Cobalt-related asthma: clinical and immunological aspects

Several clinical and experimental findings point to cobalt as the only sensitizer and causal agent of hard metal asthma. The clinical features have been clearly defined by bronchial provocation tests, with a prevalence of late phase responses. Epidemiology is still insufficient to configure prevalence and incidence rates for cobalt asthma. IgE and IgG antibodies with cobalt specificity have been demonstrated, but T-lymphocytes and eosinophyls involvement seem to be important in the mechanism of an allergic inflammation in the airways. Such an immunological pathogenesis links cobalt asthma with other manifestation of hard metal disease.     

Review of Dendritic Cells,Their Role in Clinical Immunology,and Distribution in Various Animal Species

Dendritic cells (DCs) are cells derived from the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) of the bone marrow and form a widely distributed cellular system throughout the body. They are the most efficient, potent, and professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) of the immune system, inducing and dispersing a primary immune response by the activation of naïve T-cells, and playing an important role in the induction and maintenance of immune tolerance under homeostatic conditions. Thus, this review has elucidated the general aspects of DCs as well as the current dynamic perspectives and distribution of DCs in humans and in various species of animals that includes mouse, rat, birds, dog, cat, horse, cattle, sheep, pig, and non-human primates. Besides the role that DCs play in immune response, they also play a pathogenic role in many diseases, thus becoming a target in disease prevention and treatment. In addition, its roles in clinical immunology have also been addressed, which include its involvement in transplantation, autoimmune disease, viral infections, cancer, and as a vaccine target. Therefore, based on the current knowledge and understanding of the important roles they play, DCs can be used in the future as a powerful tool for manipulating the immune system.     

风湿免疫科门诊超说明书用药调查与分析

目的:了解风湿免疫科超说明书用药情况,为建立超说明书用药评价标准及规范化管理超说明书用药提供参考。方法: 以药品说明书为依据,从适应证、适应人群、给药剂量、给药频次、给药途径和禁忌证等方面对本院2016年4～6月风湿免疫科门诊处方的超说明书用药情况进行统计分析,参考循证医学、文献资料、临床指南或专家共识等评价其合理性。结果: 研究纳入风湿免疫科门诊处方3 501张,涉及用药记录9 889条。按处方、用药记录计,超说明用药发生率分别为47.50%和27.69%。超说明书用药类型包括超适应证（87.73%）、超剂量（6.54%）、超给药频次（5.08%）、未提及儿童用药信息（0.55%）和超年龄（0.11%）。超适应证用药记录居前3位的为硫酸羟氯喹片（1 091条）、甲氨蝶呤片（713条）和沙利度胺片（147条）。超适应证用药多有循证医学证据支持或指南文献推荐,但证据质量存在差异。结论:风湿免疫科超说明书用药较常见,一方面说明了风湿免疫性疾病新药研发及药品说明书信息更新严重滞后于医学发展,另一方面也提示国家应出台相关法律法规或指南共识,以规范日趋严重的超说明书用药行为,保障患者用药安全和规避医师职业风险。     

Synthesis and immunological properties of a tetrasaccharide portion of the B side chain of rhamnogalacturonan II (RG-II)

A highly convergent strategy was used for the synthesis of a tetrasaccharide [3-aminopropyl beta-L-arabinofuranosyl-(1-->3)-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->3)]-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside] portion of the B side chain of the plant cell-wall pectic polysaccharide rhamnogalacturonan II (RG-II). The terminal nonreducing beta-L-arabinofuranosyl residue of the target compound was installed by using an arabinofuranosyl donor that was protected with a 3,5-O-(di-tert-butylsilane) group to facilitate nucleophilic attack from the beta-face. The synthetic strategy also employed a chemoselective glycosylation of a trichloroacetimidate donor with a thioglycosyl acceptor; this gave a product that could be used immediately in a subsequent glycosylation. The reducing end of the tetrasaccharide contained an aminopropyl group to facilitate conjugation to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) and bovine serum albumin (BSA). Mice that were immunized with a KLH-tetrasaccharide conjugate produced antibodies that recognized RG-II isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana cell walls, but did not recognize RG-II obtained from red wine. Our data suggest that the arabinopyranosyl residue exists in the (4)C(1) conformation in the tetrasaccharide and in A. thaliana RG-II, whereas it has the (1)C(4) conformation in wine RG-II. It is proposed that differences in the conformation of side chain B might account for the ability of antibodies to discriminate between RG-II that was isolated from Arabidopsis and wine.     

High growth rate fails to enhance adaptive immune responses of neonatal calves and is associated with reduced lymphocyte viability

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of 3 targeted growth rates on adaptive (i.e., antigen-specific) immune responses of preruminant, milk replacer-fed calves. Calves (9.1 ± 2.4 d of age) were assigned randomly to one of 3 dietary treatments to achieve 3 targeted daily rates of gain [no growth (maintenance) = 0.0 kg/d, low growth = 0.55 kg/d, or high growth = 1.2 kg/d] over an 8-wk period. The NRC Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle calf model computer program was used to estimate the milk replacer intakes needed to achieve target growth rates. All calves were fed a 30% crude protein, 20% fat, all-milk protein milk replacer reconstituted to 14% dry matter. Diets were formulated to ensure that protein would not be limiting. All calves were vaccinated 3 wk after initiation of dietary treatments with Mycobacterium bovis, strain bacillus Calmette-Guerin and ovalbumin. Growth rates for no-growth (0.11 kg/d), low-growth (0.58 kg/d), and high-growth (1.16 kg/d) calves differed throughout the experimental period. Blood glucose concentrations in high-growth calves increased with time and were higher than in low- and no-growth calves. Mononuclear and polymorphonuclear leukocyte percentages in peripheral blood were unaffected by growth rate but did change with advancing age. Percentages of CD4⁺ T cells increased with age in no-growth and low-growth calves, a characteristic of maturation, but failed to increase in high-growth calves. Growth rate did not affect the percentages of CD45RO⁺ (memory) CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells, antigen (i.e., ovalbumin)-specific serum IgG concentrations, or antigen (i.e., purified protein derivative)-induced IFN-γ and nitric oxide secretion by mononuclear cell cultures. Antigen-elicited cutaneous delayed-type hypersensitivity responses of no-growth calves exceeded responses of low-growth, but not high-growth, calves. In resting- and antigen-stimulated cell cultures, viabilities of CD4⁺, CD8⁺, and γδTCR⁺ T cells from high-growth calves were lower than those of the same T cell subsets from no-growth and low-growth calves. Alternatively, resting cultures of mononuclear leukocytes from high-growth calves produced more nitric oxide than those from no-growth and low-growth calves. In conclusion, adaptive immune responses were affected minimally by growth rate. The results suggest that protein-energy malnutrition in the absence of weight loss is not detrimental to antigen-specific responses of neonatal vaccinated calves and that a high growth rate does not enhance these responses. The negative effect of a high growth rate on the viability of circulating T cell populations may influence infectious disease resistance of the calf.     

基于免疫学的多层防护业务冲突管理系统研究

在进行业务冲突管理系统与生物免疫系统的相似性研究的基础上,针对下一代网络中业务的特性,提出一种基于免疫学的多层防护业务冲突管理系统(IMP-SIMS),该系统通过信息预处理、采用冲突检测、通用冲突检测三层防护实现了对下一代网络各种业务冲突的检测和解决.与以往冲突管理系统的比较显示,该系统能够灵活有效地检测和解决业务冲突,显著提高了检测率和检测效率,适应多种网络情况,具有良好的扩展性和通用性.     

COVID-19 hospitalization rates rise exponentially with age,inversely proportional to thymic T-cell production

Here, we report that COVID-19 hospitalization rates follow an exponential relationship with age, doubling for every 16 years of age or equivalently increasing by 4.5% per year of life (R² = 0.98). This mirrors the well-studied exponential decline of both thymus volume and T-cell production, which halve every 16 years. COVID-19 can therefore be added to the list of other diseases with this property, including those caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MERS-CoV, West Nile virus, Streptococcus pneumoniae and certain cancers, such as chronic myeloid leukaemia and brain cancers. In addition, the incidence of severe disease and mortality due to COVID-19 are both higher in men, consistent with the degree to which thymic involution (and the decrease in T-cell production with age) is more severe in men compared to women. Since these properties are shared with some non-contagious diseases, we hypothesized that the age dependence does not come from social-mixing patterns, i.e. that the probability of hospitalization given infection rises exponentially, doubling every 16 years. A Bayesian analysis of daily hospitalizations, incorporating contact matrices, found that this relationship holds for every age group except for the under 20s. While older adults have fewer contacts than young adults, our analysis suggests that there is an approximate cancellation between the effects of fewer contacts for the elderly and higher infectiousness due to a higher probability of developing severe disease. Our model fitting suggests under 20s have 49–75% additional immune protection beyond that predicted by strong thymus function alone, consistent with increased juvenile cross-immunity from other viruses. We found no evidence for differences between age groups in susceptibility to infection or infectiousness to others (given disease state), i.e. the only important factor in the age dependence of hospitalization rates is the probability of hospitalization given infection. These findings suggest the existence of a T-cell exhaustion threshold, proportional to thymic output and that clonal expansion of peripheral T-cells does not affect disease risk. The strikingly simple inverse relationship between risk and thymic T-cell output adds to the evidence that thymic involution is an important factor in the decline of the immune system with age and may also be an important clue in understanding disease progression, not just for COVID-19 but other diseases as well.     

Supramolecular Glyco‐nanoparticles Toward Immunological Applications

Glyco‐mimicking nanoparticles (glyco‐NPs) with Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) donor and acceptor groups formed via dynamic covalent bond of benzoboroxole and sugar from two complementary polymers are prepared. The glyco‐NPs are proved to be quite stable under physiological conditions but sensitive to pH. So the glyco‐NPs can be internalized by dendritic cells with integrity and nontoxicity and then dissociate within the acidic organelles. This particle dissociation is directly observed and visualized in vitro, for the first time via the FRET measurements and fluorescent microscopy. This feature makes controlled release of drug or protein by glyco‐NPs possible, i.e., when model antigen Ovalbumin is loaded in the glyco‐NPs, the released Ovalbumin in dendritic cells stimulates T cells more efficiently than the free Ovalbumin itself as a result of the enhanced antigen processing and presentation. Thus, the results enlighten a bright future of the glyco‐NPs in immunotherapy.     

海湾扇贝g型溶菌酶基因cDNA的克隆与分析

通过EST和锚定PCR技术,从海湾扇贝(Argopecten irradians)中克隆得到一种溶菌酶基因的全长cDNA(全长659bp,编码200个氨基酸)。BLASTx分析的结果显示,它和脊椎动物g型溶菌酶相似性较高,却不同于无脊椎动物中已发现的c型和i型溶菌酶。在其编码的氨基酸序列中发现了g型溶菌酶的活性中心(Glu82,Asp97,Asp108),同时6个保守的半胱氨酸也与鸟类和鱼类的g型溶菌酶相一致。结合BLASTX分析的结果,可以确认所获得的cDNA序列是一种在无脊椎动物中首次发现的g型溶菌酶的编码序列。采用Clustalw软件,对多种脊椎动物c型、g型溶菌酶和无脊椎动物c型、i型溶菌酶以及本研究发现的无脊椎动物g型溶菌酶进行了分析,结果发现,无脊椎动物c型、i型溶菌酶和脊椎动物c型溶菌酶同源性较高,而海湾扇贝g型溶菌酶和脊椎动物g型溶菌酶同源性较高。由此说明c型、g型溶菌酶从无脊椎到脊椎动物的进化是平行发生的,这对进一步研究溶菌酶及其分子进化具有重要意义。