Simultaneous Depression of Immunological Synapse and Endothelial Injury is Associated with Organ Dysfunction in Community-Acquired Pneumonia.

Rationale: A depressed expression of antigen presentation is, along with endothelial dysfunction, a recognized signature of severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We aimed to evaluate the expression of a number of genes involved in the immunological synapse in non-critically ill CAP patients with or without organ dysfunction and to profile endothelial biomarkers such as proendothelin-1 (proET1) and proadrenomedullin (proADM).

Methods: A nested study in a prospective cohort in CAP patients was performed.

Community-Acquired Pneumonia Patients at Risk for Early and Long-term Cardiovascular Events Are Identified by Cardiac Biomarkers.

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) increases the risk of cardiovascular complications during and following the episode. The goal of this study was to determine the usefulness of cardiovascular and inflammatory biomarkers for assessing the risk of early (within 30 days) or long-term (1-year follow-up) cardiovascular events.

Methods: A total of 730 hospitalized patients with CAP were prospectively followed up during 1 year.

Association of erythrocyte deformability with red blood cell distribution width in metabolic diseases and thalassemia trait.

Increased red blood distribution width (RDW) in anemia is related to disturbances in the cellular surface/volume ratio, usually accompanied by morphological alterations, while it has been shown in inflammatory diseases that the activity of pro-inflammatory cytokines disturbing erythropoiesis increases RDW. Recently it has been reported that higher RDW is related with decreased erythrocyte deformability, and that it could be related with the association of RDW and increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. In order to analyze the influence of morphological alterations and proinflammatory status on the relationship between RDW and erythrocyte deformability, we analyzed erythrocyte deformability along with RDW and other hematological and biochemical parameters in 36 α-thalassemia, 20 β-thalassemia, 20 δβ-thalassemia trait carriers, 61 metabolic syndrome patients and 76 morbidly obese patients.

Red blood cell distribution width and erythrocyte deformability in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Increased RDW has been found to be a marker of adverse outcomes in cardiovascular disease (CVD), although the exact mechanism remains unclear. Recently, several authors have found that higher RDW is associated with decreased erythrocyte deformability, which can impair blood flow through microcirculation, a fact which may explain the increased risk for CVD events associated with elevated RDW. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between RDW and erythrocyte deformability in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Hemorheological parameters as independent predictors of venous thromboembolism.

The role played by hemorheological alterations in the development of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) has often been overlooked. Although marked rheological alterations and the relationship with thromboembolic events are well-defined in patients with hematological diseases such as myelom, Waldenström disease and polycythemia vera, the relationship is not so clear in patients without hematological diseases. In the present review, we analyzed studies evaluating the rheological profile in DVT patients.

Posterior ocular involvement in Behçet's disease and thrombophilic mutations.

It is not well established whether there is an association among common inherited gene defects, Factor V (FV) Leiden, the prothrombin (PT) G20210A mutation, C677T methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and ocular Behçet's disease (BD). We aimed to evaluate the association of these mutations with posterior ocular involvement in 89 BD patients from eastern Spain (48 men and 41 women) of whom 23 had posterior ocular involvement and 66 did not. None of the 23 BD patients with posterior ocular involvement was a carrier of either FV Leiden or the PTG20210A mutation.

Metabolic alterations in morbid obesity. Influence on the haemorheological profile.

There are few studies on haemorheological disturbances in morbidly obese patients. The role played by the metabolic syndrome on the rheological profile of morbidly obese subjects has not yet been established, and it is not clear whether morbidly obese, but "metabolically healthy", show rheological alterations. We aimed to determine the whole rheological profile in 136 morbidly obese patients and 136 normo-weight volunteers, along with plasma lipids, inflammatory and insulin resistance parameters.

Rheological red blood cell behaviour in minor α-thalassaemia carriers.

Although several studies have been published regarding rheological behaviour of red blood cells in beta and delta-beta thalassaemia traits, little information about erythrocyte deformability in alpha-thalassaemia carriers is available. We aimed to determine erythrocyte deformability in heterozygous (silent, -α/αα) and homozygous (minor alpha-thalassaemia, -α/-α) carriers of the alpha-thalassaemia trait for the alpha 3.7 deletion, the most common in our geographical area.

Hemorheological profile in primary Sjögren's syndrome: a case-control study.

Rheological blood behavior in primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS) has been scarcely investigated. We evaluated the rheological profile (blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, erythrocyte deformability, erythrocyte aggregation, erythrocyte aggregation time and erythrocyte disaggregation threshold) along with fibrinogen, high-sensitive C reactive protein, plasma lipids, immunoglobulins, total proteins and erythrocyte sedimentation rate in 22 patients with primary SS (2 males, 20 females, aged 58 ± 9 years) and in 22 healthy volunteers (3 males, 19 females, aged 57 ± 5 years). Patients showed statistically higher plasma viscosity, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and G immunoglobulin (IgG) levels and lower total cholesterol than controls (p = 0.

Effects of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate on gap and tight junction protein expression in the testis of prepubertal rats.

The aim of this study was to analyze whether di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a Sertoli and Leydig cell toxicant, is able to induce alterations in the expression of testicular gap and tight junction proteins. DEHP was administered by gavage (1 g/5 mL corn oil/kg body weight/day) to 25-day-old male Sprague-Dawley rats for 2 days (DEHP-27d) and control rats were treated with corn-oil vehicle for 2 days (C-27d); animals were killed 24 h after the last treatment. Testes of DEHP-27d rats showed different degrees of germ cell sloughing of seminiferous tubules (ST).

Functional and phenotypic characteristics of testicular macrophages in experimental autoimmune orchitis.

Testicular inflammation with compromised fertility can occur despite the fact that the testis is considered an immunoprivileged organ. Testicular macrophages have been described as cells with an immunosuppressor profile, thus contributing to the immunoprivilege of the testis. Experimental autoimmune orchitis (EAO) is a model of organ-specific autoimmunity and testicular inflammation.

[Two cases of congenital airway obstruction managed with ex utero intrapartum treatment procedures: anesthetic implications].

An ex utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT) procedure provides sufficient time to gain control of the potentially obstructed fetal upper airway while uterine placental circulation is maintained during cesarean section. We report 2 cases in which fetal congenital upper airway obstruction was managed without complications during EXIT procedures. We also discuss general considerations concerning the obstetric patient and the performance of intramuscular fetal anesthesia.

Direct effect of ghrelin on leptin production by cultured rat white adipocytes.

Objective: Because ghrelin is known to stimulate adipogenesis, we tested whether ghrelin could contribute to the maintenance of homeostasis, directly affecting rat white adipocyte leptin production.

Research Methods And Procedures: Isolated retroperitoneal adipocytes were cultured for 0.5 to 48 hours without (baseline) or with (0.

Testis structure and function in a nongenetic hyperadipose rat model at prepubertal and adult ages.

There are few data for hormonal levels and testis structure and function during postnatal development in rats neonatally treated with monosodium L-glutamate (MSG). In our study, newborn male pups were ip injected with MSG (4 mg/g body weight) every 2 d up to 10 d of age and investigated at prepubertal and adult ages. Plasma levels of leptin, LH, FSH, prolactin, testosterone (T), corticosterone, and free T4 (FT4) were measured.

Modulatory effects of leptin on leydig cell function of normal and hyperleptinemic rats.

Neonatal L-monosodium glutamate (MSG) administration in rats induces several neuroendocrine and metabolic disruptions. Leptin, the adipocyte product, modulates several neuroendocrine systems including the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis in mammals. The aim of the present study was to determine whether MSG-induced chronic hyperleptinemia could play any relevant role in the hypogonadism developed by male rats when examined in adulthood.

Involvement of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in the pathogenesis of autoimmune orchitis in rats.

We studied the testicular macrophages of rats with experimental autoimmune orchitis (EAO) and analyzed whether the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) is involved in germ cell apoptosis and in Leydig cell steroidogenesis. The EAO was induced in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats by active immunization with testicular homogenate and adjuvants. In the experimental group, a severe orchitis was observed 80 days after the first immunization.

Role of type IV collagen in prolactin release from anterior pituitaries of male rats.

We previously demonstrated that laminin, a component of basement membranes, modulates pituitary hormone secretion. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of type IV collagen, another component of this membrane, on the release of prolactin (PRL) by anterior pituitary gland from adult male rats. Hemipituitaries were incubated for 3 h with type IV collagen or antibodies against it and PRL release was studied.

Puberty is delayed in male growth hormone receptor gene-disrupted mice.

The role of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in the initiation of puberty and testicular function is poorly understood. Growth hormone (GH) receptor (R) gene-disrupted mice or GHR gene "knockouts" (GHR-KO) are GH resistant and IGF-I deficient. To assess whether the age of sexual maturation is affected by the absence of IGF-I, various parameters of sexual development including testicular and accessory reproductive organ weights, balanopreputial separation, germ cell development, and intratesticular testosterone levels were determined in normal and GHR-KO mice between the ages of 25 and 60 days.

Correlation between inhibin secretion and damage of seminiferous tubules in a model of experimental autoimmune orchitis.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate inhibin secretion in rats with autoimmune orchitis. As we have previously described, experimental autoimmune orchitis (EAO) induced in rats by active immunization with testis homogenate and adjuvants is characterized by an interstitial mononuclear cell infiltrate and sloughing of the germinal epithelium. At 120 days after the first immunization 60% of the rats exhibited a severe orchitis with large areas of aspermatogenic seminiferous tubules in which only spermatogonia and Sertoli cells with cytoplasmic vacuolization remained attached to the tubular wall.

Effect of testicular macrophage conditioned media from rats with autoimmune orchitis on Leydig cell function.

Problem: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of immune-activated testicular macrophages obtained from rats with autoimmune orchitis (EAO) on Leydig cell steroidogenesis.

Method Of Study: EAO was induced in rats by active immunization with testis homogenate and adjuvants. Testicular and peritoneal macrophages from rats with EAO were isolated and cultured for 24 hr.