SARS-CoV2: Diagnostic tests available to the clinician.

On December 2019, a new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in China and spread worldwide, causing acute severe respiratory syndrome. Due to the increased transmission rate of the virus, it became of great importance the early diagnosis of the disease. The coronavirus pandemic led to the development of numerous tests in order to mass screening population for active viral load and for the identification of antibodies for epidemiological purposes.

Down-regulation of the Tumor Suppressor CYLD Enhances the Transformed Phenotype of Human Breast Cancer Cells.

Background/aim: The cylindromatosis tumor suppressor (CYLD) has been implicated in the inhibition of human breast cancer development by virtue of the poor prognosis of patients with down-regulated CYLD expression. In order to investigate the mechanism of breast cancer suppression by CYLD, in the present study, cellular and molecular aspects of CYLD-dependent phenotypic regulation of different types of human breast cancer cell lines were analyzed.

Materials And Methods: CYLD expression was down-regulated by RNA interference in human breast cancer cell lines.

Crohn's disease-specific anti-CUZD1 pancreatic antibodies are absent in ruminants with paratuberculosis.

Background: Pancreatic autoantibodies (PABs) specifically recognizing GP2 and/or CUZD1 are present in more than 35% of patients with Crohn's disease (CrD). We have recently provided evidence of the presence of GP2-specific PABs in ruminants with paratuberculosis (ptb), a Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP)-induced disease resembling CrD.

Objective: To assess whether anti-CUZD1 antibodies are also present in ruminants with ptb.

Increased levels of oxidative DNA damage in pesticide sprayers in Thessaly Region (Greece). Implications of pesticide exposure.

The widespread use of pesticides substances nowadays largely guarantees the protection of crops and people from undesired pests. However, exposure to pesticides was related to a variety of human health effects. The present study was conducted in the region of Thessaly which is characterized by intensive agricultural activities and wide use of pesticides.

Flow cytometric detection of p38 MAPK phosphorylation and intracellular cytokine expression in peripheral blood subpopulations from patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Flow cytometric analysis of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) signaling cascade is optimally achieved by methanol permeabilization protocols. Such protocols suffer from the difficulties to accurately detect intracellular cytokines and surface epitopes of infrequent cell subpopulations, which are removed by methanol. To overcome these limitations, we have modified methanol-based phosphoflow protocols using several commercially available antibody clones suitable for surface antigens, intracellular cytokines, and p38 MAPK.

p38 MAPK Signaling in Pemphigus: Implications for Skin Autoimmunity.

p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) signaling plays a major role in the modulation of immune-mediated inflammatory responses and therefore has been linked with several autoimmune diseases. The extent of the involvement of p38 MAPK in the pathogenesis of autoimmune blistering diseases has started to emerge, but whether it pays a critical role is a matter of debate. The activity of p38 MAPK has been studied in great detail during the loss of keratinocyte cell-cell adhesions and the development of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) and pemphigus foliaceus (PF).

Vitamin D in autoimmune liver disease.

The development of autoimmune disease is based on the interaction of genetic susceptibility and environmental causes. Environmental factors include infectious and non-infectious agents, with some of these factors being implicated in several autoimmune diseases. Vitamin D is now believed to play a role in the development (or prevention) of several autoimmune diseases, based on its immunomodulatory properties.

CUZD1 and anti-CUZD1 antibodies as markers of cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases.

CUZD1, the CUB, and zona pellucida-like domains-containing protein 1, is a newly identified antigen of pancreatic autoantibodies (PAB) giving a reticulogranular pattern in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, and in particular Crohn's disease. The exact mechanisms by which this pancreatic antigen becomes the target of IBD-specific pancreatic autoantibodies are unclear. At the same time, evolving data strongly support a role for CUZD1 in carcinogenesis.

Crohn's disease-specific pancreatic autoantibodies are specifically present in ruminants with paratuberculosis: implications for the pathogenesis of the human disease.

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) induces paratuberculosis (ptb) in ruminants and has clinical and histological features resebling Crohn's disease (CD). Pancreatic autoantibodies (PAB) targeting glycoprotein 2 (GP2) are specifically found in CD, but it is currently unknown whether these autoantibodies can be found in ruminants with ptb. IgG anti-MAP and anti-GP2 antibodies were tested by ELISA in 286 ruminants (212 sheep and 74 cattle).

Lower fibroblast growth factor 23 levels in young adults with Crohn disease as a possible secondary compensatory effect on the disturbance of bone and mineral metabolism.

Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) is a bone-derived circulating phosphaturic factor that decreases serum concentration of phosphate and vitamin D, suggested to actively participate in a complex renal-gastrointestinal-skeletal axis. Serum FGF-23 concentrations, as well as various other laboratory parameters involved in bone homeostasis, were measured and analyzed with regard to various diseases and patients' characteristics in 44 patients with Crohn disease (CD) and 20 healthy controls (HCs) included in this cross-sectional study. Serum FGF-23 levels were significantly lower in patients with CD (900.

p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK)-mediated autoimmunity: lessons to learn from ANCA vasculitis and pemphigus vulgaris.

Evidence is beginning to accumulate that p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) signaling pathway plays an important role in the regulation of cellular and humoral autoimmune responses. The exact mechanisms and the degree by which the p38 MAPK pathway participates in the immune-mediated induction of diseases have started to emerge. This review discusses the recent advances in the molecular dissection of the p38 MAPK pathway and the findings generated by reports investigating its role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and autoimmune hepatitis.

The immunopathogenetic role of autoantibodies in canine autoimmune hepatitis: lessons to learn from human autoimmune hepatitis.

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is not a disease entity restricted to man, but it can be found in other animals including canines. An increasing number of studies have focused on the immunopathogenesis of human autoimmune hepatitis (hAIH), but little is known of what triggers canine autoimmune hepatitis (cAIH). Several drugs, toxins, microbial and viral agents are able to induce autoantibodies and indeed immune-mediated chronic canine hepatitis with immunological and serological features similar of those seen in the human disease.

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D(3) and extracellular inorganic phosphate activate mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway through fibroblast growth factor 23 contributing to hypertrophy and mineralization in osteoarthritic chondrocytes.

Hypertrophy and impaired mineralization are two processes closely associated with osteoarthritis (OA). 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (1a,25(OH)(2)D(3)) and inorganic phosphate (Pi) are two important factors that are implicated in calcium and phosphate homeostasis of bone metabolism and both can be regulated by the circulating phosphaturic factor fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23). The objective of this study was to investigate the role of 1a,25(OH)(2)D(3) and Pi and the molecular mechanism through which they contribute to hypertrophy and mineralization in human osteoarthritic chondrocytes.

Involvement of SOX-9 and FGF-23 in RUNX-2 regulation in osteoarthritic chondrocytes.

Chondrocytes' hypertrophy includes metabolic changes, matrix remodelling, proliferation and apoptosis, characteristics associated with the progression of osteoarthritis. We investigated a possible association among Runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX-2), SOX-9 and fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-23 mRNA expressions in articular chondrocytes in order to elucidate their contribution in the osteoarthritic hypertrophic cartilage. SOX-9, FGF-23, RUNX-2 and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13 mRNA expressions were evaluated in osteoarthritic and normal chondrocytes by real-time PCR whereas MMP-13 protein expression by immunofluorescense.