IL-2 and IL-10 gene polymorphisms are associated with respiratory tract infection and may modulate the effect of vitamin E on lower respiratory tract infections in elderly nursing home residents.

Background: Vitamin E supplementation may be a potential strategy to prevent respiratory tract infections (RIs) in the elderly. The efficacy of vitamin E supplementation may depend on individual factors including specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at immunoregulatory genes.

Objective: We examined whether the effect of vitamin E on RIs in the elderly was dependent on genetic backgrounds as indicated by SNPs at cytokine genes.

Polymorphisms at cytokine genes may determine the effect of vitamin E on cytokine production in the elderly.

Vitamin E has been shown to affect cytokine production. However, individual response to vitamin E supplementation varies. Previous studies indicate that cytokine production is heritable and common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) may explain differences in cytokine production between individuals.

Sacral meningocele and rectal fistula associated with pneumorrhachis and pneumocephalus. A case report and literature review.

Pneumorrhachis (PR), the presence of air in the spinal canal, is a rare but suggestive radiographic finding, associated to different aetiologies and possible pathways of air entry into the spinal canal. It can be divided into primary and secondary PR, descriptively classified into extra- or intradural PR and aetiologically subsumed into iatrogenic, traumatic and non traumatic PR. Pneumoencephalus (PE), lack of air in the skull, is the equivalent intracranial phenomenon, associated mostly with traumatic or iatrogenic aetiology.