Serum Metabolic Profile in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive demyelinating process considered as an autoimmune disease, although the causes of this pathology have not been yet fully established. Similarly to other neurodegenerations, MS is characterized by a series of biochemical changes affecting to different extent neuronal functions; great attention has been given to oxidative/nitrosative stress and to alterations in mitochondrial functions. According to previous data, MS patients show significant changes in the circulating concentrations of different metabolites, although it is still unclear whether uric acid undergoes to decrease, increase, or no change under this pathological condition. In this study, we report the serum metabolic profile in terms of purines, pyrimidines, creatinine, malondialdehyde, ascorbic acid, nitrite, and nitrate in a group of 170 MS patients. The results show increase in circulating uric acid and other oxypurines (hypoxanthine and xanthine), as well as in uridine and β-pseudouridine. The concomitant increase in circulating creatinine, malondialdehyde, nitrite, and nitrate, and decrease in ascorbic acid, demonstrates that MS induces alteration in energy metabolism and in oxidants/antioxidants balance that can be monitored in serum of MS patients

Involvement of type I immune responses in swine-origin H1N1 influenza virus infection.

Swine-origin H1N1 influenza virus (S-OIV) appeared in 2009 with a higher incidence rate among children. Although fever was the most common symptom, some complicated cases occurred. We evaluated the percentages of effector T cells, B cells, and regulatory T cells in peripheral blood from 5 children infected by S-OIV (1 with acute necrotizing encephalitis, 2 with pneumonia, and 2 without complications), 5 children with seasonal influenza, and 5 healthy children. We found higher percentages of T-bet(+) CD4(+)CD8(+) T cells, monocytes, and B cells, granzyme B(+) and perforin(+) CD4(+), and CD8(+) T cells in affected children with both seasonal and H1N1 influenza than in controls, whereas both groups demonstrated similar percentages of CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells. In infected children with complications we observed high percentages of perforin(+) and interferon-\u3b3(+) CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells associated with low percentages of T regulatory cells. Our data suggest a dysregulation of antipathogen type I immune responses in complicated S-OIV infections