T-cell Subsets and Antifungal Host Defenses

It has been long appreciated that protective immunity against fungal pathogens is dependent on activation of cellular adaptive immune responses represented by T lymphocytes. The T-helper (Th)1/Th2 paradigm has proven to be essential for the understanding of protective adaptive host responses. Studies that have examined the significance of regulatory T cells in fungal infection, and the recent discovery of a new T-helper subset called Th17 have provided crucial information for understanding the complementary roles played by the various T-helper lymphocytes in systemic versus mucosal antifungal host defense. This review provides an overview of the role of the various T-cell subsets during fungal infections and the reciprocal regulation between the T-cell subsets contributing to the tailored host response against fungal pathogens

Interactive effects of ST-T wave abnormalities on survival of patients with coronary artery disease

AbstractPrevious studies have documented a reduced survival time in patients with an electrocardiographic (ECG) ST-T wave abnormality. This study was designed to determine the clinical, hemodynamic and angiographic correlates of this observation. Data from 9,731 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization from 1976 through 1986 were analyzed; 5,531 had severe (>70%) obstruction of at least one major coronary artery, 1,706 had mild (10 to 69%) obstruction and 2,494 had no obstruction. Of the patients with severe obstruction, 2,536 were treated medically and 2,995 were treated by surgical revascularization.Patients with an ST-T abnormality had more clinical risk factors (including older age and greater prevalence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and prior myocardial infarction) and greater left ventricular dysfunction (including higher end-diastolic pressure and ventricular volume, reduced ejection fraction and greater prevalence of contraction abnormality) than did those without this ECG pattern. Survival time was significantly (p < 0.01) reduced in subsets of patients with an ST-T abnormality and with severe or mild coronary artery disease; in those without coronary disease, ST-T changes did not correlate with reduced survival.Stepwise regression analysis was applied to each group to determine the independent predictors of 5-year survival. In patients with severe disease or no disease, an ST-T abnormality was not chosen as an independent predictor of 5-year survival; in the group with mild disease, ST-T changes were an independent predictor of reduced survival. Thus, the independent impact of an ST-T abnormality on survival is dependent on the severity of underlying coronary artery disease