Diminished salivary epidermal growth factor secretion : a link between Sjogren's syndrome and autoimmune gastritis?

Objectives: Healthy human labial salivary glands produce epidermal growth factor (EGF). In Sjogren's syndrome (SS), EGF staining is diminished. SS is also associated with chronic autoimmune corpus gastritis. We therefore hypothesized that EGF secretion would be diminished in SS and that this could affect gastric target cells.Methods: Salivary EGF secretion in SS was compared to that in healthy controls using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). EGF receptor (EGFR) immunoreactive cells in the gastric corpus of healthy human subjects were analysed using immunostaining.Results: Salivary secretion of EGF was diminished in SS patients (232.4, range 52.6-618.4, vs. 756.6, range 105.3-1631.6 pg/min, p=0.002). Proton-pump positive parietal cells were mostly EGFR immunoreactive whereas very few pepsinogen I (PGI)-positive cells were EGFR positive.Conclusions: As EGF is relatively acid resistant, salivary gland-derived EGF might participate in an exo/endocrine mode of parietal cell maintenance in the gastric corpus. Deficiency of salivary gland-derived EGF in SS patients may cause impairment of gastric parietal cells resulting in exposure of immunogenic cryptic antigens and loss of immunological self-tolerance.Peer reviewe

Diminished salivary epidermal growth factor secretion : a link between Sjogren's syndrome and autoimmune gastritis?

Objectives: Healthy human labial salivary glands produce epidermal growth factor (EGF). In Sjogren's syndrome (SS), EGF staining is diminished. SS is also associated with chronic autoimmune corpus gastritis. We therefore hypothesized that EGF secretion would be diminished in SS and that this could affect gastric target cells.Methods: Salivary EGF secretion in SS was compared to that in healthy controls using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). EGF receptor (EGFR) immunoreactive cells in the gastric corpus of healthy human subjects were analysed using immunostaining.Results: Salivary secretion of EGF was diminished in SS patients (232.4, range 52.6-618.4, vs. 756.6, range 105.3-1631.6 pg/min, p=0.002). Proton-pump positive parietal cells were mostly EGFR immunoreactive whereas very few pepsinogen I (PGI)-positive cells were EGFR positive.Conclusions: As EGF is relatively acid resistant, salivary gland-derived EGF might participate in an exo/endocrine mode of parietal cell maintenance in the gastric corpus. Deficiency of salivary gland-derived EGF in SS patients may cause impairment of gastric parietal cells resulting in exposure of immunogenic cryptic antigens and loss of immunological self-tolerance.Peer reviewe

Measurement of complement receptor 1 on neutrophils in bacterial and viral pneumonia

BACKGROUND: A reliable prediction of the causative agent of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is not possible based on clinical features. Our aim was to test, whether the measurement of the expression of complement receptors or Fcγ receptors on neutrophils and monocytes would be a useful preliminary test to differentiate between bacterial and viral pneumonia. METHODS: Sixty-eight patients with CAP were studied prospectively. Thirteen patients had pneumococcal pneumonia; 13 patients, influenza A pneumonia; 5 patients, atypical pneumonia, and 37 patients, aetiologically undefined pneumonia. Leukocyte receptor expression was measured within 2 days of hospital admission. RESULTS: The mean expression of complement receptor 1 (CR1) on neutrophils was significantly higher in the patients with pneumococcal pneumonia than in those with influenza A pneumonia. The mean expression of CR1 was also significantly higher in aetiologically undefined pneumonia than in influenza A pneumonia, but there was no difference between pneumococcal and undefined pneumonia. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the expression of CR1 is higher in classical bacterial pneumonia than in viral pneumonia. Determination of the expression of CR1 may be of value as an additional rapid tool in the aetiological diagnosis, bacterial or viral infection, of CAP. These results are preliminary and more research is needed to assess the utility of this new method in the diagnostics of pneumonia

A relational database to identify differentially expressed genes in the endometrium and endometriosis lesions

Endometriosis is a common inflammatory estrogen-dependent gynecological disorder, associated with pelvic pain and reduced fertility in women. Several aspects of this disorder and its cellular and molecular etiology remain unresolved. We have analyzed the global gene expression patterns in the endometrium, peritoneum and in endometriosis lesions of endometriosis patients and in the endometrium and peritoneum of healthy women. In this report, we present the EndometDB, an interactive web-based user interface for browsing the gene expression database of collected samples without the need for computational skills. The EndometDB incorporates the expression data from 115 patients and 53 controls, with over 24000 genes and clinical features, such as their age, disease stages, hormonal medication, menstrual cycle phase, and the different endometriosis lesion types. Using the web-tool, the end-user can easily generate various plot outputs and projections, including boxplots, and heatmaps and the generated outputs can be downloaded in pdf-format.Availability and implementationThe web-based user interface is implemented using HTML5, JavaScript, CSS, Plotly and R. It is freely available from https://endometdb.utu.fi/

Shape model and spin-state analysis of PHA contact binary (85990) 1999 JV6 from combined radar and optical observations

Context. The potentially hazardous asteroid (85990)1999 JV6 has been a target of previously published thermal-infrared observations and optical photometry. It has been identified as a promising candidate for possible Yarkovsky-O’Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect detection. Aims. The YORP effect is a small thermal-radiation torque considered to be a key factor in spin-state evolution of small Solar System bodies. In order to detect YORP on 1999 JV6 we developed a detailed shape model and analysed the spin-state using both optical and radar observations. Methods. For 1999 JV6, we collected optical photometry between 2007 and 2016. Additionally, we obtained radar echo-power spectra and imaging observations with Arecibo and Goldstone planetary radar facilities in 2015, 2016, and 2017. We combined our data with published optical photometry to develop a robust physical model. Results. We determine that the rotation pole resides at negative latitudes in an area with a 5◦ radius close to the south ecliptic pole. The refined sidereal rotation period is 6.536787±0.000007 h. The radar images are best reproduced with a bilobed shape model. Both lobes of 1999 JV6 can be represented as oblate ellipsoids with a smaller, more spherical component resting at the end of a larger, more elongated component. While contact binaries appear to be abundant in the near-Earth population, there are only a few published shape models for asteroids in this particular configuration. By combining the radar-derived shape model with optical light curves we determine a constant-period solution that fits all available data well. Using light-curve data alone we determine an upper limit for YORP of 8.5×10−8 rad day−2. Conclusions. The bifurcated shape of 1999 JV6 might be a result of two ellipsoidal components gently merging with each other, or a deformation of a rubble pile with a weak-tensile-strength core due to spin-up. The physical model of 1999 JV6 presented here will enable future studies of contact binary asteroid formation and evolution

Biologics registers in RA: methodological aspects, current role and future applications

The beginning of the 21st century saw a biopharmaceutical revolution in the treatment of inflammatory rheumatic diseases, particularly rheumatoid arthritis. The fast-evolving use of biologic therapies highlighted the need to develop registers at national and international levels with the aim of collecting long-term data on patient outcomes. Over the past 15 years, many biologics registers have contributed a wealth of data and provided robust and reliable evidence on the use, effectiveness and safety of these therapies. The unavoidable challenges posed by the continuous introduction of new therapies, particularly with regard to understanding their long-term safety, highlights the importance of learning from experience with established biologic therapies. In this Perspectives article, the role of biologics registers in bridging the evidence gap between efficacy in clinical trials and real-world effectiveness is discussed, with a focus on methodological aspects of registers, their unique features and challenges and their role going forward