Expression of SR-BI receptor and StAR protein in rat ocular tissues

The class-B type-I scavenger receptor (SR-BI) plays a key role in cholesterol homeostasis; it mediates the selective uptake of lipoprotein cholesterol to steroidogenic tissues. We show by RT-PCR, western blot, in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry analysis that SR-BI is highly expressed in different neuro-retinal and non-neuronal cells types on rat eye. Immunohistochemistry of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) involved in neurosteroid production showed the same expression pattern than SR-BI in rat eye. Our results may suggest a key role of these genes in the ocular cholesterol metabolism for membranes biosynthesis and neurosteroidogenesis.     

High-pressure induced recovery of β-galactosidases from immunoadsorbents: stability of antigens and antibodies. Comparison with usual elution procedures

A high pressure-induced process has been developed to recover antigens from immunoadsorbents, without denaturing either the antigen, or the antibodies bound onto supports. The addition of chemicals is not needed to recover the product. Two variants of a model antigen were considered: (i) the Escherichia coli-galactosidase and (ii) a chimerical E. coli-galactosidase. Two and three-dimensional immunoaffinity supports (membranes and beads) were used.     

Development of an Equine Groove Model to Induce Metacarpophalangeal Osteoarthritis: A Pilot Study on 6 Horses

The aim of this work was to develop an equine metacarpophalangeal joint model that induces osteoarthritis that is not primarily mediated by instability or inflammation. The study involved six Standardbred horses. Standardized cartilage surface damage or “grooves” were created arthroscopically on the distal dorsal aspect of the lateral and medial metacarpal condyles of a randomly chosen limb. The contralateral limb was sham operated. After 2 weeks of stall rest, horses were trotted 30 minutes every other day for 8 weeks, then evaluated for lameness and radiographed. Synovial fluid was analyzed for cytology and biomarkers. At 10 weeks post-surgery, horses were euthanized for macroscopic and histologic joint evaluation. Arthroscopic grooving allowed precise and identical damage to the cartilage of all animals. Under the controlled exercise regime, this osteoarthritis groove model displayed significant radiographic, macroscopic, and microscopic degenerative and reactive changes. Histology demonstrated consistent surgically induced grooves limited to non-calcified cartilage and accompanied by secondary adjacent cartilage lesions, chondrocyte necrosis, chondrocyte clusters, cartilage matrix softening, fissuring, mild subchondral bone inflammation, edema, and osteoblastic margination. Synovial fluid biochemistry and cytology demonstrated significantly elevated total protein without an increase in prostaglandin E2, neutrophils, or chondrocytes. This equine metacarpophalangeal groove model demonstrated that standardized non-calcified cartilage damage accompanied by exercise triggered altered osteochondral morphology and cartilage degeneration with minimal or inefficient repair and little inflammatory response. This model, if validated, would allow for assessment of disease processes and the effects of therapy.     

New Short Tandem Repeat-Based Molecular Typing Method for Pneumocystis jirovecii Reveals Intrahospital Transmission between Patients from Different Wards

Pneumocystis pneumonia is a severe opportunistic infection in immunocompromised patients caused by the unusual fungus Pneumocystis jirovecii. Transmission is airborne, with both immunocompromised and immunocompetent individuals acting as a reservoir for the fungus. Numerous reports of outbreaks in renal transplant units demonstrate the need for valid genotyping methods to detect transmission of a given genotype. Here, we developed a short tandem repeat (STR)-based molecular typing method for P. jirovecii. We analyzed the P. jirovecii genome and selected six genomic STR markers located on different contigs of the genome. We then tested these markers in 106 P. jirovecii PCR-positive respiratory samples collected between October 2010 and November 2013 from 91 patients with various underlying medical conditions. Unique (one allele per marker) and multiple (more than one allele per marker) genotypes were observed in 34 (32%) and 72 (68%) samples, respectively. A genotype could be assigned to 55 samples (54 patients) and 61 different genotypes were identified in total with a discriminatory power of 0.992. Analysis of the allelic distribution of the six markers and minimum spanning tree analysis of the 61 genotypes identified a specific genotype (Gt21) in our hospital, which may have been transmitted between 10 patients including six renal transplant recipients. Our STR-based molecular typing method is a quick, cheap and reliable approach to genotype Pneumocystis jirovecii in hospital settings and is sensitive enough to detect minor genotypes, thus enabling the study of the transmission and pathophysiology of Pneumocystis pneumonia.     

Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis of Renal Function in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Infected Patients Treated with Atazanavir (ATV)-Based Regimens

Some HIV antiretroviral therapies (ART) have been associated with renal toxicities, which become of increasing concern as HIV-infected patients age and develop comorbidities. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relative impact of atazanavir (ATV)-based regimens on the renal function of adult patients with HIV. We conducted a systematic literature review by searching PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane library, and the CRD from 2000 until March 2013. Major HIV-related conferences occurring in the past two years were also searched. All randomized clinical trials and large cohort studies assessing renal function in treatment-naïve and/or treatment-experienced HIV patients on ATV-based regimens were included. Fixed-effect mixed-treatment network analyses were carried out on the most frequently reported renal outcomes. 23 studies met the inclusion criteria, and change in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) from baseline to 48 weeks was identified as the main outcome. Two networks including, respectively, six studies (using the Cockcroft-Gault method) and four studies (using MDRD and CKD-EPI) were analysed. With CG network, ATV/r + TDF/FTC was associated with lower impact on the decline of eGFR than ATV/cobicistat + TDF/FTC but with higher decrease in eGFR than ATV/r + ABC/3TC (difference in mean change from baseline in eGFR repectively +3.67 and –3.89). The use of ATV/cobicistat + TDF/FTC led to a similar decline in eGFR as EVG/cobicistat/TDF/FTC. With respect to third agents combined with TDF/FTC, ATV/r had a lower increase in eGFR in comparison to EFV, and no difference was shown when compared to SQV/r and DRV/r. The effect of ATV-based regimens on renal function at 48 weeks appears similar to other ART regimens and appears to be modest regardless of boosting agent or backbone, although TDF containing backbones consistently leads to greater decline in eGFR.     

IL22/IL-22R Pathway Induces Cell Survival in Human Glioblastoma Cells

Interleukin-22 (IL-22) is a member of the IL-10 cytokine family that binds to a heterodimeric receptor consisting of IL-22 receptor 1 (IL-22R1) and IL-10R2. IL-22R expression was initially characterized on epithelial cells, and plays an essential role in a number of inflammatory diseases. Recently, a functional receptor was detected on cancer cells such as hepatocarcinoma and lung carcinoma, but its presence was not reported in glioblastoma (GBM). Two GBM cell lines and 10 primary cell lines established from patients undergoing surgery for malignant GBM were used to investigate the expression of IL-22 and IL-22R by using quantitative RT-PCR, western blotting and confocal microscopy studies. The role of IL-22 in proliferation and survival of GBM cell lines was investigated in vitro by BrdU and ELISA cell death assays. We report herein that the two subunits of the IL-22R complex are expressed on human GBM cells. Their activation, depending on exogenous IL-22, induced antiapoptotic effect and cell proliferation. IL-22 treatment of GBM cells resulted in increased levels of phosphorylated Akt, STAT3 signaling protein and its downstream antiapoptotic protein Bcl-xL and decreased level of phosphorylated ERK1/2. In addition, IL-22R subunits were expressed in all the 10 tested primary cell lines established from GBM tumors. Our results showed that IL-22R is expressed on GBM established and primary cell lines. Depending on STAT3, ERK1/2 and PI3K/Akt pathways, IL-22 induced GBM cell survival. These data are consistent with a potential role of IL-22R in tumorigenesis of GBM. Since endogenous IL-22 was not detected in all studied GBM cells, we hypothesize that IL-22R could be activated by immune microenvironmental IL-22 producing cells.     

Toll-Like Receptor Family Polymorphisms Are Associated with Primary Renal Diseases but Not with Renal Outcomes Following Kidney Transplantation

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a crucial role in innate- and adaptive immunity. The TLR pathways were shown to play key functional roles in experimental acute and chronic kidney injury, including the allo-immune response after experimental renal transplantation. Data about the precise impact of TLRs and their negative regulators on human renal transplant outcomes however are limited and contradictory. We studied twelve non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of which eleven in TLR1-8 and one in SIGIRR in a final cohort comprising 1116 matching donors and recipients. TLR3 p.Leu412Phe and SIGIRR p.Gln312Arg significantly deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and were excluded. The frequency distribution of the minor alleles of the remaining 10 TLR variants were compared between patients with end-stage renal disease (recipients) and controls (kidney donors) in a case-control study. Secondly, the associations between the minor allele frequency of the TLR variants and delayed graft function, biopsy-proven acute rejection and death-censored graft failure after transplantation were investigated with Cox regression. Carrier frequencies of the minor alleles of TLR1 p.His305Leu (OR = 4.79, 95% CI = 2.35–9.75, P = 0.0002), TLR1 p.Asn248Ser (OR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.07–1.47, P = 0.04) and TLR8 p.Met1Val (OR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.14–1.64, P = 0.008) were significantly higher in patients with ESRD, with little specificity for the underlying renal disease entity (adjusted for age, gender and donor-recipient relatedness). The minor allele frequency of none of the TLR variants significantly associated with the surrogate and definite outcomes, even when multivariable models were created that could account for TLR gene redundancy. In conclusion, genetic variants in TLR genes were associated with the prevalence of ESRD but not renal transplant outcomes. Therefore, our data suggests that specific TLR signaling routes might play a role in the final common pathway of primary renal injury. A role for TLR signaling in the context of renal transplantation is probably limited.