Storage mites sensitivity and allergic respiratory disease

Summary In order to evaluate the frequency of skin sensitivity to Storage Mites and the role of such sensitization in respiratory allergic disease in workers with occupational exposure to stored items we studied 217 dock workers, 93 farmers and 104 white collars.From the results of skin prick tests the sensitization to sole Storage Mites appears significantly higher among people working in docks or farms, compared with a control group. This confirms the role of the working environment in inducing sensitization to Storage Mites. Rhinitis and asthma however affect nearly always (27/29 cases) people with an associated sensitization to House Dust Mites. Further studies are needed to define the allergenic importance of Storage Mites in working environments.     

Oxyprenylated secondary metabolites: a survey of their innovative extraction methodologies

Phytochemistry Reviews - Oxyprenylated secondary metabolites of plant, fungal, and microbial origin have emerged as biologically active natural compounds with a great potential for the next future....     

Long-Term Carriage of Medicopsis romeroi,an Agent of Black-Grain Mycetoma,Presenting as Phaeohyphomycosis in a Renal Transplant Patient

Mycopathologia - Medicopsis species are rare fungal pathogens that frequently resist common antifungal therapies and are difficult to identify morphologically as conidia are produced in pycnidia, a...     

Enzyme-mediated amperometric biosensors prepared with the Layer-by-Layer (LbL) adsorption technique

Glucose oxidase (GOD) has been immobilized in Layer-by-Layer (LbL) films, adsorbed alternately with poly(allylamine) hydrochloride (PAH) layers, onto an ITO substrate modified with a Prussian Blue (PB) layer. The ITO/PB/GOD-PAH heterostructures were tested in amperometric glucose biosensors, with a high sensitivity of 16 μA mmol⁻¹ l cm^-2 and a limit of detection of 0.20 mmol l⁻¹ being achieved. This high sensitivity is attributed to the ultrathin nature of the film in addition to the low operating potentials that could be used due to the efficient catalysis of H₂O₂ produced in the enzymatic reaction in the presence of Prussian Blue. The biosensors are highly selective to glucose, as demonstrated by the lack of interference from possible interferents such as ascorbic and uric acids and acetominophen. The stability of the biosensors was checked by observing an almost constant sensitivity for a period of approximately 20 days, thus indicating a stable adsorption of GOD.     

NMR structure of the apoptosis- and inflammation-related NALP1 pyrin domain

Signaling in apoptosis and inflammation is often mediated by proteins of the death domain superfamily in the Fas/FADD/Caspase-8 or the Apaf-1/Caspase-9 pathways. This superfamily currently comprises the death domain (DD), death effector domain (DED), caspase recruitment domain (CARD), and pyrin domain (PYD) subfamilies. The PYD subfamily is most abundant, but three-dimensional structures are only available for the subfamilies DD, DED, and CARD, which have an antiparallel arrangement of six alpha helices as common fold. This paper presents the NMR structure of PYD of NALP1, a protein that is involved in the innate immune response and is a component of the inflammasome. The structure of NALP1 PYD differs from all other known death domain superfamily structures in that the third alpha helix is replaced by a flexibly disordered loop. This unique feature appears to relate to the molecular basis of familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), a genetic disease caused by single-point mutations.     

Modification of the detrimental effect of TNF‐α on human endothelial progenitor cells by fasudil and Y27632

Exposure of human endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) to tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) reduced their number and biological activity. Yet, signal transduction events linked to TNF‐α action are still poorly understood. To address this issue, we examined the possible effect of fasudil and Y27632, two inhibitors of Rho kinase pathway, which is involved in endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis, and in‐ flammation. Results demonstrated that incubation with fasudil starting from 50 μM but not Y27632 determined a dose‐dependent improvement of EPC number during exposure to TNF‐α (P < 0.05 vs. TNF‐α alone). Analysis of the signal transduction pathway activated by TNF‐α revealed that the increased expression of p‐p38 was not significantly altered by fasudil. Instead, fasudil blocked the TNF‐α induced phosphorylation of Erk1/2 (P < 0.05 vs. TNF‐α) as well as the inhibitor of Erk1/2‐specific phosphorylated form, i.e., PD98059 (P < 0.05 vs. TNF‐α). These results were confirmed by analysis of these kinases by confocal microscopy. Finally, 2D‐DIGE and MALDI‐TOF/TOF analysis of EPCs treated with fasudil revealed increased expression levels of an actin‐related protein and an adenylyl cyclase associated protein and decreased expression levels of proteins related to radical scavenger and nucleotide metabolism. These findings suggest that fasudil positively affects EPC number and that other major signals might take part to this complex pathway. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 24:351–360, 2010; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com . DOI 10.1002/jbt.20345     

The influence of pomegranate fruit extract in comparison to regular pomegranate juice and seed oil on nitric oxide and arterial function in obese Zucker rats.

Metabolic syndrome includes most widely distributed clinical conditions such as obesity, hypertension, dislipidemia, and diabetes. Pomegranate fruit extract (PFE), rich in polyphenolic antioxidants, reduces the expression of oxidation-sensitive genes at the sites of perturbed shear-stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of PFE in comparison to regular pomegranate juice (PJ) and seed oil on the biological actions of nitric oxide (NO) and the arterial function in obese Zucker rats, a model of metabolic syndrome. Our results indicated that supplementation with PFE or PJ significantly decreased the expression of vascular inflammation markers, thrombospondin (TSP), and cytokine TGFbeta1 (P<0.05), whereas seed oil supplementation had a significant effect only on TSP-1 expression (P <0.05). Plasma nitrate and nitrite (NO(x)) levels were significantly increased by PFE and PJ (P<0.05). Furthermore, the effect of PFE in increasing endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) expression was comparable to that of PJ. These data highlight possible clinical applications of PFE in metabolic syndrome.