Interleukin-15 as a Biomarker Candidate of Rheumatoid Arthritis Development.

There is a need for definite diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at its earliest stages of development in order to introduce early and effective treatment. Here we assessed whether serum interleukin-15 (IL-15) can serve as a new biomarker of RA development in patients with undifferentiated arthritis (UA). Interleukin-15, IgM-rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP Abs) were measured in UA patients at inclusion.

Repellents as a major element in the context of prevention of tick-borne diseases.

In Poland, out of the 21 species of ticks described, two species have the greatest epidemiological significance: Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus. Their participation in the transmission of etiologic agents of vector diseases such as Lyme disease, tick-borne encephalitis, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, babesiosis, rickettsiosis and many others is widely known. Due to the often severe and sometimes fatal course of diseases transmitted by ticks, a great deal of emphasis is placed on prophylactic activities, minimizing the possibility of biting and transfering pathogens along with the arachnid saliva.

Susceptibility of Dermacentor reticulatus tick to repellents containing different active ingrediens.

Introduction: Ticks are vectors of human and animal diseases.

Materials And Methods: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of four different formulations containing DEET, Icaridin, IR3535 and mix of three compounds: DEET, IR3535 and geraniol, against Dermacentor reticulatus ticks.

Results: The repellent effectiveness of these products to adult ticks was different.

Galleria mellonella L. as model organism used in biomedical and other studies.

Comparative of studies of genomes of invertebrates and humans shows that in invertebrates including insects there are numerous homologues of human’s genes coding proteins involved in recognition pathogens or transduction of the expression signal. Thanks this features, insects such as Drosophila melanogaster M., Blattella germanica L.

Methods of testing repellent efficiency against ticks.

The use of repellents is the most important in the tick-bite protection. The tests of repellents efficiency shall give strict answer whether ticks are repelled effectively or not by a given agent. Methods of testing repellent efficiency can be divided in in three groups: experiments without tick host and host stimuli; studies simulating host stimuli, methods of testing repellents on animals or human volunteers.