ABSTRACT
Healthcare-associated Legionnaires' disease often leads to fatal respiratory tract infection among hospitalized patients. In this report, three cases of Legionnaires' disease among patients in two different hospitals (Hospital A and Hospital B) were investigated. After conducting an epidemiologic and environmental investigation, the water distribution systems (WDSs) were identified as the possible source of infection, as Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 (Lp1) was isolated from both clinical and environmental samples. Patients received aerosol therapy with nebulizers during their hospitalization. Based on the results of the investigation, the hospitals' infection control committees reviewed their policies for Legionnaires' disease prevention and implemented control measures focusing on using sterile fluids for aerosol treatments.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to characterise the effects of maternal undernutrition during gestation on hepatic gluconeogenic enzyme gene expression and to determine whether such effects are mediated through epigenetic changes in the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Pregnant ewes were fed a 50% nutrient-restricted diet from Day 0 to 30 (R1) or from Day 31 to 100 of gestation (R2) or a 100% diet throughout gestation (Control). After parturition lambs were fed to appetite. At 10 months of age offspring were euthanised and livers were removed. Maternal undernutrition did not affect offspring bodyweight at birth or at 10 months of age. However, liver weight of males of the R2 group was lower (P<0.05) in relation to other groups. A significant (P<0.05) hypomethylation of the hepatic GR promoter was revealed in males of the R2 group and a tendency towards the same in the R1 group, along with increased (P<0.001) GR gene expression in both restricted groups. A significant increase (P<0.05) in hepatic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene expression was found in male lambs of both undernourished groups, accompanied by increased (P<0.01) protein levels, while no differences were detected for glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) mRNA abundance and protein levels. In female lambs, no differences between groups were observed for any parameter studied. These data represent potential mechanisms by which insults in early life may lead to persistent physiological changes in the offspring.
Subject(s)
Epigenesis, Genetic/physiology , Liver/metabolism , Malnutrition/metabolism , Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects/metabolism , Receptors, Glucocorticoid/metabolism , Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena/physiology , Animals , DNA Methylation , Female , Male , Malnutrition/genetics , Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena/physiology , Pregnancy , Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects/genetics , Receptors, Glucocorticoid/genetics , SheepABSTRACT
We infected HeLa cells with low (10(-9) units), medium (10(-6) units), and high (10(-2) units) influenza B titers and compared the resulting human papilloma virus (HPV), retinoic acid receptor alpha subunit (RARalpha) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA content of surviving infected hosts with that of their uninfected precursors by semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction amplification (RT/PCR). This comparison revealed a moderate and drastic dependence of HPV and RARalpha mRNA content, respectively, but a complete independence of GAPDH mRNA expression on viral titer. A mechanism of adoptive replacement of tolerable cellular with viral gene expression was proposed to explain these findings. We conclude that the reported ability of influenza B viruses to specifically target and eliminate the cervical adenocarcinoma HeLa cell line studied may find practical applications in biological cancer management.
Subject(s)
Adenocarcinoma/virology , Influenza B virus/pathogenicity , Oncolytic Virotherapy , Oncolytic Viruses/pathogenicity , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/virology , Adenocarcinoma/genetics , Adenocarcinoma/metabolism , Adenocarcinoma/therapy , Antigens, Viral/metabolism , Apoptosis , Cell Survival , Female , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Gene Expression Regulation, Viral , Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases/genetics , Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases/metabolism , HeLa Cells , Human papillomavirus 18/genetics , Human papillomavirus 18/metabolism , Humans , Influenza B virus/genetics , Influenza B virus/immunology , Oncolytic Viruses/genetics , Oncolytic Viruses/immunology , Phenotype , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , Receptors, Retinoic Acid/genetics , Receptors, Retinoic Acid/metabolism , Retinoic Acid Receptor alpha , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/genetics , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/metabolism , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/therapyABSTRACT
An immunocapture (IC) ELISA and reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR assays were evaluated as screening methods for the detection of influenza virus types A and B in clinical samples collected from individuals presenting with influenza-like symptoms in Southern Greece. Standard virus isolation in embryonated hens' eggs was taken as the reference method. According to the reference method, 25 (16.7%) of the 150 clinical samples examined were infected by influenza viruses - 19 type A (H3N2) and 6 type B. The sensitivity of immunocapture ELISA was 64% and that for RT-PCR was 100%. The specificity of IC ELISA was 98% and by RT-PCR 97%. The positive diagnostic value of IC ELISA was 94% and of RT-PCR 86%, whereas the negative diagnostic values for IC ELISA and PCR were 93% and 100%, respectively. These findings confirm that RT-PCR provides significantly increased sensitivity over IC ELISA and can be of value in the management of regional influenza screening surveys conducted by the national public health services.
