Neglected Case of Cervical Meningocele in an Adult.

Neural tube defects (NTD), caused by a disturbance in the neurulation process, are easily diagnosed and treated in the early years of life. Although early repair of NTD is advocated, there is lacking information on its natural course. There are only 11 cases, including this one, reported in literature of a cervical meningocele diagnosed and treated in an adult.

The antimicrobial peptide S100A8/A9 produced by airway epithelium functions as a potent and direct regulator of macrophage phenotype and function.

Background: Elevated counts of alveolar macrophages and attenuated phagocytic capacity are associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Factors governing macrophage phagocytosis are poorly understood. In this study we aimed to compare the influence of airway epithelial cell secretions from individuals with COPD and without COPD (non-COPD) on macrophage phagocytic activity, and the role of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs).

CD276 is an important player in macrophage recruitment into the tumor and an upstream regulator for PAI-1.

More than 70% of colorectal, prostate, ovarian, pancreatic and breast cancer specimens show expression of CD276 (B7-H3), a potential immune checkpoint family member. Several studies have shown that high CD276 expression in cancer cells correlates with a poor clinical prognosis. This has been associated with the presence of lower tumor infiltrating leukocytes.

Polarized cytokine release from airway epithelium differentially influences macrophage phenotype.

Epithelial cells and macrophages represent two major cell populations in the lung. They reside in physical proximity and are influenced by inhaled substances, microbial- and host-derived factors, as well as by crosstalk between each other. Here, we report the first systematic study to compare the effects of apical and basolateral secretomes from primary human small airway epithelial cells (SAEC) on human macrophages.

SLAMF7 and IL-6R define distinct cytotoxic versus helper memory CD8 T cells.

The prevailing 'division of labor' concept in cellular immunity is that CD8 T cells primarily utilize cytotoxic functions to kill target cells, while CD4 T cells exert helper/inducer functions. Multiple subsets of CD4 memory T cells have been characterized by distinct chemokine receptor expression. Here, we demonstrate that analogous CD8 memory T-cell subsets exist, characterized by identical chemokine receptor expression signatures and controlled by similar generic programs.

The Effect of Associated Parkinsonism on Rehabilitation in Stroke Patients: A Case Series.

Stroke and Parkinson's disease are 2 major causes of movement impairment and a decreased ability to perform daily activities. The aim of this case series was to demonstrate the difficulty of rehabilitation in stroke patients with accompanying parkinsonism. Four stroke patients with parkinsonism who underwent rehabilitation at the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic between March and May of 2016 were evaluated.

Medial calcaneal neuropathy: A rare cause of prolonged heel pain.

Pain heel constitutes 15% of foot pain. Pain may be caused by plantar fasciitis, calcaneal fractures, calcaneal apophysitis, heel pad atrophy, inflammatory diseases or related with nerve involvement. Tibial, plantar and/or medial nerve entrapment are the neural causes of pain.

CD40L expression by CD4 but not CD8 T cells regulates antiviral immune responses in acute LCMV infection in mice.

CD40-CD40 ligand (CD40L) signaling plays multiple indispensable roles in cellular and humoral immunity. Impaired memory T-cell responses in the absence of CD40L have been well documented, but the requirement of this interaction for efficient priming of CD8 T cells especially under inflammatory conditions has been under debate. In contrast to previous publications, we report here that virus-specific CD8 T-cell responses as well as viral clearance are affected not only in the memory but also in the effector phase in CD40L mice infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) Armstrong strain.

Requirement of immune system heterogeneity for protective immunity.

Although our knowledge on the immune system and immunological memory has expanded enormously during the last decades, the development of strategies to induce robust protective memory against infections and tumors remains challenging. Intense efforts and immense resources have been put into the development of vaccines. However, effective tools to assess protective immunity, beyond neutralizing antibody titers and cytotoxic T cell activity, are still missing.

Memory CD8(+) T cells colocalize with IL-7(+) stromal cells in bone marrow and rest in terms of proliferation and transcription.

It is believed that memory CD8(+) T cells are maintained in secondary lymphoid tissues, peripheral tissues, and BM by homeostatic proliferation. Their survival has been shown to be dependent on IL-7, but it is unclear where they acquire it. Here we show that in murine BM, memory CD8(+) T cells individually colocalize with IL-7(+) reticular stromal cells.

CD40L expression permits CD8+ T cells to execute immunologic helper functions.

CD8(+) T cells play an essential role in immunity against intracellular pathogens, with cytotoxicity being considered their major effector mechanism. However, we here demonstrate that a major part of central and effector memory CD8(+) T cells expresses CD40L, one key molecule for CD4(+) T-cell-mediated help. CD40L(+) CD8(+) T cells are detectable among human antigen-specific immune responses, including pathogens such as influenza and yellow fever virus.

Pathogen-triggered activation of plasmacytoid dendritic cells induces IL-10-producing B cells in response to Staphylococcus aureus.

Induction of polyclonal B cell activation is a phenomenon observed in many types of infection, but its immunological relevance is unclear. In this study we show that staphylococcal protein A induces T cell-independent human B cell proliferation by enabling uptake of TLR-stimulating nucleic acids via the V(H)3(+) BCR. We further demonstrate that Staphylococcus aureus strains with high surface protein A expression concomitantly trigger activation of human plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC).

The role of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp 70) in male infertility: is it a line of defense against sperm DNA fragmentation?

Objective: To clarify the role of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp 70) and its relation with DNA damage in male infertility.

Design: Prospective study.

Setting: Andrology laboratory of Istanbul Medical Faculty.

Induced oxidative stress and decreased expression of inducible heat shock protein 70 (ihsp 70) in patients with colorectal adenocarcinomas.

Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common carcinomas observed in humans. Recently we have reported that increased oxidative stress is associated with human colorectal cancer. There are few and controversial studies on the clinical relevance of the expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP 70), a member of the HSP family, in colorectal cancer.