The normal population distribution of PRNP codon 129 polymorphism.

Objectives: The common prion protein gene (PRNP) codon 129 polymorphism modifies the susceptibility to and the phenotype of prion diseases. However, no truly representative normal population-based data, or data stratified according to age or gender are available on the distribution of this polymorphism.

Material And Methods: Allelic variation of codon 129 in three Finnish populations representing different age groups, and among Finnish, British and Irish blood donors were examined.

First-phase insulin response in young healthy children at genetic and immunological risk for Type I diabetes.

Aims/hypothesis: A reduced first-phase insulin response to intravenous glucose is perceived as a sign of far-advanced deterioration of beta-cell function during the development of Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus, but data on insulin responses at the onset of diabetes-related autoimmunity are lacking. We studied the first-phase insulin responses of small children soon after observed seroconversion to autoantibody positivity.

Methods: In the Type I Diabetes Prediction and Prevention Study newborn infants are screened for HLA-DQB1-associated genetic risk for Type I diabetes and those with increased risk are followed-up for the emergence of islet-cell antibodies.

Rotavirus infections and development of diabetes-associated autoantibodies during the first 2 years of life.

Rotavirus, the most common cause of childhood gastroenteritis, has been implicated as one of the viral triggers of diabetes-associated autoimmunity. To study the possible association between rotavirus infections and the development of diabetes-associated autoantibodies, we measured the prevalence of rotavirus antibodies in serum samples collected at 3-6-month intervals up to the age of 2 years from 177 children selected from consecutive newborns because they carried HLA-DQB1 alleles associated with increased risk for type 1 diabetes. Twenty-nine of the children developed at least two of four diabetes-associated autoantibodies (ICA, IAA, GADA or IA-2A) during the first 2 years of life (the cases), whereas 148 children remained autoantibody-negative matched with the cases for date of birth, gender, living region and HLA-DQB1 alleles.

Genetic risk determines the emergence of diabetes-associated autoantibodies in young children.

Timing of onset of autoimmunity is a prerequisite for unmasking triggers and pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. We followed 4,590 consecutive newborns with 8 or 3% HLA-DQB1 conferred risk for type 1 diabetes at 3-, 6-, or 12-month intervals up to 5.5 years of age.

No evidence of abnormal regulation of antibody response to coxsackievirus B4 antigen in prediabetic children.

Enterovirus infections are a potential environmental trigger of the autoimmune process leading to clinical type 1 diabetes. It has been suggested that the risk of virus-induced beta-cell damage might be connected with a defect in humoral immune responsiveness to enteroviruses. In the present study we assessed whether such a defect in IgG responsiveness to coxsackievirus B4 antigen existed in young children who developed diabetes-associated autoantibodies during prospective observation from birth until the age of 18 months.

Enterovirus antibody levels during the first two years of life in prediabetic autoantibody-positive children.

Aims/hypothesis: We evaluated the role of enterovirus infections in the pathogenesis of Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus by monitoring enterovirus antibody levels in prediabetic children who turned positive for diabetes-associated autoantibodies in a prospective birth cohort study.

Methods: Serial serum samples taken during prospective observation starting at birth were analysed for IgG and IgA class antibodies against enterovirus antigens including purified coxsackievirus B4, echovirus 11, poliovirus 1 and a synthetic enterovirus peptide antigen using enzyme immunoassay. Maternal samples taken at the end of the third month of pregnancy were also studied.

Flavour profiles of dry sausages fermented by selected novel meat starter cultures.

Probiotic or bioprotective Lactobacillus rhamnosus strains GG, LC-705 and E-97800 as well as Pediococcus pentosaceus E-90390 and Lactobacillus plantarum E-98098 were studied for their ability to act as main fermenting organisms in the manufacturing process of dry sausages. In the preliminary tests, their abilities to produce lactic acid and biogenic amines, histamine or tyramine, were studied in MRS broth and analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The strains produced higher or equal amounts of lactic acid compared to control and were amine negative.

Dry sausage fermented by Lactobacillus rhamnosus strains.

The ability of three probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus strains GG, E-97800 and LC-705 and one commercial Pediococcus pentosaceus starter strain (control) to produce dry sausage was studied. During the fermentation process the numbers of inoculated lactic acid bacteria increased from approx. 7 log10 to 8-9 log10 cfu/g and the pH values decreased from 5.

Screening of commercial meat starter cultures at low pH and in the presence of bile salts for potential probiotic use.

The survival of lactic acid bacterial strains from eight meat starter cultures under conditions similar to those in the gastrointestinal tract was determined. The conditions in stomach were simulated by using pH 1-5 phosphate-buffered saline. The conditions in small intestine were simulated by using MRS broth over a pH range 4-7 and two bile salt concentrations (0.

The role of Fas ligand in the development of insulitis in nonobese diabetic mice.

The role of Fas ligand-induced lymphocyte apoptosis in the development of insulitis was studied in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice. Fas ligand with a molecular weight of 45 kD appeared in the pancreas of NOD mice during the onset of insulitis as demonstrated by western blot analysis. In situ DNA end-labeling (ISEL) of the pancreases of NOD mice demonstrated positive cells in the islets of Langerhans, with an age-dependent increase in the density and frequency of animals with islets containing ISEL-positive cells.

CD106 (VCAM-1) in testicular immunoregulation.

The expression of CD18, CD49d/CD29, CD44, CD54 and CD106 was studied in the testis of normal mice at various ages, in the cryptorchid testis, in the testis of estrogen-treated mice and in the testis of non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice, using immunocytochemistry to see which of these lymphocyte and endothelial adhesion proteins may be involved in lymphocyte regulation in the testis. CD18-, CD49d/CD29-, CD44- and CD54-expressing cells were not found in the normal > 10-week-old BALB/c mouse testis. Leydig cells expressed CD106 strongly at this age.

Inhaled budesonide influences cellular and biochemical abnormalities in pulmonary sarcoidosis.

In a randomized, double-blind study 19 patients with newly-detected pulmonary sarcoidosis were treated with either inhaled budesonide, 800 micrograms twice daily (n = 9), or placebo (n = 10) for 8-10 weeks. Before and after treatment, chest roentgenograms, lung function tests, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and biochemical tests were performed. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity and beta2-microglobulin (beta 2M) concentrations were measured in serum.