NOD.Cd1-/- mice have increased numbers of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T regulatory cells in the periphery

Recent studies indicate Natural Killer T (NKT) lymphocytes and Regulatory T (Treg) cells interact to regulate immune responses. NOD mice bearing a targeted deletion of the NKT cell restriction molecule, CD1d, lack NKT cells. To determine whether absence of NKT cells has an effect on Treg numbers, NOD/Lt and NOD.Cd1-/- mice were examined for differences in their Treg population. Flow cytometric analysis of 10-week old female mice of both strains revealed that NOD.Cd1-/- mice have a higher number of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells in both the spleen and liver. Further studies on differences in regulatory T cells between these strains at different ages and the effect of adoptive transfer of NKT cells on Treg cells would give us a better understanding about interactions of these two populations

Development of a two-stage limb ischemia model to better simulate human peripheral artery disease

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) develops due to the narrowing or blockage of arteries supplying blood to the lower limbs. Surgical and endovascular interventions are the main treatments for advanced PAD but alternative and adjunctive medical therapies are needed. Currently the main preclinical experimental model employed in PAD research is based on induction of acute hind limb ischemia (HLI) by a 1-stage procedure. Since there are concerns regarding the ability to translate findings from this animal model to patients, we aimed to develop a novel clinically relevant animal model of PAD. HLI was induced in male Apolipoprotein E (ApoE(-/-)) deficient mice by a 2-stage procedure of initial gradual femoral artery occlusion by ameroid constrictors for 14 days and subsequent excision of the femoral artery. This 2-stage HLI model was compared to the classical 1-stage HLI model and sham controls. Ischemia severity was assessed using Laser Doppler Perfusion Imaging (LDPI). Ambulatory ability was assessed using an open field test, a treadmill test and using established scoring scales. Molecular markers of angiogenesis and shear stress were assessed within gastrocnemius muscle tissue samples using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. HLI was more severe in mice receiving the 2-stage compared to the 1-stage ischemia induction procedure as assessed by LDPI (p = 0.014), and reflected in a higher ischemic score (p = 0.004) and lower average distance travelled on a treadmill test (p = 0.045). Mice undergoing the 2-stage HLI also had lower expression of angiogenesis markers (vascular endothelial growth factor, p = 0.004; vascular endothelial growth factor-receptor 2, p = 0.008) and shear stress response mechano-transducer transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (p = 0.041) within gastrocnemius muscle samples, compared to animals having the 1-stage HLI procedure. Mice subjected to the 2-stage HLI receiving an exercise program showed significantly greater improvement in their ambulatory ability on a treadmill test than a sedentary control group. This study describes a novel model of HLI which leads to more severe and sustained ischemia than the conventionally used model. Exercise therapy, which has established efficacy in PAD patients, was also effective in this new model. This new model maybe useful in the evaluation of potential novel PAD therapies

Parenteral administration of factor Xa/IIa inhibitors limits experimental aortic aneurysm and atherosclerosis

Intraluminal thrombus is a consistent feature of human abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Coagulation factor Xa (FXa) catalyses FII to thrombin (FIIa). We examined the effect of FXa/FIIa inhibition on experimental aortic aneurysm in apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE−/−) mice infused with angiotensin II (AngII). The concentration of FXa within the supra-renal aorta (SRA) correlated positively with SRA diameter. Parenteral administration of enoxaparin (FXa/IIa inhibitor) and fondaparinux (FXa inhibitor) over 14 days reduced to severity of aortic aneurysm and atherosclerosis in AngII-infused ApoE−/− mice. Enteral administration of the FIIa inhibitor dabigatran had no significant effect. Aortic protease-activated receptor (PAR)-2 expression increased in response to AngII infusion. Fondaparinux reduced SRA levels of FXa, FIIa, PAR-2, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)2, Smad2/3 phosphorylation,and MOMA-2 positive cells in the mouse model. FXa stimulated Smad2/3 phosphorylation and MMP2 expression in aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) in vitro. Expression of MMP2 in FXastimulated VSMC was downregulated in the presence of a PAR-2 but not a PAR-1 inhibitor. These findings suggest that FXa/FIIa inhibition limits aortic aneurysm and atherosclerosis severity due to down-regulation of vascular PAR-2-mediated Smad2/3 signalling and MMP2 expression. Inhibition of FXa/FIIa may be a potential therapy for limiting aortic aneurysm

Burning Rate of Liquid Fuel on Carpet (Porous Media)

Research paper published in the journal Fire Technology 2004The occurrence of a liquid fuel burning on carpet has been involved in many incendiary and accidental fires. While the research on a liquid fuel fire on carpet is still limited, much work on porous media has been performed using sand or glass beads soaked with liquid fuel. In this study, a heat and mass transfer theory was first developed to analyze the burning process of liquid on carpet, and then several small-scale tests were performed to validate the theory. This analysis is valid for pool fires intermediate in size (5-20 cm. in diameter). The experimental apparatus consisted of a circular pan (105mm) and a load cell. Varying amounts of fuels (heptane, kerosene and methanol) were spilled onto the carpet, which was allowed to burn in a quiescent environment. It was found that due to the different controlling mechanisms, the liquid burning rate could be less or more than that of a similarly spilled free-burning pool fire. For the worst-case scenario in fires, the maximum enhancement of the burning rate due to the porous media is predictable through the physical properties of the fuel. This analysis is valid for both combustion and evaporation. Several similar results in the scientific literature are analyzed to further describe the trend. This work explains the role of carpet in liquid pool fires and also helps to explain special risks related to the presence of carpet involved in arsons and will be useful in reconstruction of the early development of an incendiary or accidental fire

IRE1α–XBP1 controls T cell function in ovarian cancer by regulating mitochondrial activity

Tumours evade immune control by creating hostile microenvironments that perturb T cell metabolism and effector function 1?4 . However, it remains unclear how intra-tumoral T cells integrate and interpret metabolic stress signals. Here we report that ovarian cancer?an aggressive malignancy that is refractory to standard treatments and current immunotherapies 5?8 ?induces endoplasmic reticulum stress and activates the IRE1α?XBP1 arm of the unfolded protein response 9,10 in T cells to control their mitochondrial respiration and anti-tumour function. In T cells isolated from specimens collected from patients with ovarian cancer, upregulation of XBP1 was associated with decreased infiltration of T cells into tumours and with reduced IFNG mRNA expression. Malignant ascites fluid obtained from patients with ovarian cancer inhibited glucose uptake and caused N-linked protein glycosylation defects in T cells, which triggered IRE1α?XBP1 activation that suppressed mitochondrial activity and IFNγ production. Mechanistically, induction of XBP1 regulated the abundance of glutamine carriers and thus limited the influx of glutamine that is necessary to sustain mitochondrial respiration in T cells under glucose-deprived conditions. Restoring N-linked protein glycosylation, abrogating IRE1α?XBP1 activation or enforcing expression of glutamine transporters enhanced mitochondrial respiration in human T cells exposed to ovarian cancer ascites. XBP1-deficient T cells in the metastatic ovarian cancer milieu exhibited global transcriptional reprogramming and improved effector capacity. Accordingly, mice that bear ovarian cancer and lack XBP1 selectively in T cells demonstrate superior anti-tumour immunity, delayed malignant progression and increased overall survival. Controlling endoplasmic reticulum stress or targeting IRE1α?XBP1 signalling may help to restore the metabolic fitness and anti-tumour capacity of T cells in cancer hosts.Fil: Song, Minkyung. Weill Cornell Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Sandoval, Tito A.. Weill Cornell Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Chae, Chang-Suk. Weill Cornell Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Chopra, Sahil. Weill Cornell Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Tan, Chen. Weill Cornell Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Rutkowski, Melanie R.. University of Virginia; Estados UnidosFil: Raundhal, Mahesh. Dana Farber Cancer Institute; Estados Unidos. Harvard Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Chaurio, Ricardo A.. H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Payne, Kyle K.. H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Konrad, Csaba. Weill Cornell Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Bettigole, Sarah E.. Quentis Therapeutics Inc.; Estados UnidosFil: Shin, Hee Rae. Quentis Therapeutics Inc.; Estados UnidosFil: Crowley, Michael J. P.. Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences; Estados UnidosFil: Cerliani, Juan Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Kossenkov, Andrew V.. The Wistar Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Motorykin, Ievgen. Weill Cornell Medicine,; Estados UnidosFil: Zhang, Sheng. Weill Cornell Medicine,; Estados UnidosFil: Manfredi, Giovanni. Weill Cornell Medicine,; Estados UnidosFil: Zamarin, Dmitriy. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Estados UnidosFil: Holcomb, Kevin. Weill Cornell Medicine,; Estados UnidosFil: Rodriguez, Paulo C.. H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Rabinovich, Gabriel Adrián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Conejo Garcia, Jose R.. H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Glimcher, Laurie H.. Dana Farber Cancer Institute; Estados Unidos. Harvard Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Cubillos-Ruiz, Juan R.. Weill Graduate School Of Medical Sciences; Estados Unidos. Weill Graduate School Of Medical Sciences; Estados Unido

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)

Effect of remote ischaemic conditioning on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI): a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischaemic conditioning with transient ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm has been shown to reduce myocardial infarct size in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). We investigated whether remote ischaemic conditioning could reduce the incidence of cardiac death and hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months. METHODS: We did an international investigator-initiated, prospective, single-blind, randomised controlled trial (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI) at 33 centres across the UK, Denmark, Spain, and Serbia. Patients (age >18 years) with suspected STEMI and who were eligible for PPCI were randomly allocated (1:1, stratified by centre with a permuted block method) to receive standard treatment (including a sham simulated remote ischaemic conditioning intervention at UK sites only) or remote ischaemic conditioning treatment (intermittent ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm through four cycles of 5-min inflation and 5-min deflation of an automated cuff device) before PPCI. Investigators responsible for data collection and outcome assessment were masked to treatment allocation. The primary combined endpoint was cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02342522) and is completed. FINDINGS: Between Nov 6, 2013, and March 31, 2018, 5401 patients were randomly allocated to either the control group (n=2701) or the remote ischaemic conditioning group (n=2700). After exclusion of patients upon hospital arrival or loss to follow-up, 2569 patients in the control group and 2546 in the intervention group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 12 months post-PPCI, the Kaplan-Meier-estimated frequencies of cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure (the primary endpoint) were 220 (8·6%) patients in the control group and 239 (9·4%) in the remote ischaemic conditioning group (hazard ratio 1·10 [95% CI 0·91-1·32], p=0·32 for intervention versus control). No important unexpected adverse events or side effects of remote ischaemic conditioning were observed. INTERPRETATION: Remote ischaemic conditioning does not improve clinical outcomes (cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure) at 12 months in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. FUNDING: British Heart Foundation, University College London Hospitals/University College London Biomedical Research Centre, Danish Innovation Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, TrygFonden

Osteoprotegerin deficiency limits angiotensin II-induced aortic dilatation and rupture in the apolipoprotein e-knockout mouse

Objective-Mounting evidence links osteoprotegerin with cardiovascular disease. Elevated serum and aortic tissue osteoprotegerin are associated with the presence and growth of abdominal aortic aneurysm in humans; however, a role for osteoprotegerin in abdominal aortic aneurysm pathogenesis remains to be shown. We examined the functional significance of osteoprotegerin in aortic aneurysm using an Opg-deficient mouse model and in vitro investigations.\ud \ud Approach and Results-Homozygous deletion of Opg in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice (ApoE(-/-) Opg(-/-)) inhibited angiotensin II-induced aortic dilatation. Survival free from aortic rupture was increased from 67% in ApoE(-/-) Opg(+/+) controls to 94% in ApoE(-/-) Opg(-/-) mice (P=0.040). Serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines, and aortic expression for cathepsin S (CTSS), matrix metalloproteinase 2, and matrix metalloproteinase 9 after 7 days (early-phase) of angiotensin II infusion were significantly reduced in ApoE(-/-) Opg(-/-) mice compared with ApoE(-/-) Opg(+/+) controls. In addition, aortic expression of markers for an inflammatory phenotype in aortic vascular smooth muscle cells in response to early-phase of angiotensin II infusion was significantly lower in Opg-deficient mice. In vitro, human abdominal aortic aneurysm vascular smooth muscle cells produced more CTSS and exhibited increased CTSS-derived elastolytic activity than healthy aortic vascular smooth muscle cells, whereas recombinant human osteoprotegerin stimulated CTSS-dependent elastase activity in aortic vascular smooth muscle cells.\ud \ud Conclusions-These findings support a role for osteoprotegerin in aortic aneurysm through upregulation of CTSS, matrix metalloproteinase 2, and matrix metalloproteinase 9 within the aorta, promoting an inflammatory phenotype in aortic vascular smooth muscle cells in response to angiotensin II

Neotype designation, redescription, biology and distribution of Acanthopsyche alstoni Watt & Mann, 1903 (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) from India

Usha, A. U., Sobczyk, T., Roby, T. J., Jose, Joyce (2022): Neotype designation, redescription, biology and distribution of Acanthopsyche alstoni Watt & Mann, 1903 (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) from India. Zootaxa 5159 (1): 136-144, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5159.1.

Herpes simplex virus-1--associated congenital cataract

PURPOSE: To report association of herpes simplex virus-type 1 (HSV-1) in four cases of congenital cataract. DESIGN: Prospective interventional case series. METHODS: Four infants younger than 12 months, presenting with unilateral or bilateral congenital cataract, were included. The cases were clinically evaluated by the pediatric ophthalmologist. The lens aspirates collected at the time of cataract surgery were processed for HSV-1 culture in rabbit corneal epithelial (SIRC) cell line and for HSV-1 DNA by polymerase chain (PCR). The sera of the children and the mother were tested for HSV-1 immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: HSV-1 was isolated in tube cultures in three of four lens aspirates, and all four lens aspirates were positive for HSV-1 DNA by PCR. Serum HSV-1 IgM was positive in all babies and in three cases HSV-1 IgM was positive in the mother's serum. CONCLUSION: Based on a computerized literature search, we believe this may be the first report of HSV-1 associated congenital cataract