Neutrophil and lymphocyte responses to oral Streptococcus in Adamantiades-Behcet's disease

Immune reactions against microorganisms play an important pathogenic role in Adamantiades-Behçet’s disease (ABD). We had previously obtained Streptococcus sanguinis (strain BD113-20) isolated from the oral cavity of patients with ABD. To investigate the pathogenesis of this isolate, we examined neutrophil 5 reactions and level of cytokine production by lymphocytes after stimulation with the strain. The reactions of neutrophils were examined by chemiluminescence assay using whole blood. The amounts of interferon gamma (IFN-g) and interleukin (IL)-4, IL-8, IL-10, and IL-12 produced by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were measured by ELISA. 10 Strain BD113-20 activated neutrophils from patients with ABD and healthy volunteers, and, in addition it increased IFN-g production by lymphocytes. Lymphocyte from the patients with ABD showed a dominant T helper 1 (Th-1) immune response. Results indicated that both bacterial stimulation and host hypersensitivity might be involved in the symptoms and pathogenesis of ABD

レプトスピラの抗原変異と宿主の殺菌作用に対する感受性の変化

Variant strains, induced by co-cultivation of Leptospira interrogans serovar copenhageni strain Shibaura with its homologous antiserum in a liquid medium, showed reduced agglutinability to the antiserum in comparison with that of the original parent Shibaura strain. The reduction was inversely correlated to the concentration of the antiserum in the medium. Furthermore, these variants showed reduced agglutinability to anti-leptospiral lipopolysaccharide (LPS) serum and antileptospiral LPS monoclonal antibodies. The variants became resistant to complement-mediated and macrophage-mediated bactericidal effects in the presence of antibody to the LPS. The level of resistance was related to the degree of the reduced agglutinability. The clearance time of these variants from the blood of the mice was observed to be longer than that of the parent Shibaura strain when these bacteria were inoculated into the mice immunized with heatinactivated parent Shibaura strain. It was concluded, therefore, that these variants acquired the ability to survive for a longer period in vivo than that of the parent organism. These results suggest that variation of Leptospires, which has been considered as a temporary modification of LPS, is one of the ways it escapes from the host defense mechanisms

Correlation between Interstellar Polarization and Dust Temperature: Alignment of Grains by Radiative Torques is Ubiquitous?

We investigate the efficiency of interstellar polarization $p_\lambda/A_\lambda$ where $p_\lambda$ is the fractional linear polarization and $A_\lambda$ is extinction, in 16 lines of sight as a function of wavelength $\lambda$. We have used the data obtained with the low-dispersion spectropolarimeter HBS as well as those in literature. It is found that the polarization efficiency $p_\lambda/A_\lambda$ is proportional to $\exp(-\beta/\lambda)$ in wavelength \lambda \approx 0.4-0.8 \micron, where $\beta$ is a parameter which varies from 0.5 to 1.2 \micron. We find that $\beta$ is negatively correlated with the dust temperature deduced from infrared data by Schlegel et al., suggesting that the polarization efficiency is higher in short wavelength for higher temperature. According to the alignment theory by radiative torques (RATs), if the radiation is stronger and bluer, RATs will make small grains align better, and the polarization efficiency will increase in short wavelength. Our finding of the correlation between $\beta$ and the temperature is consistent with what is expected with the alignment mechanism by RATs.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in PASJ Letters, Vol.63, October 2011 issu

Correlation between Oligo-2\u27, 5\u27-adenylate Synthetase and Expression of Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type-I Specific gag Protein

The effect of human interferon-α (IFN-α) on the production of virus specific gag protein was investigated in four human T cell lines persistently in-fected with human T-lymphotropic virus type-I (HTLV-I). These four cell lines (MT-2, SMT-1, HUT 102, and OKM-2) differed in sensitivity to the func-tions (antivirus activity, antiproliferative activity, and oligo-2\u27, 5\u27-adenylate synthetase induction) of IFN. The expression of HTLV-I gag-protein, p 53, p 33, p 28, p 24, and p 19, was found in each IFN-α or non-treated cell lines by Western blotting analysis. However, production of p 33, p 28 and p 24 was different among these cell lines. Protein bands of p 53, p 28, p 24, and p 19 were detected in MT-2 cell lines, and p 33 was found in SMT-1 and OKM-2 cell lines instead of p 28. Those of p 28 and p 24 were undetectable in HUT 102 cell line. Furthermore, the expression of these virus antigens was hardly affected by exogenously added IFN-α in spite of the induction of oligo-2\u27, 5\u27-adenylate synthetase (2-5AS) activity

Antibiogram bakterije Escherichia coli i enterokoka izdvojenih iz goveđega izmeta na području Kafue u Zambiji

Antimicrobial resistance to a panel of ten agents was determined by the disc diffusion technique for 83 Escherichia coli isolates, 29 Enterococcus faecium isolates and 62 Enterococcus faecalis isolates from faecal samples of apparently healthy pastoral cattle in the wildlife/livestock interface areas. Of all the E. coli isolates, 8% were diarrhoeagenic E. coli strains, 6% were enteropathogenic E. coli strains and 2% were enterotoxigenic E. coli strains. A high frequency of E. coli resistance to penicillin, erythromycin, cotrimoxazole and nitrofurantoin was observed. Enterococci showed the highest percentage of resistance to gentamycin, amoxycillin, ampicillin and tetracycline. None of the E. coli strains and Enterococci strains was resistant to tetracycline and vancomycin respectively. The results of this study underscore the presence of an animal reservoir of antibiotic resistant microorganisms that have the potential to enter the food chain.Osjetljivost 83 izolata vrste Escherichia coli, 29 izolata vrste Enterococcus faecium i 62 izolata vrste Enterococcus faecalis izdvojenih iz uzoraka izmeta klinički zdravih goveda u području dodira domaćih i divljih životinja, određena je difuzijskim postupkom prema deset antimikrobnih pripravaka. Od ukupno izdvojenih, 8% sojeva bakterije E. coli bilo je dijarejogeno, 6% enteropatogeno i 2% enterotoksigeno. Ustanovljena je česta otpornost vrste E. coli prema penicilinu, eritromicinu, kotrimoksazolu i nitrofurantoinu. Enterokoki su u najvećem postotku bili otporni prema gentamicinu, amoksicilinu, ampicilinu i tetraciklinu. Nijedan od izolata E. coli nije bio otporan prema tetraciklinu, a nijedan od enterokoka nije bio otporan prema vankomicinu. Rezultati istraživanja upućuju na postojanje životinjskoga rezervoara bakterija otpornih na antibiotike za koje postoji mogućnost da se prenesu u ljudski prehrambeni lanac

Antibiogram bakterije Escherichia coli i enterokoka izdvojenih iz goveđega izmeta na području Kafue u Zambiji

Antimicrobial resistance to a panel of ten agents was determined by the disc diffusion technique for 83 Escherichia coli isolates, 29 Enterococcus faecium isolates and 62 Enterococcus faecalis isolates from faecal samples of apparently healthy pastoral cattle in the wildlife/livestock interface areas. Of all the E. coli isolates, 8% were diarrhoeagenic E. coli strains, 6% were enteropathogenic E. coli strains and 2% were enterotoxigenic E. coli strains. A high frequency of E. coli resistance to penicillin, erythromycin, cotrimoxazole and nitrofurantoin was observed. Enterococci showed the highest percentage of resistance to gentamycin, amoxycillin, ampicillin and tetracycline. None of the E. coli strains and Enterococci strains was resistant to tetracycline and vancomycin respectively. The results of this study underscore the presence of an animal reservoir of antibiotic resistant microorganisms that have the potential to enter the food chain.Osjetljivost 83 izolata vrste Escherichia coli, 29 izolata vrste Enterococcus faecium i 62 izolata vrste Enterococcus faecalis izdvojenih iz uzoraka izmeta klinički zdravih goveda u području dodira domaćih i divljih životinja, određena je difuzijskim postupkom prema deset antimikrobnih pripravaka. Od ukupno izdvojenih, 8% sojeva bakterije E. coli bilo je dijarejogeno, 6% enteropatogeno i 2% enterotoksigeno. Ustanovljena je česta otpornost vrste E. coli prema penicilinu, eritromicinu, kotrimoksazolu i nitrofurantoinu. Enterokoki su u najvećem postotku bili otporni prema gentamicinu, amoksicilinu, ampicilinu i tetraciklinu. Nijedan od izolata E. coli nije bio otporan prema tetraciklinu, a nijedan od enterokoka nije bio otporan prema vankomicinu. Rezultati istraživanja upućuju na postojanje životinjskoga rezervoara bakterija otpornih na antibiotike za koje postoji mogućnost da se prenesu u ljudski prehrambeni lanac

カテキン ガンユウ インリョウ ノ サルモネラ ニ タイスル サッキン オヨビ ゾウショク ヨクセイ コウカ ノ ケントウ

Salmonella strains are the most prevalent etiological agents for food poisonings in Japan since １９９２. Tea is widely consumed in Japan, and catechin and its derivatives in tea show anti-microbial effect. In this study, we compared the inhibitory effects of catechin-containing drinks against the growth of S.Enteritidis. The growth inhibition was more evident in black tea, oolong tea, and green tea, which contain larger amount of catechin with galloy moiety such as epigallocatechin gallate and epicatechin gallate than barley tea. Of the four kinds of tea evaluated, black tea demonstrated the most potential for the growth inhibition of S.Enteritidis. Theaflavin３in black tea probably gave the additional effect in concert with catechin. Barley tea also showed the inhibitory effect against the growth of S.Enteritidis despite the tea contains a trace amount of catechin, suggesting that the other components than catechin contribute to the growth inhibition. The results in this study indicate that consumption of tea reduces the risk of foodborne illness by pathogenic bacteria

Effect of Interferon on Cells Persistently Infected with Human T Cell Leukemia Virus (HTLV-I)

Spontaneous production of interferon-gamma (IFN- γ) was shown in four (MT-1, MT-2, SMT-1 and HUT 102) of five human T-lymphoblastoid cell lines persistently infected with human T cell leukemea virus type I (MT-1, MT-2, SMT-1, HUT 102 and OKM-2). These four cell lines were not susceptible to the antivirus effect of IFN. In contrast, the multiplication of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) was restricted in the nonproducer cell line of IFN, OKM-2 cells by treatment of IFN- α or IFN- γ. Anti-proliferation effect of IFN w as investigated in producer cell line of IFN (MT-2 and SMT-1) and non-producer cell line of IFN (OKM-2). The growth of MT-2 cells was not affected by IFN- α or by IFN- γ. However, SMT-1 and OKM-2 cells were affected by treatment with externally added IFN-α