Surfactant protein D deficiency influences allergic immune responses.

Background: The collectin surfactant protein D (SP-D) confers protection against pulmonary infection and inflammation. Recent data suggest a role for SP-D in the modulation of allergic inflammation.

Objective: The aim of this study is to characterize the immune responses of SP-D-deficient (SP-D(-/-)) mice in a kinetic model of allergic inflammation.

Costimulatory molecule OX40L is critical for both Th1 and Th2 responses in allergic inflammation.

T cell activation and cytokine secretion are important mediators of inflammation in allergic asthma. The costimulatory pathway CD28/CD80/CD86 has been shown to play an important role in T cell activation in allergic asthma, but less is known about the effect of other costimulatory molecules in allergy. The costimulatory molecule OX40 ligand (OX40L), a member of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily, has been shown to be important in T cell priming and cytokine production.

Churg-Strauss syndrome in patients receiving montelukast as treatment for asthma.

Study Objectives: We previously reported eight patients who developed Churg-Strauss syndrome in association with zafirlukast treatment for asthma and postulated that the syndrome resulted from unmasking of a previously existing condition due to corticosteroid withdrawal and not from a direct drug effect. The availability of montelukast, a new leukotriene receptor antagonist with a different molecular structure, permitted us to test this hypothesis. Our goals were to ascertain whether the Churg-Strauss syndrome developed in patients taking montelukast and other novel asthma medications, and to describe potential mechanisms for the syndrome.

Pathological jealousy appearing after cerebrovascular infarction in a 25-year-old woman.

Objective: To report pathological jealousy (Othello syndrome) occurring in a young woman with a right hemisphere cerebrovascular infarction and to review diagnosis and possible organic mechanisms for the generation of this syndrome.

Clinical Picture: A 20-year-old woman was admitted to hospital with a right hemisphere stroke associated with a history of severe migraine and the use of oral contraceptives. The patient made a good recovery with minimal neurological deficits but 5 years later developed the syndrome of morbid jealousy with depression and a near fatal overdose.

Memory processes in depressed geriatric patients with and without subcortical hyperintensities on MRI.

In this study, 12 patients over age 60 with depression with moderate to severe subcortical hyperintensities (SH) localized to the periventricular white matter were identified by quantitative MRI. Using the California Verbal Learning Test, they were compared with 12 age-, education-, and severity-matched patients with depression with minimal white matter changes on specific aspects of memory performance. Patients with cortical lesions, neurologic or systemic illness affecting cognition, and history of substance abuse were excluded.