IL-33 Signaling Inhibition Leads to a Preeclampsia-Like Phenotype in Pregnant Rats.

Problem: Preeclampsia (PE) is a hypertensive pregnancy disorder that is a leading cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality characterized by maternal vascular dysfunction, oxidative stress, chronic immune activation, and excessive inflammation. No cure exists beyond delivery of the fetal-placental unit and the mechanisms driving pathophysiology are not fully understood. However, aberrant immune responses have been extensively characterized in clinical studies and shown to mediate PE pathophysiology in animal studies.

Absence of Capsule Increases Bacterial Binding, Persistence, and Inflammation in Corneal Infection.

The role of the pneumococcal polysaccharide capsule is largely unclear for keratitis, an ocular inflammatory disease that develops as a result of bacterial infection of the cornea. In this study, capsule-deficient strains were compared to isogenic parent strains in their ability to adhere to human corneal epithelial cells. One isogenic pair was further used in topical ocular infection of mice to assess the contribution of the capsule to keratitis.