Molecular basis of tobacco-induced bacterial biofilms: an in vitro study.

Objective: To evaluate changes in the expression of biofilm-related genes when exposed to tobacco smoke and oxidative stress.

Study Design: Experimental, in vitro. Setting Laboratories of Rhinology and Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania.

Regulation of virulence gene expression resulting from Streptococcus pneumoniae and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae interactions in chronic disease.

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common inflammatory disease of the sinonasal cavity mediated, in part, by polymicrobial communities of bacteria. Recent molecular studies have confirmed the importance of Streptococcus pneumoniae and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) in CRS. Here, we hypothesize that interaction between S.

Tobacco smoke mediated induction of sinonasal microbial biofilms.

Cigarette smokers and those exposed to second hand smoke are more susceptible to life threatening infection than non-smokers. While much is known about the devastating effect tobacco exposure has on the human body, less is known about the effect of tobacco smoke on the commensal and commonly found pathogenic bacteria of the human respiratory tract, or human respiratory tract microbiome. Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common medical complaint, affecting 16% of the US population with an estimated aggregated cost of $6 billion annually.

Temporal correlations between heart rate, medullary units and hippocampal theta rhythm in anesthetized, sleeping and awake guinea pigs.

The aim of the present report was to determine whether or not the heart rate could show any relation to a central electrographic rhythm such as hippocampus theta. Our experimental design included anesthetized as well as chronically implanted guinea pigs. The cross-correlation, spike trigger averaging, between the medullary neurons firing, or the R-wave of the electrocardiogram, or hippocampal units, and theta rhythm revealed phase-locking during epochs of wakefulness, slow wave sleep and paradoxical sleep, and under anesthesia.

Effects of excitatory amino acid antagonists on the activity of inferior colliculus neurons during sleep and wakefulness.

The contribution of N-methyl-D-aspartate to the response to sound of guinea pig inferior colliculus neurons was analyzed by recording single-unit activity before and after iontophoretic injection of a receptor specific antagonist, 2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (AP5), during the sleep-waking cycle. The AP5 produced a significant firing decrease in most of the units recorded, while some neurons exhibited a particular decrease in the later part of the response. A latency reduction in one out of three units in paradoxical sleep was observed.