Primary pneumococcal peritonitis can be the first presentation of a familial complement factor I deficiency.

Primary pneumococcal peritonitis is a rare infection that has been described in women but has not been previously linked with immunodeficiency. The complement system plays a central role in immune defence against Streptococcus pneumoniae and, in order to evade complement attack, pneumococci have evolved a large number of mechanisms that limit complement-mediated opsonization and subsequent phagocytosis. We investigated an apparently immunocompetent woman with primary pneumococcal peritonitis and identified a family with deficiency for complement factor I.

A First Unexplained Invasive Encapsulated Bacterial Infection in Young Adults Associated With High Mortality and Readmission Rates.

We find that patients <40 years old with a first invasive encapsulated bacterial infection have a high likelihood of death or readmission within 23 months. It is imperative to highlight them for immunological screening and initiate prophylactic interventions and treatment.

Multiple redundant stress resistance mechanisms are induced in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium in response to alteration of the intracellular environment via TLR4 signalling.

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) senses bacterial LPS and is required for the control of systemic Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium infection in mice. The mechanisms of TLR4 activation and its downstream signalling cascades are well described, yet the direct effects on the pathogen of signalling via this receptor remain unknown. To investigate this we used microarray-based transcriptome profiling of intracellular S.

Relevance of biallelic versus monoallelic TNFRSF13B mutations in distinguishing disease-causing from risk-increasing TNFRSF13B variants in antibody deficiency syndromes.

TNFRSF13B encodes transmembrane activator and calcium modulator and cyclophilin ligand interactor (TACI), a B cell- specific tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor superfamily member. Both biallelic and monoallelic TNFRSF13B mutations were identified in patients with common variable immunodeficiency disorders. The genetic complexity and variable clinical presentation of TACI deficiency prompted us to evaluate the genetic, immunologic, and clinical condition in 50 individuals with TNFRSF13B alterations, following screening of 564 unrelated patients with hypogammaglobulinemia.

Micronuclei in cord blood lymphocytes as a biomarker of transplacental exposure to environmental pollutants.

Exposure to environmental pollutants can result in chromosomal instability, which can produce a wide variety of effects on human health. In the spring of 1999, extensive environmental pollution happened in Kragujevac (the city in the central Serbia) with damages of soil, water and air, caused by the air strikes on "Zastava" complex. Because we found significant increase of micronuclei in newborns born 12 months after this environmental pollution (in the beginning of 2000), the purpose of the present study was to follow the frequency of micronuclei in lymphocytes of newborns born seven years after pollution (in 2006).