Current techniques used to obtain lung samples have significant limitations and do not provide reproducible biomarkers of inflammation. We have developed a novel technique that allows multiple sampling methods from the same area (or multiple areas) of the lung under direct bronchoscopic vision. It allows collection of mucosal lining fluid and bronchial brushing from the same site; biopsy samples may also be taken. The novel technique takes the same time as standard procedures and can be conducted safely.
Methods
Eight healthy smokers aged 40–65 years were included in this study. An absorptive filter paper was applied to the bronchial mucosa under direct vision using standard bronchoscopic techniques. Further samples were obtained from the same site using bronchial brushings. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was obtained using standard techniques. Chemokine (C-C Motif) Ligand 20 (CCL20), CCL4, CCL5, Chemokine (C-X-C Motif) Ligand 1 (CXCL1), CXCL8, CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL11, Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), IL-6, Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Matrix metalloproteinase 8 (MMP-8) and MMP-9 were measured in exudate and BAL. mRNA was collected from the bronchial brushings for gene expression analysis.
Results
A greater than 10 fold concentration of all the biomarkers was detected in lung exudate in comparison to BAL. High yield of good quality RNA with RNA integrity numbers (RIN) between 7.6 and 9.3 were extracted from the bronchial brushings. The subset of genes measured were reproducible across the samples and corresponded to the inflammatory markers measured in exudate and BAL.
Conclusions
The bronchoabsorption technique as described offers the ability to sample lung fluid direct from the site of interest without the dilution effects caused by BAL. Using this method we were able to successfully measure the concentrations of biomarkers present in the lungs as well as collect high yield mRNA samples for gene expression analysis from the same site. This technique demonstrates superior sensitivity to standard BAL for the measurement of biomarkers of inflammation. It could replace BAL as the method of choice for these measurements. This method provides a systems biology approach to studying the inflammatory markers of respiratory disease progression.
An experiment was performed during the grazing seasons of 1998, 1999 and 2000 to study the influence of the antiparasitic drug ivermectin and the nematophagous fungus Duddingtonia flagrans on cattle dung disintegration. The faeces originated from groups of animals that were part of a separate grazing experiment where different control strategies for nematode parasite infections were investigated. Each group consisted of 10 first-season grazing cattle that were either untreated, treated with the ivermectin sustained-release bolus, or fed chlamydospores of D. flagrans. Faeces were collected monthly on 4 occasions and out of pooled faeces from each group, 4 artificial 1 kg dung pats were prepared and deposited on nylon mesh on an enclosed pasture and protected from birds. The position of the new set of pats was repeated throughout the 3 years of the study. Each year, the dung pats were weighed 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks after deposition and immediately afterwards replaced to their initial positions.
Results showed that there was no difference in faecal pat disintegration between groups. However, the time-lag between deposition and complete disintegration of the faeces varied significantly between deposition occasions. Dung pats disappeared within 2 weeks (visual observation) when subjected to heavy rainfall early after deposition, whereas an extended dry period coincided with faeces still remaining 12 months after deposition.
Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a recently discovered respiratory virus associated with bronchiolitis, pneumonia, croup and exacerbations of asthma. Since respiratory viruses are frequently detected in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD (AE-COPD) it was our aim to investigate the frequency of hMPV detection in a prospective cohort of hospitalized patients with AE-COPD compared to patients with stable COPD and to smokers without by means of quantitative real-time RT-PCR.
Results
We analysed nasal lavage and induced sputum of 130 patients with AE-COPD, 65 patients with stable COPD and 34 smokers without COPD. HMPV was detected in 3/130 (2.3%) AE-COPD patients with a mean of 6.5 × 105 viral copies/ml in nasal lavage and 1.88 × 105 viral copies/ml in induced sputum. It was not found in patients with stable COPD or smokers without COPD.
Conclusion
HMPV is only found in a very small number of patients with AE-COPD. However it should be considered as a further possible viral trigger of AE-COPD because asymptomatic carriage is unlikely. 相似文献
A pen study was conducted to assess the effect of providing daily copper mineral supplement, or copper wire particle (COWP)
capsules, on established or incoming mixed nematode infections in young sheep. For lambs with established (6 week old) infections,
COWP resulted in 97% and 56% reduction of the adult and early L4 stages of H. contortus, respectively, compared with controls (p < 0.001). Additionally there was a 74% reduction in Teladorsagia circumcincta infections in the COWP lambs compared with controls (p < 0.01). However, no effect was observed when COWP were given at the
commencement of a larval dosing period of 6 weeks. There was no significant effect of copper mineral supplement (given at
the recommended rate to prevent Cu deficiency) on either established, or developing parasite infections. In addition, a field
trial was conducted on a commercial farm to assess the effects of COWP in the management of recurrent H. contortus infections, but lack of parasites during the grazing season prevented an adequate assessment from being made. These results
indicate that there is little, if any, benefit from a parasite control standpoint in recommending copper therapy, specifically
to control parasites in Swedish sheep flocks. 相似文献
The 70-kilodalton heat shock protein (hsp70) family of molecular
chaperones, which contains both stress-inducible and normally abundant
constitutive members, is highly conserved across distantly related taxa.
Analysis of this protein family in individuals from an outbred population
of tropical topminnows, Poeciliopsis gracilis, showed that while
constitutive hsp70 family members showed no variation in protein isoforms,
inducibly synthesized hsp70 was polymorphic. Several species of
Poeciliopsis adapted to desert environments exhibited lower levels of
inducible hsp70 polymorphism than the tropical species, but constitutive
forms were identical to those in P. gracilis, as they were in the
confamilial species Gambusia affinis. These differences suggest that
inducible and constitutive members of this family are under different
evolutionary constraints and may indicate differences in their function
within the cell. Also, northern desert species of Poeciliopsis synthesize a
subset of the inducible hsp70 isoforms seen in tropical species. This
distribution supports the theory that ancestral tropical fish migrated
northward and colonized desert streams; the subsequent decrease in
variation of inducible hsp70 may have been due to genetic drift or a
consequence of adaptation to the desert environment. Higher levels of
variability were found when the 30- kilodalton heat shock protein (hsp30)
family was analyzed within different strains of two desert species of
Poeciliopsis and also in wild-caught individuals of Gambusia affinis. In
both cases the distribution of hsp30 isoform diversity was similar to that
seen previously with allozyme polymorphisms.
相似文献
The bacterial biothreat agents Burkholderia mallei and Burkholderia pseudomallei are the cause of glanders and melioidosis, respectively. Genomic and epidemiological studies have shown that B. mallei is a recently emerged, host restricted clone of B. pseudomallei. 相似文献
Effective mating between laboratory-reared males and wild females is paramount to the success of vector control strategies aiming to decrease disease transmission via the release of sterile or genetically modified male mosquitoes. However mosquito colonization and laboratory maintenance have the potential to negatively affect male genotypic and phenotypic quality through inbreeding and selection, which in turn can decrease male mating competitiveness in the field. To date, very little is known about the impact of those evolutionary forces on the reproductive biology of mosquito colonies and how they ultimately affect male reproductive fitness.
Methods
Here several male reproductive physiological traits likely to be affected by inbreeding and selection following colonization and laboratory rearing were examined. Sperm length, and accessory gland and testes size were compared in male progeny from field-collected females and laboratory strains of Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto colonized from one to over 25 years ago. These traits were also compared in the parental and sequentially derived, genetically modified strains produced using a two-phase genetic transformation system. Finally, genetic crosses were performed between strains in order to distinguish the effects of inbreeding and selection on reproductive traits.
Results
Sperm length was found to steadily decrease with the age of mosquito colonies but was recovered in refreshed strains and crosses between inbred strains therefore incriminating inbreeding costs. In contrast, testes size progressively increased with colony age, whilst accessory gland size quickly decreased in males from colonies of all ages. The lack of heterosis in response to crossing and strain refreshing in the latter two reproductive traits suggests selection for insectary conditions.
Conclusions
These results show that inbreeding and selection differentially affect reproductive traits in laboratory strains overtime and that heterotic ‘supermales’ could be used to rescue some male reproductive characteristics. Further experiments are needed to establish the exact relationship between sperm length, accessory gland and testes size, and male reproductive success in the laboratory and field settings. 相似文献
There are already 40 cities in Africa with over 1 million inhabitants and the United Nations Environmental Programme estimates that by 2025 over 800 million people will live in urban areas. Recognizing that malaria control can improve the health of the vulnerable and remove a major obstacle to their economic development, the Malaria Knowledge Programme of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the Systemwide Initiative on Malaria and Agriculture convened a multi-sectoral technical consultation on urban malaria in Pretoria, South Africa from 2nd to 4th December, 2004. The aim of the meeting was to identify strategies for the assessment and control of urban malaria. This commentary reflects the discussions held during the meeting and aims to inform researchers and policy makers of the potential for containing and reversing the emerging problem of urban malaria. 相似文献
The pan-genome of a bacterial species consists of a core and an accessory gene pool. The accessory genome is thought to be
an important source of genetic variability in bacterial populations and is gained through lateral gene transfer, allowing
subpopulations of bacteria to better adapt to specific niches. Low-cost and high-throughput sequencing platforms have created
an exponential increase in genome sequence data and an opportunity to study the pan-genomes of many bacterial species. In
this study, we describe a new online pan-genome sequence analysis program, Panseq. 相似文献