Stimulatory effect of Eucalyptus essential oil on innate cell-mediated immune response

Besides few data concerning the antiseptic properties against a range of microbial agents and the anti-inflammatory potential both in vitro and in vivo, little is known about the influence of Eucalyptus oil (EO) extract on the monocytic/macrophagic system, one of the primary cellular effectors of the immune response against pathogen attacks. The activities of this natural extract have mainly been recognized through clinical experience, but there have been relatively little scientific studies on its biological actions. Here we investigated whether EO extract is able to affect the phagocytic ability of human monocyte derived macrophages (MDMs) in vitro and of rat peripheral blood monocytes/granulocytes in vivo in absence or in presence of immuno-suppression induced by the chemotherapeutic agent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)

Use of surrogate endpoints in healthcare policy : proposal for consistent adoption of a validation framework

We propose a three step framework for the evaluation of surrogate endpoints for health policy decisions on health technologies

Detection of high levels of Survivin-immunoglobulin M immune complex in sera from hepatitis C virus infected patients with cirrhosis

The identification and surveillance of patients with liver dysfunctions and the discovering of new disease biomarkers are needed in the clinical practice. The aim of this study was to investigate on Survivin-immunoglobulin (Ig)M immune complex (IC) as a potential biomarker of chronic liver diseases.Serum levels of Survivin-IgM were measured using an enzyme-linked immunoassay that had been standardized and validated in our laboratory in 262 individuals, including healthy subjects and patients with chronic viral hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Survivin-IgM IC was lower in healthy subjects (median, 99.39 AU/mL) than in patients with chronic viral hepatitis (median, 148.03 AU/mL; P = 0.002) or with cirrhosis (median, 371.00 AU/mL; P  0.001). Among patients with cirrhosis, those with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection showed the highest level of Survivin-IgM IC (median, 633.71 AU/mL; P  0.001). The receiver-operator curve analysis revealed that Survivin-IgM accurately distinguishes HCV correlated cirrhosis from chronic viral hepatitis (area under the curve [AUC], 0.738; sensitivity, 74.5%; specificity, 70.7%). A multivariate logistic regression model, including Survivin-IgM IC, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and AST/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio increased the prediction accuracy for the identification of the cirrhotic HCV patients (AUC, 0.818; sensitivity, 87.2%; specificity, 65.9%). Conversely, Survivin-IgM IC significantly decreased in HCC patients (median, 165.72 AU/mL; P = 0.022).Our results suggest that Survivin-IgM immune complex may be used as a potential biomarker for liver damage, particularly for the identification of the HCV-related cirrhotic population

Expression profile of HERVs and inflammatory mediators detected in nasal mucosa as a predictive biomarker of COVID-19 severity

IntroductionOur research group and others demonstrated the implication of the human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) in SARS-CoV-2 infection and their association with disease progression, suggesting HERVs as contributing factors in COVID-19 immunopathology. To identify early predictive biomarkers of the COVID-19 severity, we analyzed the expression of HERVs and inflammatory mediators in SARS-CoV-2-positive and -negative nasopharyngeal/oropharyngeal swabs with respect to biochemical parameters and clinical outcome.MethodsResiduals of swab samples (20 SARS-CoV-2-negative and 43 SARS-CoV-2-positive) were collected during the first wave of the pandemic and expression levels of HERVs and inflammatory mediators were analyzed by qRT-Real time PCR.ResultsThe results obtained show that infection with SARS-CoV-2 resulted in a general increase in the expression of HERVs and mediators of the immune response. In particular, SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with increased expression of HERV-K and HERV-W, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17, TNF-α, MCP-1, INF-γ, TLR-3, and TLR-7, while lower levels of IL-10, IFN-α, IFN-β, and TLR-4 were found in individuals who underwent hospitalization. Moreover, higher expression of HERV-W, IL-1β, IL-6, IFN-α, and IFN-β reflected the respiratory outcome of patients during hospitalization. Interestingly, a machine learning model was able to classify hospitalized vs not hospitalized patients with good accuracy based on the expression levels of HERV-K, HERV-W, IL-6, TNF-a, TLR-3, TLR-7, and the N gene of SARS-CoV-2. These latest biomarkers also correlated with parameters of coagulation and inflammation.DiscussionOverall, the present results suggest HERVs as contributing elements in COVID-19 and early genomic biomarkers to predict COVID-19 severity and disease outcome