Effect of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation on 8-Week Remission in Patients With Ulcerative Colitis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: High-intensity, aerobically prepared fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has demonstrated efficacy in treating active ulcerative colitis (UC). FMT protocols involving anaerobic stool processing methods may enhance microbial viability and allow efficacy with a lower treatment intensity.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of a short duration of FMT therapy to induce remission in UC using anaerobically prepared stool.

Zinc homeostasis and gut function in children with celiac disease.

Background: Celiac disease (CD) is an immunologic enteropathy triggered by the intake of gluten. It is thought that the enteropathy impairs gut function and absorption.

Objective: We assessed the zinc-absorption capacity and small-bowel integrity in children with CD.

Costimulation of cytokine gene expression in T cells by the human T leukemia/lymphotropic virus type 1 trans activator Tax.

Many cell signals such as CD28 and CD4 binding can costimulate cytokine gene expression in activated T cells. We have found that the human T leukemia/lymphotropic virus type 1 viral protein Tax can also strongly costimulate expression of interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-3, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) mRNA in T cells activated with the phorbol ester phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and calcium ionophore, which can mimic activation through the antigen specific T-cell receptor. Reporter constructs also showed strong synergy between both stimuli and showed that Tax and the PMA-Ca2+ ionophore act through different regions of the IL-2 and GM-CSF genes.

HTLV-1 tax activation of the GM-CSF and G-CSF promoters requires the interaction of NF-kB with other transcription factor families.

The trans-activator protein, tax, from the human T leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) trans-activates both viral and cellular genes. It has previously been shown that granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is constitutively expressed in HTLV-1 infected cells and in cells artificially expressing tax. We show here that the GM-CSF promoter is tax responsive in fibroblasts and T cells, whereas the granulocyte (G)-CSF promoter is tax responsive only in fibroblasts.