Sex-Associated Differences in Protein l Values in Urine: Immunochemical Detection of Protein l in Genital Tissues

Peer Reviewe

High-Level Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Clinical Isolates of Escherichia coli Overproduce Multidrug Efflux Protein AcrA

Immunoblotting with antibody against AcrA, an obligatory component of the AcrAB multidrug efflux system, showed that this protein was overexpressed by ≥170% in 9 of 10 clinical isolates of Esherichia coli with high-level ciprofloxacin resistance (MICs, ≥32 μg/ml) but not in any of the 15 isolates for which the MIC was ≤1 μg/ml

Involvement of Fractalkine/CX3CL1 Expression by Dendritic Cells in the Enhancement of Host Immunity against Legionella pneumophila

Legionnaires' disease is clinically manifested as severe pneumonia caused by Legionella pneumophila. However, the dendritic cell (DC)-centered immunological framework of the host defense against L. pneumophila has not been fully delineated. For this study, we focused on a potent chemoattractant for lymphocytes, fractalkine/CX3CL1, and observed that the fractalkine expression of DCs was somewhat up-regulated when they encountered L. pneumophila. We therefore hypothesized that fractalkine expressed by Legionella-capturing DCs is involved in the induction of T-cell-mediated immune responses against Legionella, which would be enhanced by a genetic modulation of DCs to overexpress fractalkine. In vivo immunization-challenge experiments demonstrated that DCs modified with a recombinant adenovirus vector to overexpress fractalkine (AdFKN) and pulsed with heat-killed Legionella protected immunized mice from a lethal Legionella infection and that the generation of in vivo protective immunity depended on the host lymphocyte subsets, including CD4(+) T cells, CD8(+) T cells, and B cells. Consistent with this, immunization with AdFKN/Legionella/DC induced significantly higher levels of serum anti-Legionella antibodies of several isotypes than those induced by control immunizations. Further analysis of spleen cells from the immunized mice indicated that the AdFKN/Legionella/DC immunization elicited Th1-dominated immune responses to L. pneumophila. These observations suggest that fractalkine may play an important role in the DC-mediated host defense against intracellular pathogens such as L. pneumophila

Improvement of Severe COVID-19 in an Elderly Man by Sequential Use of Antiviral Drugs

Although a variety of existing drugs are being tested for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), no efficacious treatment has been found so far, particularly for severe cases. We report successful recovery in an elderly patient with severe pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Despite administration of multiple antiviral drugs, including lopinavir/ritonavir, chloroquine, and favipiravir, the patient’s condition did not improve. However, after administration of another antiviral drug, remdesivir, we were able to terminate invasive interventions, including ECMO, and subsequently obtained negative polymerase chain reaction results. Although further validation is needed, remdesivir might be effective in treating COVID-19