their ability to induce genetic instability/DNA damage. Review summarizes HPV involvement in all reproductive stages, evaluate the adverse role(s) played by HPVs, and identifies mechanisms of viral pathogenicity, common as well as specific for each stage of the reproduction process.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Antibodies against carbonic anhydrase in patients with aplastic anemia

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Antibodies against carbonic anhydrase (CA) have been detected in patients with an aplastic anemia (AA)-like syndrome after autologous stem cell transplantation. METHODS: We analyzed sera of 53 bona fide AA patients before and after treatment with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) or bone marrow transplantation for the presence of anti-CA antibodies. RESULTS: Anti-CA antibodies were detected in 20 patients (38%) and were associated with older age at diagnosis of AA. Antibody-positive patients showed poor response to ATG treatment (complete response 14%) and inferior long-term survival (36% at 10 years), when compared to antibody-negative patients (complete response and 10-year survival both 64%). Two thirds of patients with antibodies at diagnosis of AA became antibody negative after treatment with ATG. Clearance of the antibody did not appear to be associated with hematological improvement. CONCLUSION: Antibodies against CA are detected frequently at diagnosis of AA, and their presence identifies a subset of patients with poor response to immunosuppressive treatment

Evaluation of Colorimetric BCA-Based Quantification of Hydrazide Groups on Magnetic Particles

Magnetic micro- and nanoparticles (MPs) are considered to provide excellent solid support for many immunoanalytical and bioaffinity applications, particularly when they contain hydrazide groups available for site-specific immobilization of various glycoproteins, such as immunoglobulin G and enzymes. To prepare a highly active bioaffinity carrier with sufficient binding capacity, knowledge as to the type and concentration of functional groups used for ligand binding is crucial. Described here is a simple, nontoxic method for rapid estimation of hydrazide functional groups bound to MPs using bicinchoninic acid (BCA). BCA kits are routinely used for colorimetric detection and quantification of total protein in liquid samples. In this study, the BCA reagent was applied for quantification of hydrazide groups on MPs. The approach was carried out using an adipic acid dihydrazide (ADH) solution and subsequently using various hydrazide-containing magnetic and nonmagnetic carriers differing in the density of hydrazide groups. The BCA test’s results obtained on the MPs were compared with those from conventional amino and hydrazide group quantification by the 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) test

Overlap of epitopes recognized by anti-carbonic anhydrase I IgG in patients with malignancy-related aplastic anemia-like syndrome and in patients with aplastic anemia

High titers of anti-carbonic anhydrase I (anti-CA I) autoantibodies were detected in the sera of patients with malignancies who developed an aplastic anemia-like (AA-like) syndrome after a high-dose therapy (HDT) and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). It was found, that the presence of these anti-CA I autoantibodies is associated with spontaneous tumor regression. The main immunodominant epitopes of carbonic anhydrase isoform I (CA I) have previously been identified using epitope extraction technique in combination with mass spectrometric detection and bioinformatic verification. Similarly, the sera of patients with bona fide aplastic anemia (AA) who poorly responded to immunosuppressive treatment with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) demonstrated high titers of anti-CA I antibodies. In order to reveal differences between these antibodies, we applied the same methodology of epitope mapping procedure. Surprisingly, the anti-CA I antibodies from the both groups of patients compatibly recognized the same four candidate CA I epitopes--DGLAV, NVGHS, SLKPI, SSEQL. This finding may indicate common pathophysiological mechanisms in these two syndromes. However, at this moment it remains unresolved if anti-CA I antibodies are implicated in marrow or tumor suppression or are just an epi-phenomenon

Outcomes of Patients with Newly Diagnosed Cardiac Myxoma: A Retrospective Multicentric Study

The patient database at the First Department of Internal Medicine in Martin, the Central Slovak Institute for Cardiac and Vascular Diseases in Banska Bystrica, and the National Slovak Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in Bratislava was searched to identify patients with benign tumors of the heart seen during the 5-year period between 2011 and 2016. Forty-one patients with primary cardiac myxomas were identified and their medical records were reviewed for details pertaining to presenting symptoms, staging modalities, treatment approaches, and outcomes. Most of the studied patients were diagnosed with echocardiography (n=35, 85%). The occurrence of the tumor was higher in the female population (n=25, 61%). The most common presenting symptoms were dyspnoea (n=17, 42%), chest pain (n=3, 7%), or pain and paraesthesia of the limbs (n=2, 5%). Acute embolic event due to embolization of tumor fragments resulted in cerebral stroke (n=5, 12%). All patients were treated by resection. Only one comorbid patient died due to multiple-organ dysfunction syndrome two weeks after the resection. The most common postoperative complication was bleeding (n=2, 5%) and infection (n=2, 5%). The early diagnosis and appropriate treatment are often curative, with very low risk of recurrence. Postoperative survival is high