In Vitro Downregulation of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 in Rat Glial Cells by CCR5 Antagonist Maraviroc: Therapeutic Implication for HIV Brain Infection

BACKGROUND: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) released by glial cells are important mediators of neuroinflammation and neurologic damage in HIV infection. The use of antiretroviral drugs able to combat the detrimental effect of chronic inflammation and target the exaggerated MMP activity might represent an attractive therapeutic challenge. Recent studies suggest that CCR5 antagonist maraviroc (MVC) exerts immunomodulant and anti-inflammatory activity beyond its anti-HIV properties. We investigated the in vitro effect of MVC on the activity of MMPs in astrocyte and microglia cultures. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Primary cultures of rat astrocytes and microglia were activated by exposure to phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or lypopolysaccharide (LPS) and treated in vitro with MVC. Culture supernatants were subjected to gelatin zymography and quantitative determination of MMP-9 and MMP-2 was done by computerized scanning densitometry. MMP-9 levels were significantly elevated in culture supernatants from both LPS- and PMA-activated astrocytes and microglia in comparison to controls. The treatment with MVC significantly inhibited in a dose-dependent manner the levels and expression of MMP-9 in PMA-activated astrocytes (p<0,05) and, to a lesser extent, in PMA-activated microglia. By contrast, levels of MMP-2 did not significantly change, although a tendency to decrease was seen in PMA-activated astrocytes after treatment with MVC. The inhibition of levels and expression of MMP-9 in PMA-activated glial cells did not depend on cytotoxic effects of MVC. No inhibition of MMP-9 and MMP-2 were found in both LPS-activated astrocytes and microglia. CONCLUSIONS: The present in vitro study suggests that CCR5 antagonist compounds, through their ability to inhibit MMP-9 expression and levels, might have a great potential for the treatment of HIV-associated neurologic damage

Valutazione di nuove tecniche immunologhe nella diagnosi della Febbre Tifoide

Counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIEP) and Thin Layer Immunoassay (TIA) were compared with Widal test for serological diagnosis of typhoid fever. We have tested 12 paired acute and convalescent sera collected from patients with typhoid. The authors conclude that CIEP and TIA were superior to Widal test for serological diagnosis of typhoid fever. However, specificity of TIA was better than CIEP

Evaluation of ELIEDA test for immunodiagnosis of hydatid disease

An ELIEDA test for hydatidosis was evaluated with sera from preoperative, surgically-confirmed hydatidosis cases, postoperative hydatidosis patients, persons with other parasitic disease and healthy donors. ELIEDA was more sensitive than the counter-immunoelectrophoresis test based on the same positivity criterion and was equally specific for the immunodiagnosis of human hydatidosis. The procedure appears to be simple and rapid and merits consideration in that it determines specific classes of antibodies involved in the immune response which appear to be useful in following the evolution of hydatid cysts

Diagnostica delle Infezioni Urinarie

The immunofluorescence test performed by Thomas method was evaluated in urine specimens from patients with urinary tract infection. Antibody-coated bacteria were present in 70 percent of samples from patients with chronic pyelonephritis, while they were not observed in the urine from patients with acute cystitis. This technique can be useful in distinguishing infections of the upper from that of the lower urinary tract

THE THIN-LAYER IMMUNOASSAY (TIA) IN IMMUNODIAGNOSIS OF HUMAN HYDATIDOSIS. PRELIMINARY-OBSERVATIONS

We have applied a new test, the Thin Layer Immunoassay (TIA) to serodiagnosis of Hydatid disease and the results were compared with those obtained with ELISA. TIA has been shown to be highly sensitive and specific