Fecal microbiota in early rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To compare the composition of intestinal microbiota of patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or fibromyalgia (FM), fecal samples were collected from 51 patients with RA and 50 with FM.

Methods: RA patients fulfilled the RA criteria of the American College of Rheumatology, and duration of their disease was < or = 6 months. Only nonhospitalized patients from outpatient care were included.

Which viruses should we look for in a recent onset polyarthritis.

This review is concentrated on specifically diagnosable viral diseases causing recent onset polyarthritis. A suspicion of viral etiology of arthritis should arise when there are symptoms of infection such as fever, skin manifestations, neurologic signs, or when several cases are occurring at the same time, suggesting an outbreak. In addition to the history and clinical examination, serology is a key element in the diagnosis.

Quantification of bacteria in human feces using 16S rRNA-hybridization, DNA-staining and flow cytometry.

Hybridization of bacteria with fluorescent probes targeting 16S rRNA and inspection of hybridized bacteria with fluorescence microscopy (microscopy-FISH, i.e. fluorescence in situ hybridization) have constituted an accessible method for the analysis of mixed bacterial samples such as feces.

Comparison of cellular fatty acid profiles of the microbiota in different gut regions of BALB/c and C57BL/6J mice.

The gastrointestinal tracts of developed animals are colonized by an extremely complex and diverse microbial ecosystem. The host and its microbiota are in close interaction with each other, and the host's genetic characteristics have been suggested to have an influence on the composition of fecal bacteria. However, different sections of gastrointestinal tract harbor microbes typical of each particular section and knowledge of the effect of the host's genotype on the microbiota in the different parts of the gastrointestinal tract is limited.

Reactive arthritis.

Reactive arthritis is an infectious disease which may be initiated by several microbes in genetically susceptible hosts. The best known predisposing genetic factor is HLA-B27, but the mechanisms behind its action are still elusive. Worldwide agreement exists regarding the general guidelines in the diagnosis, differential diagnosis and management, even though official diagnostic criteria are not yet available.

Preventive and therapeutic effects of sugar cane extract on cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppression in chickens.

Effects of oral administration of sugar cane extract (SCE) on immunosuppression in chickens treated with cyclophosphamide (CPA) were evaluated. Three-week-old inbred chickens were inoculated into the crop with SCE (500 mg/kg/day) for three consecutive days before or after injection of CPA 12 or 20 mg/chicken. At the last day of SCE or CPA treatment, all chickens were immunized intravenously with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) and Brucella abortus (BA).

Bacterial components in the synovial tissue of patients with advanced rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis: analysis with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and pan-bacterial polymerase chain reaction.

Objective: To study the presence of bacterial components in the synovial tissue (ST) of patients with advanced rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: ST was collected during joint surgery from 41 RA patients. Tissue from 39 patients with osteoarthritis (OA), 4 patients with undifferentiated inflammatory arthritis (UA), and 3 cases of accidental deaths served as controls.

Bacterial composition of murine fecal microflora is indigenous and genetically guided.

Abstract The gastrointestinal tract and the microbes colonizing it form a complex ecosystem that has various effects on the well-being of the host. In addition to acute infections, the composition of the gastrointestinal microbiota has been suspected to influence the etiopathogenesis of many chronic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel diseases. It has been suggested that the bacterial colonization of the gastrointestinal tract is genetically determined.

Effects of 6-hydroxydopamine on the development of the immune system in chickens.

It has been suggested that the sympathetic nervous system communicates with lymphocytes expressing cell surface receptors for neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine (NE), on the basis of the finding that neurotransmitters modify immune responses in mammalian species. We confirmed that chicken lymphocytes in the brusa of Fabricius, thymus and spleen expressed beta-adrenergic receptor (beta-AR) mRNA from embryonic day (E) 10 and that intracellular cAMP level was elevated by NE, suggesting that lymphocytes express functional beta-AR on their surface at an early embryonal stage. To clarify whether the nervous system is involved in the development of the immune system, the effects of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), one of sympathectomizing agents, on chicken lymphocytes was investigated.

Suppression of antigen-specific lymphocyte proliferation by Gram-positive bacterial cell walls.

It is largely unknown how bacterial cell walls (BCW) modulate human immune responses. In the present work the effect of Gram-positive BCW on lymphocyte proliferation responses towards several microbial antigens (Ag) or mitogens was studied. Gram-positive BCW were derived from four indigenous bacterial strains and from one pathogen (Streptococcus pyogenes).

Regulatory network of lipopolysaccharide O-antigen biosynthesis in Yersinia enterocolitica includes cell envelope-dependent signals.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a glycolipid present in the outer membrane of all Gram-negative bacteria, and it is one of the signature molecules recognized by the receptors of the innate immune system. In addition to its lipid A portion (the endotoxin), its O-chain polysaccharide (the O-antigen) plays a critical role in the bacterium-host interplay and, in a number of bacterial pathogens, it is a virulence factor. We present evidence that, in Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:8, a complex signalling network regulates O-antigen expression in response to temperature.

The gene cluster directing O-antigen biosynthesis in Yersinia enterocolitica serotype 0:8: identification of the genes for mannose and galactose biosynthesis and the gene for the O-antigen polymerase.

The rfb gene cluster of Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:8 (YeO8) strain 8081-c was cloned by cosmid cloning. Restriction mapping, deletion analysis and transposon mutagenesis showed that about 19 kb of the cloned DNA is essential for the synthesis and expression of the YeO8 O-side-chain in Escherichia coli. Deletion analysis generated a derivative that expressed semi-rough LPS, a phenotype typical of an rfc mutant lacking the O-antigen polymerase.