Natural Cross Chlamydial Infection between Livestock and Free-Living Bird Species

The study of cross-species pathogen transmission is essential to understanding the epizootiology and epidemiology of infectious diseases. Avian chlamydiosis is a zoonotic disease whose effects have been mainly investigated in humans, poultry and pet birds. It has been suggested that wild bird species play an important role as reservoirs for this disease. During a comparative health status survey in common (Falco tinnunculus) and lesser (Falco naumanni) kestrel populations in Spain, acute gammapathies were detected. We investigated whether gammapathies were associated with Chlamydiaceae infections. We recorded the prevalence of different Chlamydiaceae species in nestlings of both kestrel species in three different study areas. Chlamydophila psittaci serovar I (or Chlamydophila abortus), an ovine pathogen causing late-term abortions, was isolated from all the nestlings of both kestrel species in one of the three studied areas, a location with extensive ovine livestock enzootic of this atypical bacteria and where gammapathies were recorded. Serovar and genetic cluster analysis of the kestrel isolates from this area showed serovars A and C and the genetic cluster 1 and were different than those isolated from the other two areas. The serovar I in this area was also isolated from sheep abortions, sheep faeces, sheep stable dust, nest dust of both kestrel species, carrion beetles (Silphidae) and Orthoptera. This fact was not observed in other areas. In addition, we found kestrels to be infected by Chlamydia suis and Chlamydia muridarum, the first time these have been detected in birds. Our study evidences a pathogen transmission from ruminants to birds, highlighting the importance of this potential and unexplored mechanism of infection in an ecological context. On the other hand, it is reported a pathogen transmission from livestock to wildlife, revealing new and scarcely investigated anthropogenic threats for wild and endangered species

Mouse models to unravel the role of inhaled pollutants on allergic sensitization and airway inflammation

Air pollutant exposure has been linked to a rise in wheezing illnesses. Clinical data highlight that exposure to mainstream tobacco smoke (MS) and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) as well as exposure to diesel exhaust particles (DEP) could promote allergic sensitization or aggravate symptoms of asthma, suggesting a role for these inhaled pollutants in the pathogenesis of asthma. Mouse models are a valuable tool to study the potential effects of these pollutants in the pathogenesis of asthma, with the opportunity to investigate their impact during processes leading to sensitization, acute inflammation and chronic disease. Mice allow us to perform mechanistic studies and to evaluate the importance of specific cell types in asthma pathogenesis. In this review, the major clinical effects of tobacco smoke and diesel exhaust exposure regarding to asthma development and progression are described. Clinical data are compared with findings from murine models of asthma and inhalable pollutant exposure. Moreover, the potential mechanisms by which both pollutants could aggravate asthma are discussed

Histologic and histomorphometric results of three bone graft substitutes after sinus augmentation in humans.

The aim of this study was to compare the histological behavior of three bone graft materials placed in human. The comparison was made among Bio-Oss\uae (BO), Engipore\uae (EP), and PepGen P-15\uae (P-15). Five biopsies for each group of biomaterial, retrieved 6 months after sinus lift augmentation, were analyzed. The investigation was carried out using light microscope (LM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), and circularly polarized light microscope (CPLM). Under LM, the amount of newly formed bone was significantly higher in BO than P-15 (P < .05), while the amount of residual graft material was significantly higher in P-15 than BO (P < .05). The extension of marrow spaces was significantly higher in EP than both BO and P-15 (P < .05). SEM-EDS analysis showed a Ca/P ratio of 1.8 for BO, 2.2 for EP, and 1.5 for P-15. Under CPLM, BO showed no significant difference for transverse (18.4 \ub1 2.7\%) and longitudinal (16.3 \ub1 1.8\%) bone collagen fibers (P = .195); EP showed a significant difference between transverse (4 \ub1 0.7\%) and longitudinal (7.6 \ub1 2.5\%) bone collagen fibers (P = .015); finally, P-15 showed no significant difference for transverse (3.8 \ub1 1.6\%) and longitudinal (4.9 \ub1 1.2\%) bone collagen fibers (P = .279). No investigated biomaterial was completely resorbed, but all the residual particles demonstrated a close bone integration to form a hybrid tissue. BO particles appeared perfectly osseointegrated in the trabecular bone. EP showed a tendency to concentrate the bone apposition into the microporosities; P-15 particles appeared bridged by newly formed bone trabeculae