İnfection immunology

IFN-τ is specifically secreted by the conceptus in ruminants during early pregnancy, and it plays a vital role in the immunological function of pregnancy. However, its mechanism involving microRNA (miRNA) is still not well understood. Deep sequencing was used to explore the specific miRNA library of IFN-τ on bovine endometrial epithelial cells (bEECs). The results showed that 574 known bovine miRNAs and 109 novel miRNAs were identified. We found 74 differentially expressed miRNAs, including 30 commonly expressed miRNAs in the experiment...

PROBLEM: It is unclear if the immunologic alterations induced by pregnancy could persist. METHOD OF STUDY: Antenatal rubella sero-negativity was correlated with gravidity, abortions and parity in 112 083 gravidae managed during 1997-2015, with further analysis stratified for factors known to influence rubella serology. RESULTS: The 10.2% sero-negative gravidae had different characteristics, and the incidence showed significant difference and positive trend (P<...

Viruses of the Ebolavirus genus cause sporadic epidemics of severe and systemic febrile disease that are fueled by human-to-human transmission. Despite the notoriety of ebolaviruses, particularly Ebola virus (EBOV), as prominent viral hemorrhagic fever agents, and the international concern regarding Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreaks, very little is known about the pathophysiology of EVD in humans and, in particular, about the human immune correlates of survival and immune memory. This lack of basic knowledge about physiological characteristics of EVD is probably attributable to the dearth of clinical and laboratory data gathered from past outbreaks...

Biallelic mutations in the human Lipopolysaccharide Responsive Beige-like Anchor (LRBA) gene lead to a primary immunodeficiency known as LRBA deficiency, characterized by a broad range of clinical manifestations including autoimmunity, organomegaly, hypogammaglobulinemia and recurrent infections. Considering the phenotypic heterogeneity in patients and the severity of the disease, our aim was to assess the role of LRBA in immune cells and to understand the underlying pathomechanisms through the study of a Lrba knockout (Lrba(-/-)) mouse model...

This paper-presented on the celebratory occasion of Dr. Robert Haggerty's 91st birthday-describes how a 1962 article by Dr. Haggerty and his colleague Dr. Roger Meyer launched a previously unexplored, pediatric research enterprise by asserting that: "There are little precise data to explain why one person becomes ill with an infecting agent and another not." Noting a prospective association between family stressors and the acquisition of beta-hemolytic streptococcal infections, the article introduced a generation of young academic pediatricians-the author of the present paper among them-to the possibility of causal linkages among children's adversity exposures, compromised immunological processes, and the development of immune-mediated, acute or chronic diseases of childhood...

The effect of the current influenza vaccine, an inactivated virus vaccine administered by subcutaneous/intramuscular injection, is limited to reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with seasonal influenza outbreaks. Intranasal vaccination, by contrast, mimics natural infection and induces not only systemic IgG antibodies but also local secretory IgA (S-IgA) antibodies found on the surface of the mucosal epithelium in the upper respiratory tract. S-IgA antibodies are highly effective at preventing virus infection...

Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus carrying toxin-producing plasmid, has led to severe mortalities in multiple shrimp species throughout Asia. In order to understand the immunological response of shrimp to infection by AHPND-causing strain of V. parahaemolyticus (VPAHPND), the transcriptomic profiles of the hepatopancreas from severe AHPND-infected (BS_G), AHPND-survived (KB_G) and non-infected (PBS_G) Exopalaemon carinicauda groups were obtained using HiSeq™ 2500 (Illumina)...

Alglucosidase alfa (rhGAA) has altered the course of an otherwise fatal outcome in classic infantile Pompe disease (IPD), which presents with cardiomyopathy and severe musculoskeletal involvement. However, the response to therapy is determined by several factors including the development of high and sustained antibody titers (HSAT) to rhGAA. Cross-reactive immunologic material (CRIM) negative patients are at the highest risk for development of HSAT. Immune tolerance induction (ITI) with methotrexate, rituximab, and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) has been largely successful in preventing the immune response and in achieving tolerance when done in conjunction with enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) initiation...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavior of erythrocyte and platelet, as immunological markers, as well as evaluate the involvement of these factors in hemolytic and hemorrhagic reactions in hamsters experimentally infected by Leptospira interrogans Serovar Canicola. Our experimental design was composed by two randomized groups: Infected Group (IG) (n = 12) and control group (CG) (n = 6). Ninety-six hours after the inoculation, the presence of immunoglobulins (IgG and IgM) and complement C3 levels, related to erythrocytes and platelets, was assessed...

HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) is a chronic demyelinating and disabling syndrome caused by HTLV-1. Although the pathogenic mechanisms that lead to HAM/TSP outcome have not been elucidated, genetic and immunological factors may be involved in the myelopathy occurrence. The present study aimed to compare cytokines, chemokines and nitric oxide levels in asymptomatic and HAM/TSP HTLV-1 infected patients. The study group consisted of 21 HAM/TSP and 48 asymptomatic HTLV-1 patients...

Aspergillus terreus is an emerging opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised individuals. The main risk group of individuals for this organism is leukopenic patients, individuals having cancers, bone marrow transplant persons and those who have immunological disorders. The lack of early diagnostic marker for A. terreus and intrinsic resistance to Amphotericin B, further limits the successful therapy of A. terreus-associated infections. The germination of inhaled conidia is the key step to establish successful invasion in host tissues or organs...

Currently used vaccines have had major effects on eliminating common infections, largely by duplicating the immune responses induced by natural infections. Now vaccinology faces more complex problems, such as waning antibody, immunosenescence, evasion of immunity by the pathogen, deviation of immunity by the microbiome, induction of inhibitory responses, and complexity of the antigens required for protection. Fortunately, vaccine development is now incorporating knowledge from immunology, structural biology, systems biology and synthetic chemistry to meet these challenges...

Recent evidence includes apoptosis as a defense against Trypanosoma cruzi infection, which promotes an immune response in the host induced by T cells, type 1, 2 and 17. Currently, there is no medicine completely preventing the progression of this disease. We investigated the immunological and apoptotic effects, morbidity and survival of mice infected with T. cruzi and treated with dynamized homeopathic compounds 13c: Kalium causticum (GCaus), Conium maculatum, (GCon), Lycopodium clavatum (GLy) and 7% alcohol solution (control, vehicle compounds, GCI)...

Antimicrobial peptides/proteins are immune-related molecules that are widely distributed in bacteria, fungi, plants, invertebrates and higher animals. They have exhibited great potential to be developed into antimicrobial drugs. The housefly, Musca domestica, lives in a highly contaminated environment and has adapted a robust immune system against various pathogens. As an effort to search for new antimicrobial molecules in the housefly, we investigated the function of an uncharacterized gene firstly by confirming that its expression was induced by infection in M...

BACKGROUND: The impact of the intestinal microbiome is increasing steadily with regard to the immune function und the defense against pathogens. The medicinal yeast Saccharomyces boulardii CNCM I-745 (S. boulardii) has been used as probiotic for the prevention and treatment of infectious diarrhea since more than 50 years. Meta-analyses confirm the clinical efficacy of S. boulardii to treat diarrhea of various origins in children and adults. METHOD: This review article summarizes experimental studies on molecular and immunological mechanisms which explain the proven clinical efficacy of S...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects more than 170 million people worldwide and is the main cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Although the newly developed direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have transformed the treatment of HCV infection, controlling HCV infection on a global scale remains a challenge because of the high cost, low resistance barrier of DAAs and lack of HCV vaccine. The host immune responses associated with HCV infection, especially HCV-specific T cellular immunity, determine the outcome of HCV infection: either acute or chronic infection...

The recurrent Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) infection is the most important cause of intractable myocarditis which often leads to chronic myocarditis and even dilated cardiomyopathy. Therefore, enhanced DNA vaccines capable of memory CD8 T cells are essential for long-lasting immunological protection against CVB3 infection. In this study, absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) was used as an adjuvant to enhance the induction of memory CD8 T cells elicited by VP1 (viral capsid protein 1) vaccine. Mice were intramuscularly injected with 50 μg AIM2 plasmid and equal amount of VP1 plasmid (pAIM2/pVP1) vaccine 4 times at 2 week-intervals...

In the never ending struggle against plant pathogenic bacteria, a major goal is the early identification and classification of infecting microorganisms. Xylella fastidiosa, a Gram-negative bacterium belonging to the family Xanthmonadaceae, is no exception as this pathogen showed a broad range of vectors and host plants, many of which may carry the pathogen for a long time without showing any symptom. Till the last years, most of the diseases caused by X. fastidiosa have been reported from North and South America, but recently a widespread infection of olive quick decline syndrome caused by this fastidious pathogen appeared in Apulia (south-eastern Italy), and several cases of X...

The human intestinal mucosal surface represents the first defense against pathogens and regulates the immune response through the combination of epithelial cell (EC) functions and immunological factors. ECs act as sensors of luminal stimuli and interact with the immune cells through signal-transduction pathways, thus representing the first barrier that HIV-1 virus encounters during infection. In particular, the HIV-1 Nef protein plays a crucial role in viral invasion and replication. Nef is expressed early during viral infection and interacts with numerous cellular proteins as a scaffold/adaptor...

Despite the refinements in molecular methods for the detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV) and the advent of highly effective preemptive strategies, CMV remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients. CMV can cause tissue-invasive disease including pneumonia, hepatitis, colitis, retinitis, and encephalitis. Mortality in HCT recipients with CMV disease can be as high as 60%. CMV infection has been associated with increased risk of secondary bacterial and fungal infections, increased risk of graft-versus-host disease, and high rates of non-relapse mortality following HCT...