Plos One
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Ischemia-reperfusion injury following cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is associated with a systemic inflammatory response, resulting in post-resuscitation disease. In the present study we investigated the response of the pleiotropic inflammatory cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) to CPR in patients admitted to the hospital after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). To describe the magnitude of MIF release, we compared the blood levels from CPR patients with those obtained in healthy volunteers and with an aged- and gender-matched group of patients undergoing cardiac surgery with the use of extracorporeal circulation. ⋯ MIF shows a rapid and pronounced increase following CPR, hence allowing a very early assessment of the inflammatory response. Further studies are warranted in larger patient groups to determine the prognostic significance of MIF.
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Learning induced changes in protein acetylation, mediated by histone acetyl transferases (HATs), and the antagonistic histone deacetylases (HDACs) play a critical role in memory formation. The status of histone acetylation affects the interaction between the transcription-complex and DNA and thus regulates transcription-dependent processes required for long-term memory (LTM). While the majority of studies report on the role of elevated acetylation in memory facilitation, we address the impact of both, increased and decreased acetylation on formation of appetitive olfactory memory in honeybees. ⋯ Reducing acetylation levels by blocking HAT activity after strong training leads to a suppression of transcription-dependent LTM. The memory suppression is also observed in case of weak training, which does not require transcription processes. Thus, our findings demonstrate that acetylation-mediated processes act as bidirectional regulators of memory formation that facilitate or suppress memory independent of its transcription-requirement.
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Lymphedema is a chronic disorder that occurs commonly after lymph node removal for cancer treatment and is characterized by swelling, fibrosis, inflammation, and adipose deposition. Although previous histological studies have investigated inflammatory changes that occur in lymphedema, the precise cellular make up of the inflammatory infiltrate remains unknown. It is also unclear if this inflammatory response plays a causal role in the pathology of lymphedema. The purpose of this study was therefore to characterize the inflammatory response to lymphatic stasis and determine if these responses are necessary for the pathological changes that occur in lymphedema. ⋯ Lymphedema and lymphatic stasis result in CD4+ cell inflammation and infiltration of mature T-helper cells. Loss of CD4+ but not CD8+ or CD25+ cell inflammation markedly decreases the pathological changes associated with lymphedema. In addition, CD4+ cells regulate lymphangiogenesis during wound repair and inflammatory lymphangiogenesis.
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Diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients remains complex and demands easy to perform and accurate tests. Xpert®MTB/RIF (MTB/RIF) is a molecular TB diagnostic test which is rapid and convenient; the test requires minimal human resources and reports results within two hours. The majority of performance studies of MTB/RIF have been performed in high HIV burden settings, thus TB diagnostic studies among HIV patients in low HIV prevalence settings such as Peru are still needed. ⋯ In HIV patients in our population with a high clinical suspicion of TB, MTB/RIF performed well for TB diagnosis and outperformed smear microscopy.
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Early diagnosis and rapid bacterial identification are of primary importance for outcome of septic patients. SeptiFast® (SF) real-time PCR assay is of potential utility in the etiological diagnosis of sepsis, but it cannot replace blood culture (BC) for routine use in clinical laboratory. Procalcitonin (PCT) is a marker of sepsis and can predict bacteremia in septic patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether PCT serum levels could predict SF results, and could help screening febrile patients in which a SF assay can improve the etiological diagnosis of sepsis. ⋯ PCT can be used in febrile patients with suspected sepsis to predict SF positive or negative results. A cut-off value of 0.37 ng/ml can be considered for optimal sensitivity, so that, in the routine laboratory activity, SF assay should not be used for diagnosis of sepsis in an unselected patient population with a PCT value <0.37 ng/ml.