Mycobacterium gordonae pulmonary infection in an immunocompetent adult.

Context: Nontuberculous mycobacteria are non-communicable organisms and currently there are over 125 species. Nontuberculous mycobacteria are usually recovered from the environment and can cause disease through respiratory, cutaneous, parenteral and gastrointestinal exposure.

Case Report: We describe a case of a young, immunocompetent patient that developed symptomatic Mycobacterium gordonae pulmonary infection.

Challenges and possibilities of intravascular cell therapy in stroke.

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Western countries and more importantly a leading cause of adult disability. The recovery process of stroke patients might be enhanced by intensive rehabilitation, which acts through brain plasticity mechanisms. Restorative approaches such as cell-based therapies are clinically appealing as it might be possible to help patients even when treatment is initiated days or weeks after the ischemic insult.

Transplantation of human embryonic stem cell-derived neural precursor cells and enriched environment after cortical stroke in rats: cell survival and functional recovery.

Cortical stem cell transplantation may help replace lost brain cells after stroke and improve the functional outcome. In this study, we transplanted human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived neural precursor cells (hNPCs) or vehicle into the cortex of rats after permanent distal middle cerebral artery occlusion (dMCAO) or sham-operation, and followed functional recovery in the cylinder and staircase tests. The hNPCs were examined prior to transplantation, and they expressed neuroectodermal markers but not markers for undifferentiated hESCs or non-neural cells.

Long-term assessment of enriched housing and subventricular zone derived cell transplantation after focal ischemia in rats.

The potential for using stem cells to treat stroke has garnered much interest, but stem cell therapies must be rigorously tested in animal models before transplantation studies progress to clinical trials. An enriched environment enhances transplanted subventricular zone (SVZ) cell migration and functional benefit following stroke in rats. However, the ability of SVZ cells to survive, migrate, differentiate and promote functional recovery at protracted survival times (e.