Predictors of major infections in systemic lupus erythematosus

Introduction  

Infections commonly complicate the course of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Our aim is to investigate the clinical predictors of major infections in patients with SLE.     

The antidepressant-like effect of Ocimum basilicum in an animal model of depression

We investigated the efficacy of Ocimum basilicum (OB) essential oils for treating depression related behavioral, biochemical and histopathological changes caused by exposure to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) in mice and to explore the mechanism underlying the pathology. Male albino mice were divided into four groups: controls; CUMS; CUMS plus fluoxetine, the antidepressant administered for pharmacological validation of OB; and CUMS plus OB. Behavioral tests included the forced swim test (FST), elevated plus-maze (EPM) and the open ?eld test (OFT); these tests were performed at the end of the experiment. We assessed serum corticosterone level, protein, gene and immunoexpression of brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) and glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) as well as immunoexpression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), Ki67, caspase-3 in the hippocampus. CUMS caused depression in the mice as evidenced by prolonged immobility in the FST, prolonged time spent in the open arms during the EPM test and reduction of open field activity in the OFT. OB ameliorated the CUMS induced depressive status. OB significantly reduced the corticosterone level and up-regulated protein and gene expressions of BDNF and GR. OB reduced CUMS induced hippocampal neuron atrophy and apoptosis, and increased the number of the astrocytes and new nerve cells. OB significantly increased GFAP-positive cells as well as BDNF and GR immunoexpression in the hippocampus.     

The anthropogenic environment lessens the intensity and prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in Balinese long-tailed macaques (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Macaca fascicularis</Emphasis>)

The distribution of wildlife parasites in a landscape is intimately tied to the spatial distribution of hosts. In parasite species, including many gastrointestinal parasites, with obligate or common environmental life stages, the dynamics of the parasite can also be strongly affected by geophysical components of the environment. This is especially salient in host species, for example humans and macaques, which thrive across a wide variety of habitat types and quality and so are exposed to a wealth of environmentally resilient parasites. Here, we examine the effect of environmental and anthropogenic components of the landscape on the prevalence, intensity, and species diversity of gastrointestinal parasites across a metapopulation of long-tailed macaques on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Using principal-components analysis, we identified significant interaction effects between specific environmental and anthropogenic components of the landscape, parsing the Balinese landscape into anthropogenic (PC1), mixed environment (PC2), and non-anthropogenic (PC3) components. Further, we determined that the anthropogenic environment can mitigate the prevalence and intensity of specific gut parasites and the intensity of the overall community of gut parasites, but that non-anthropogenically driven landscape components have no significant effect in increasing or reducing the intensity or prevalence of the community of gut parasites in Balinese macaques.     

Being human and doing primatology: national, socioeconomic, and ethnic influences on primatological practice

The emerging manifesto, center of the essay collection this commentary is part of, points out that primatology is a primate's science and field of endeavor. It is about primates, and constructed and carried out by primates. But the relationships between different primates involved in primatology cannot be described merely as scientific, zoological, or conservatory. A main point emerging from this perspective is that the relationships amongst primates (as scientists and as subjects) are affected by primatologists' experiences outside of academic science and within the cultural schema that we acquire as members of human societies. My contribution focuses on the primatologists and their sometimes discussed, but too often ignored, cultural and ethnic contexts as influences on how they study, think about, and interact with other primates. In our views and bonds with other primates, do national, class, and ethnic factors count?     

β-Catenin Inactivation Is a Pre-Requisite for Chick Retina Regeneration

In the present study we explored the role of β-catenin in mediating chick retina regeneration. The chick can regenerate its retina by activating stem/progenitor cells present in the ciliary margin (CM) of the eye or via transdifferentiation of the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE). Both modes require fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2). We observed, by immunohistochemistry, dynamic changes of nuclear β-catenin in the CM and RPE after injury (retinectomy). β-catenin nuclear accumulation was transiently lost in cells of the CM in response to injury alone, while the loss of nuclear β-catenin was maintained as long as FGF2 was present. However, nuclear β-catenin positive cells remained in the RPE in response to injury and were BrdU-/p27+, suggesting that nuclear β-catenin prevents those cells from entering the cell cycle. If FGF2 is present, the RPE undergoes dedifferentiation and proliferation concomitant with loss of nuclear β-catenin. Moreover, retinectomy followed by disruption of active β-catenin by using a signaling inhibitor (XAV939) or over-expressing a dominant negative form of Lef-1 induces regeneration from both the CM and RPE in the absence of FGF2. Our results imply that β-catenin protects cells of the CM and RPE from entering the cell cycle in the developing eye, and specifically for the RPE during injury. Thus inactivation of β-catenin is a pre-requisite for chick retina regeneration.     

Derivation and Characterization of a Transgene-free Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Line and Conversion into Defined Clinical-grade Conditions

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) can be generated with lentiviral-based reprogramming methodologies. However, traces of potentially oncogenic genes remaining in actively transcribed regions of the genome, limit their potential for use in human therapeutic applications¹. Additionally, non-human antigens derived from stem cell reprogramming or differentiation into therapeutically relevant derivatives preclude these hiPSCs from being used in a human clinical context². In this video, we present a procedure for reprogramming and analyzing factor-free hiPSCs free of exogenous transgenes. These hiPSCs then can be analyzed for gene expression abnormalities in the specific intron containing the lentivirus. This analysis may be conducted using sensitive quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which has an advantage over less sensitive techniques previously used to detect gene expression differences³. Full conversion into clinical-grade good manufacturing practice (GMP) conditions, allows human clinical relevance. Our protocol offers another methodology—provided that current safe-harbor criteria will expand and include factor-free characterized hiPSC-based derivatives for human therapeutic applications—for deriving GMP-grade hiPSCs, which should eliminate any immunogenicity risk due to non-human antigens. This protocol is broadly applicable to lentiviral reprogrammed cells of any type and provides a reproducible method for converting reprogrammed cells into GMP-grade conditions.