Loss- and Gain-of-Function Approaches Indicate a Dual Role Exerted by Regulatory T Cells in Pulmonary Paracoccidioidomycosis.

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), is a pulmonary fungal disease whose severity depends on the adequate development of T cell immunity. Although regulatory T (Treg) cells were shown to control immunity against PCM, deleterious or protective effects were described in different experimental settings. To clarify the function of Treg cells in pulmonary PCM, loss-and gain-of-function approaches were performed with Foxp3GFP knock-in mice and immunodeficient Rag1-/- mice, respectively, which were intratracheally infected with 106 yeast cells.

Challenge of chronically infected mice with homologous trypanosoma cruzi parasites enhances the immune response but does not modify cardiopathy: implications for the design of a therapeutic vaccine.

Chagas disease is a Trypanosoma cruzi-induced zoonosis that has no natural cure. Local damage induced by the parasite and the immune response causes chronic heart and digestive lesions. Efforts to develop a therapeutic vaccine that boosts the immune response to completely clear the parasite are needed because there is no effective treatment for chronically infected patients.

Anti-IL-2 treatment impairs the expansion of T(reg) cell population during acute malaria and enhances the Th1 cell response at the chronic disease.

Plasmodium chabaudi infection induces a rapid and intense splenic CD4(+) T cell response that contributes to both disease pathogenesis and the control of acute parasitemia. The subsequent development of clinical immunity to disease occurs concomitantly with the persistence of low levels of chronic parasitemia. The suppressive activity of regulatory T (T(reg)) cells has been implicated in both development of clinical immunity and parasite persistence.

[Fear of falling in elderly community-dwelling individuals].

Objective: To determine the association between fear of falling and health status, a history of previous falls and personal characteristics in a representative sample of elderly people.

Method: We conducted an observational, cross-sectional prevalence study in the community setting in Albacete (Spain) of 921 people older than 65 years old selected through simple randomization. Participants underwent semi-structured interviews about their history of falls, fear of falling, illnesses and sociodemographic characteristics.

Visual function versus visual acuity in older people.

Purpose: To determine visual function (VF) status in older people, to establish its degree of correlation with visual acuity (VA), and to assess its association with other physical and mental functional limitations.

Participants: A sample of 1,160 persons aged 65 years or over were selected by simple randomization.

Methods: The participants' VF (The Visual Function Index - VF-14), VA, self-reported vision, mental and physical function (Katz Index, Pfeiffer's test, and Geriatric Depression Scale), and socio-demographic data were determined.

Analysis of the toxic potential of venom from Loxosceles adelaida, a Brazilian brown spider from karstic areas.

Loxosceles adelaida spiders (Araneae, Sicariidae) are found near and inside the caves in the Parque Estadual Turistico do Alto Ribeira (PETAR), Sao Paulo, Brazil, which are visited by thousands of tourists every year. Several Loxosceles species are a public health problem in many regions of the world, by causing severe dermonecrosis and/or complement dependent haemolysis upon envenomation. The aim of this study was to characterize the biochemical and biological properties of L.