Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Biomarker — p11

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic and disabling anxiety disorder associated with a traumatic event [1]. It is linked to increased risk of suicide and deficits in social functioning [2, 3]. Despite extensive study in psychiatry, the underlying mechanisms of PTSD are still poorly understood [4, 5]. Currently, the diagnosis for PTSD is based on clinical observation and symptom checklist [4, 6-8] and no laboratory blood-based tests. Although biomarker discovery for PTSD is not easy [8], a reliable biomarker would significantly impact the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of PTSD. Developing interventions to identify and treat PTSD requires objective approaches to determining the presence of PTSD [8]. Substantial data indicate several potential biomarkers for PTSD. Of these candidate markers, p11 (S100A10) has been studied in PTSD animal models [7] and in human subjects with PTSD [6]. We found that p11 is over-expressed in both animal models and post-mortem brains of subjects with PTSD [7]. Incorporating testing of p11, a novel biomarker for PTSD, into clinical practice, along with more subjective measures, such as participants’ medical history, mental status, duration of symptoms, and symptom checklist or self-report, would provide additional power to predict impending PTSD. In this chapter, we discuss the biomarker concept and the potential clinical utility of PTSD biomarkers. We further discuss the potential of p11 as a PTSD biomarker and as a tool that may enhance PTSD diagnosis and intervention in health care practice

Comparison of Late Urinary Symptoms Following SBRT and SBRT with IMRT Supplementation for Prostate Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer survivors commonly experience late-onset lower urinary tract symptoms following radiotherapy. We aimed to compare lower urinary tract symptoms in patients treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) to those treated with a combination of lower dose SBRT and supplemental intensity-modulated radiotherapy (SBRT + IMRT). METHODS: Subjects with localized prostate carcinoma scheduled to receive SBRT or a combination of SBRT and IMRT were enrolled and followed for up to 2 years after treatment completion. Participants treated with SBRT received 35-36.25 Gy in 5 fractions, while those treated with SBRT + IMRT received 19.5 Gy of SBRT in 3 fractions followed by 45-50.4 Gy of IMRT in 25-28 fractions. Urinary symptoms were measured using the American Urological Association (AUA) Symptom Score. RESULTS: Two hundred patients received SBRT (52% intermediate risk, 37.5% low risk according to D\u27Amico classification) and 145 patients received SBRT + IMRT (61.4% high risk, 35.2% intermediate risk). Both groups experienced a transient spike in urinary symptoms 1 month after treatment. More severe late urinary flare (increase in AUA scores ≥ 5 points from baseline to 1 year after treatment completion and an AUA score ≥ 15 at 1 year after treatment) was experienced by patients who received SBRT compared to those treated with SBRT + IMRT. CONCLUSION: Participants who received SBRT and supplemental IMRT experienced less severe late urinary flare 1 year after treatment compared to those who received higher dose SBRT alone. This information can be used by clinicians to provide patients with anticipatory counseling to mitigate any psychological burden that comes with unanticipated late urinary toxicities

Immune Properties of HSP70

International audienceIn addition to their conventional chaperon activity, numerous studies have reported that heat shock protein 70 (HSP0) exhibit immune properties and especially the capacity (i) to induce the presentation and cross-presentation of associated or client proteins and, (ii) to control myeloid cell activation. Several studies were focused on the identification of HSP70-binding elements that contribute to their immune properties. A general consensus was reached on the nature of the endocytic receptors involved in the internalization of extracellular HSP70 with belong, for most of them, to the innate immunity receptor family. However, the nature of signaling receptors recruited by HSP70 remains unclear, because the stim-ulatory versus regulatory properties of HSP70 remains a subject of debate. Nevertheless, these unique immune properties allowed developing innovative pro-phylactic and therapeutic vaccines, especially in the treatment of cancers and chronic viral infections. Although HSP70 constitute potent vaccine vehicles in different preclinical models, clinical studies remain disappointing. The fact that the immune properties of HSP70 have not been totally clarified may explain their relative efficacy in human. In this review are presented the main immune properties of HSP70 related to the HSP70-binding elements identified to date, and discuss our current knowledge on their intrinsic immune properties