The critical issue linking lipids and inflammation: Clinical utility of stopping oxidative stress.

The formation of an atheroma begins when lipoproteins become trapped in the intima. Entrapped lipoproteins become oxidized and activate the innate immune system. This immunity represents the primary association between lipids and inflammation.

Oats Lower Age-Related Systemic Chronic Inflammation (iAge) in Adults at Risk for Cardiovascular Disease.

Despite being largely preventable, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is still the leading cause of death globally. Recent studies suggest that the immune system, particularly a form of systemic chronic inflammation (SCI), is involved in the mechanisms leading to CVD; thus, targeting SCI may help prevent or delay the onset of CVD. In a recent placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial, an oat product providing 3 g of β-Glucan improved cholesterol low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels and lowered cardiovascular risk in adults with borderline high cholesterol.

Microvascular disease confers additional risk to COVID-19 infection.

The majority of fatalities thus far in the COVID-19 pandemic have been attributed to pneumonia. As expected, the fatality rate reported in China is higher in people with chronic pulmonary disease (6.3%) and those who have cancer (5.

Cardiovascular Prevention: Migrating From a Binary to a Ternary Classification.

Migrating from a binary approach to risk assessment to a ternary model of disease identification allows for individualized, optimal disease management. Redefining the disease/inflammatory approach has been proven to identify, stabilize, and regress atherosclerosis while adding understanding to the progression of vascular disease. Our previously published results show the beneficial effect of comprehensive, evidence-based management on subclinical atherosclerosis and vulnerable plaque.

Precision Healthcare of Type 2 Diabetic Patients Through Implementation of Haptoglobin Genotyping.

It is well-recognized that there is a need for medicine to migrate to a platform of delivering preventative care based on an individual's genetic make-up. The US National Research Council, the National Institute of Health and the American Heart Association all support the concept of utilizing genomic information to enhance the clinical management of patients. It is believed this type of precision healthcare will revolutionize health management.

High-risk periodontal pathogens contribute to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

Periodontal disease (PD) is generated by microorganisms. These microbes can enter the general circulation causing a bacteraemia. The result can be adverse systemic effects, which could promote conditions such as cardiovascular disease.

Role of Haptoglobin in Health and Disease: A Focus on Diabetes.

In Brief Prospective identification of individuals with diabetes who are at greatest risk for developing complications would have considerable public health importance by allowing appropriate resources to be focused on those who would benefit most from aggressive intervention. Haptoglobin (Hp) is an acute-phase protein that is crucial for the elimination of free hemoglobin and the neutralization of oxidative damage. In the past two decades, associations have been made between polymorphisms in Hp and complications arising from diabetes.

Hp: an inflammatory indicator in cardiovascular disease.

Over the past decade significant advancement has occurred in the biological and pathological role that Hp has in cardiovascular disease. Hp is an acute-phase protein with a role in the neutralization and clearance of free heme. Iron has tremendous potential for initiating vascular oxidation, inflammation and exacerbating coronary atherosclerosis.

Stable Expression and Characterization of an Optimized Mannose Receptor.

The mannose receptor (MR) is a macrophage surface receptor that recognizes pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) from a diverse array of bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens. Functional studies of the MR are hampered by the scarcity of human cell lines that express the receptor. Current model systems available for the study of MR biology often demonstrate low levels of expression and do not retain many of the classical MR properties.

Interaction of members of the heat shock protein-70 family with the macrophage mannose receptor.

The macrophage MR has been the subject of investigation for over 20 years, and several important physiological functions have been described. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate MR signaling and trafficking during these processes still remain elusive. The focus of the current paper was to identify potential cellular MR-interacting proteins.

Characterization of functional mannose receptor in a continuous hybridoma cell line.

Background: The mannose receptor is the best described member of the type I transmembrane C-type lectins; however much remains unanswered about the biology of the receptor. One difficulty has been the inability to consistently express high levels of a functional full length mannose receptor cDNA in mammalian cells. Another difficulty has been the lack of a human macrophage cell line expressing a fully functional receptor.

First complete and productive cell culture model for members of the genus Iridovirus.

Chilo iridescent virus (CIV; the type strain of the genus Iridovirus) replicates productively in larvae of the boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis. This study focuses on characterizing productive infections of a boll weevil cell line, BRL-AG-3A (AG3A), starting with CIV reared in the waxworm, Galleria mellonella. We show that CIV can be continually and productively passaged to high titer in AG3A cells.

Protein glycosylation in infectious disease pathobiology and treatment.

A host of bacteria and viruses are dependent on O-linked and N-linked glycosylation to perform vital biological functions. Pathogens often have integral proteins that participate in host-cell interactions such as receptor binding and fusion with host membrane. Fusion proteins from a broad range of disparate viruses, such as paramyxovirus, HIV, ebola, and the influenza viruses share a variety of common features that are augmented by glycosylation.

Mitogen-activated protein kinases and NFkappaB are involved in SP-A-enhanced responses of macrophages to mycobacteria.

Background: Surfactant protein A (SP-A) is a C-type lectin involved in surfactant homeostasis as well as host defense in the lung. We have recently demonstrated that SP-A enhances the killing of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) by rat macrophages through a nitric oxide-dependent pathway. In the current study we have investigated the role of tyrosine kinases and the downstream mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, and the transcription factor NFkappaB in mediating the enhanced signaling in response to BCG in the presence of SP-A.

Chloroquine is effective against influenza A virus in vitro but not in vivo.

Background: Chloroquine is an inexpensive and widely available 9-aminoquinolone used in the management of malaria. Recently, in vitro assays suggest that chloroquine may have utility in the treatment of several viral infections including influenza.

Objectives: We sought to test whether chloroquine is effective against influenza in vivo in relevant animal models.

N-linked glycosylation attenuates H3N2 influenza viruses.

Over the last four decades, H3N2 subtype influenza A viruses have gradually acquired additional potential sites for glycosylation within the globular head of the hemagglutinin (HA) protein. Here, we have examined the biological effect of additional glycosylation on the virulence of H3N2 influenza viruses. We created otherwise isogenic reassortant viruses by site-directed mutagenesis that contain additional potential sites for glycosylation and examined the effect on virulence in naïve BALB/c, C57BL/6, and surfactant protein D (SP-D)-deficient mice.

Virus glycosylation: role in virulence and immune interactions.

The study of N-linked glycosylation as it relates to virus biology has become an area of intense interest in recent years due to its ability to impart various advantages to virus survival and virulence. HIV and influenza, two clear threats to human health, have been shown to rely on expression of specific oligosaccharides to evade detection by the host immune system. Additionally, other viruses such as Hendra, SARS-CoV, influenza, hepatitis and West Nile rely on N-linked glycosylation for crucial functions such as entry into host cells, proteolytic processing and protein trafficking.

HIV-1 Nef mediates post-translational down-regulation and redistribution of the mannose receptor.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has derived a variety of means to evade the host immune response. HIV-derived proteins, including Tat, Nef, and Env, have all been reported to decrease expression of host molecules such as CD4 and major histocompatibility complex I, which would assist in limiting viral replication. The mannose receptor (MR) on the surface of macrophages and dendritic cells (DC) has been proposed to function as an effective antigen-capture molecule, as well as a receptor for entering pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Pneumocystis carinii.