Human Brain Organoids: Why There Can Be Moral Concerns If They Grow Up in the Lab and Are Transplanted or Destroyed.

Human brain organoids (HBOs) are three-dimensional biological entities grown in the laboratory in order to recapitulate the structure and functions of the adult human brain. They can be taken to be novel living entities for their specific features and uses. As a contribution to the ongoing discussion on the use of HBOs, the authors identify three sets of reasons for moral concern.

Co-cultivation is a powerful approach to produce a robust functionally designed synthetic consortium as a live biotherapeutic product (LBP).

The success of fecal microbiota transplants (FMT) has provided the necessary proof-of-concept for microbiome therapeutics. Yet, feces-based therapies have many associated risks and uncertainties, and hence defined microbial consortia that modify the microbiome in a targeted manner have emerged as a promising safer alternative to FMT. The development of such live biotherapeutic products has important challenges, including the selection of appropriate strains and the controlled production of the consortia at scale.

A Balance of Rights: The Italian Way to the Abortion Controversy.

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling triggered a global debate about access to abortion and the legislative models governing it.

Splenic Infarction Diagnosed by Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound in Infectious Mononucleosis - An Appropriate Diagnostic Option: A Case Report with Review of the Literature.

Infectious mononucleosis is caused by Epstein.Barr virus (EBV) infection. Although typically self.

A collection of bacterial isolates from the pig intestine reveals functional and taxonomic diversity.

Our knowledge about the gut microbiota of pigs is still scarce, despite the importance of these animals for biomedical research and agriculture. Here, we present a collection of cultured bacteria from the pig gut, including 110 species across 40 families and nine phyla. We provide taxonomic descriptions for 22 novel species and 16 genera.

Novel Experimental Methods for the Investigation of Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) Larvae.

Large-scale insect rearing for food and feed production can be improved by understanding diet digestion and host-microbe interactions. To examine these processes in black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.; Diptera: Stratiomyidae) larvae, two protocols were developed.

Electrophysiological dysfunction induced by anti-ribosomal P protein antibodies injection into the lateral ventricle of the rat brain.

Objective Anti-ribosomal P antibodies (anti-P) are strongly associated with neuropsychiatric lupus. This study was designed to determine whether these antibodies are capable of causing electro-oscillogram (EOSG) and behavior alterations in rats. Methods IgG fraction anti-P positive and affinity-purified anti-P antibodies were injected intraventricularly in rats.

On the ethics of withholding and withdrawing medical treatment.

A general rationale is presented for withholding and withdrawing medical treatment in end-of-life situations, and an argument is offered for the moral irrelevance of the distinction, both in the context of pharmaceutical treatments, such as chemotherapy in cancer, and in the context of life-sustaining treatments, such as the artificial ventilator in lateral amyotrophic sclerosis. It is argued that this practice is not equivalent to sanctioning voluntary active euthanasia and that it is not likely to favour it.

Informed consent as an ethical requirement in clinical trials: an old, but still unresolved issue. An observational study to evaluate patient's informed consent comprehension.

We explored the comprehension of the informed consent in 77 cancer patients previously enrolled in randomised phase II or phase III clinical trials, between March and July 2011, at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milano. We asked participants to complete an ad hoc questionnaire and analysed their answers. Sixty-two per cent of the patients understood the purpose and nature of the trial they were participating in; 44% understood the study procedures and 40% correctly listed at least one of the major risks or complications related to their participation in the trial.

Comparison of autoantibody specificities between traditional and bead-based assays in a large, diverse collection of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and family members.

Objective: Replacement of standard immunofluorescence methods with bead-based assays for antinuclear antibody (ANA) testing is a new clinical option. The aim of this study was to evaluate a large, multiethnic cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), blood relatives, and unaffected control individuals for familial aggregation and subset clustering of autoantibodies by high-throughput serum screening technology and traditional methods.

Methods: Serum samples (1,540 SLE patients, 1,154 unaffected relatives, and 906 healthy, population-based controls) were analyzed for SLE autoantibodies using a bead-based assay, indirect immunofluorescence (IIF), and immunodiffusion.

Life-extension: a biomedical goal? Scientific prospects, ethical concerns.

The potential for development of biomedical technologies capable of extending the human lifespan raises at least two kinds of question that it is important both to distinguish and to connect with one another: scientific, factual questions regarding the feasibility of life extension interventions; and questions concerning the ethical issues related to the extension of life- and healthspans. This paper provides an account of some life extension interventions considered to be amongst the most promising, and presents the ethical questions raised by the prospect of their pursuit. It is suggested that problems concerning the effects of these technologies on health care resources and on intergenerational relationships will be the most difficult to tackle.

The role of solidarity in social responsibility for health.

The Article focuses on the concept of social solidarity, as it is used in the Report of the International Bioethics Committee On Social Responsibility and Health. It is argued that solidarity plays a major role in supporting the whole framework of social responsibility, as presented by the IBC. Moreover, solidarity is not limited to members of particular groups, but potentially extended to all human beings on the basis of their inherent dignity; this sense of human solidarity is a necessary presupposition for a genuinely universalistic morality of justice and human rights.

Effects of autoimmune antibodies anti-lipoprotein lipase, anti-low density lipoprotein, and anti-oxidized low density lipoprotein on lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Introduction: Premature development of atherosclerosis in systemic lupus erythematosus has been widely reported. Anti-lipoprotein lipase antibody may be one cause contributing to this disorder.

Objective: To assess the extent of coronary risk due to autoimmune antibodies in terms of carotid plaque in lupus patients.

Abnormal olfactory function demonstrated by manganese-enhanced MRI in mice with experimental neuropsychiatric lupus.

Mice with experimental neuropsychiatric lupus (NPSLE), induced by anti-ribosomal-P antibodies, developed depression-like behavior and a diminished sense of smell. Manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) allows in vivo mapping of functional neuronal connections in the brain, including the olfactory tract. The aim of this study was to analyze and describe, via the MEMRI technique, the effect of the anti-ribosomal-P injection on the olfactory pathway.

Early targets of nuclear RNP humoral autoimmunity in human systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: The U1 small nuclear RNPs are common targets of autoantibodies in lupus and other autoimmune diseases. However, the etiology and progression of autoimmune responses directed against these antigens are not well understood. The aim of this study was to use a unique collection of serial samples obtained from patients before and after the development of nuclear RNP (nRNP) antibodies to investigate early humoral events in the development of anti-nRNP autoimmunity.

Anti-P ribosomal antibodies induce defect in smell capability in a model of CNS -SLE (depression).

Unlabelled: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease associated with more than 100 different autoantibodies, some of which may be associated with specific neuropsychiatric (NPSLE) manifestations. Injection of anti-P ribosomal antibodies (anti-P) directly to the brain ventricles of mice induces depression manifested by increased immobility time in the forced swim test (FST).

Methods: Mice were injected intracerebroventricularily (ICV) with affinity-purified human anti-P antibodies or normal commercial IgG as control.

A possible link between infection with burkholderia bacteria and systemic lupus erythematosus based on epitope mimicry.

We previously demonstrated that purified polyclonal and monoclonal anti-dsDNA antibodies bind a 15-mer peptide ASPVTARVLWKASHV in ELISA and Dot blot. This 15-mer peptide partial sequence ARVLWKASH shares similarity with burkholderia bacterial cytochrome B 561 partial sequence ARVLWRATH. In this study, we show that purified anti-dsDNA antibodies react with burkholderia fungorum bacterial cell lysates in Western blot.

Haemolytic anaemia in a multi-ethnic cohort of lupus patients: a clinical and serological perspective.

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a chronic autoimmune disease that can be associated with a variety of haematological manifestations. We identified 76 patients with haemolytic anaemia in a cohort of 1251 unrelated female lupus patients enrolled in our studies. The presence of the various American College of Rheumatology clinical criteria for lupus and serological specificities were determined in lupus patients with haemolytic anaemia and compared with a group of race-matched control lupus patients without haemolytic anaemia.

The challenges of neuroethics.

This paper presents different conceptions of neuroethics, focusing both on applications of neuroscience aiming to provide access to other people's minds and on the theoretical study of the neural bases of moral judgement and decision making. It is argued that these studies have not yet seriously undermined the traditional view of humans as moral free agents, nor have they accomplished the radical naturalisation of ethics that is sometimes promised or predicted. A few implications for normative ethics and moral epistemology are also discussed.

Presence of anti-La autoantibody is associated with a lower risk of nephritis and seizures in lupus patients.

Previous reports suggest a protective role for anti-La autoantibody against the development of lupus nephritis. We studied the effect of anti-La on the prevalence of nephritis in a large cohort of lupus patients. In addition, we determined the association between anti-La and the presence of the various other lupus manifestations.

Induction of autoimmune depression in mice by anti-ribosomal P antibodies via the limbic system.

Objective: Autoantibodies against ribosomal P proteins are linked to the neuropsychiatric manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The present study was undertaken to assess how the specific brain-binding autoantibody anti-ribosomal P can induce a depression-type psychiatric disorder in mice.

Methods: Mice were injected intracerebroventricularly with affinity-purified human anti-ribosomal P antibodies or IgG as control.

Fine specificity mapping of autoantigens targeted by anti-centromere autoantibodies.

Autoantibodies to centromeric proteins are commonly found in sera of limited scleroderma and other rheumatic disease patients. To better understand the inciting events and possible pathogenic mechanisms of these autoimmune responses, this study identified the common antigenic targets of CENP-A in scleroderma patient sera. Utilizing samples from 263 anti-centromere immunofluorescence positive patients, 93.

Autoantibodies to the ribosomal P proteins in systemic lupus erythematosus.

This paper describes the clinical significance of antibodies to the ribosomal P proteins in systemic lupus erythematosus. It appears that liver disease due to the lupus process and not attributable to viral infection, alcohol or drugs is associated with anti-ribosomal P. In addition, there is a strong relationship to central nervous system disease and nephritis of antibodies to ribosomal P proteins.

Familial aggregation and linkage analysis of autoantibody traits in pedigrees multiplex for systemic lupus erythematosus.

Autoantibodies are clinically relevant biomarkers for numerous autoimmune disorders. The genetic basis of autoantibody production in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and other autoimmune diseases is poorly understood. In this study, we characterized autoantibody profiles in 1,506 individuals from 229 multiplex SLE pedigrees.