Variation in Inflammatory Response during Pneumococcal Infection Is Influenced by Host-Pathogen Interactions but Associated with Animal Survival.

Inflammation is a crucial part of innate immune responses but, if imbalanced, can lead to serious clinical conditions or even death. Cytokines regulate inflammation, and studies report their impact on clinical outcome. However, host and pathogen genetic backgrounds influence cytokine production, making it difficult to evaluate which inflammatory profiles (if any) relate to improved prognosis.

Emergence of hypervirulent mutants resistant to early clearance during systemic serotype 1 pneumococcal infection in mice and humans.

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 1 has a high likelihood of causing invasive disease. Serotype 1 isolates belonging to CC228 are associated with low mortality, while CC217 isolates exhibit high mortality in patients.

Methods: Clinical pneumococcal isolates and mutants were evaluated in wild-type C57BL/6 mice, macrophage-depleted mice, neutrophil-depleted mice, and SIGN-R1 knockout mice.

Intraclonal variations among Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates influence the likelihood of invasive disease in children.

Background: Pneumococcal serotypes are represented by a varying number of clonal lineages with different genetic contents, potentially affecting invasiveness. However, genetic variation within the same genetic lineage may be larger than anticipated.

Methods: A total of 715 invasive and carriage isolates from children in the same region and during the same period were compared using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing.

Pilus adhesin RrgA interacts with complement receptor 3, thereby affecting macrophage function and systemic pneumococcal disease.

Unlabelled: Pneumococcal pili have been shown to influence pneumococcal colonization, disease development, and the inflammatory response in mice. The role of the pilus-associated RrgA adhesin in pneumococcal interactions with murine and human macrophages was investigated. Expression of pili with RrgA enhanced the uptake of pneumococci by murine and human macrophages that was abolished by antibodies to complement receptor 3 (CR3) and not seen in CR3-deficient macrophages.

Cost of managing digital diagnostic images for a 614-bed hospital.

The cost of recording and archiving digital diagnostic imaging data is presented for a Radiology Department serving a 614 bed University-Hospital with a large outpatient population. Digital diagnostic imaging modalities include computed tomography, nuclear medicine, ultrasound, and digital radiography. The archiving media include multiformat video film recordings, magnetic tapes, and disc storage.