Immunotherapeutic effect of adenovirus encoding antimicrobial peptides in experimental pulmonary tuberculosis.

As components of the innate immune response, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) efficiently contribute to infection control and maintenance of a latent state in pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). As a therapeutic strategy, the administration of recombinant AMPs could be limited by enzymatic degradation and high production costs. Likewise, strategies based on the induction of AMPs have generated controversial results. In this study, 2 recombinant type-5 adenoviruses (Ad) expressing the human ß-defensin 3 (HßD3) or cathelicidin (LL37) were assessed in a murine pulmonary TB model. Mice infected with either a high dose of a drug-sensitive (H37Rv) or a multidrug-resistant (MDR) strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) were treated with a single administration of AdHßD3, AdLL37, AdGFP (control vector expressing a green fluorescent protein), or saline solution (SS). Lungs were obtained to determine the bacterial burden, histologic damage, and cytokine expression at different time points. Mice treated with AdHßD3 or AdLL37 showed significantly lower bacterial load and pneumonia, and higher proinflammatory cytokine expression than the control groups AdGFP and SS. A synergistic therapeutic effect could be observed when first- or second-line antibiotics (ABs) were administered with adenoviral therapy in animals infected with H37Rv or MDR strains, respectively. Adenovirus-delivered AMP's administration constitutes a promising adjuvant therapy for current anti-TB drugs by enhancing a protective immune response and potentially reducing current AB regimes' duration.

Humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to monovalent 2009 influenza A/H1N1 and seasonal trivalent influenza vaccines in high-risk children.

OBJECTIVE: Humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to monovalent 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1/2009) and seasonal trivalent influenza (TIV) vaccines were evaluated in healthy children and children with asthma, sickle cell disease (SCD), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and solid organ transplantation (SOT). STUDY DESIGN: Blood was collected from 112 subjects at the time of H1N1/2009 vaccination and 46 ± 15 days later for hemagglutination inhibition titers and γ-interferon ELISPOT responses to H1N1/2009 vaccine and TIV; unvaccinated children also received TIV at enrollment. RESULTS: A significant increase in the percentage of subjects with seroprotective hemagglutination inhibition titers to both vaccines was observed in all high-risk groups. Children with asthma and SCD were most likely to achieve seroprotective titers to H1N1/2009, whereas <50% of subjects with SOT and SLE had a seroprotective response. Subjects with SOT and SLE also had lower rates of seroprotection after TIV, and subjects with SLE had the lowest ELISPOT responses to both vaccines. Overall, 73% of healthy children exhibited protective responses to TIV; only 35% achieved seroprotection for H1N1/2009. CONCLUSIONS: This evaluation of immune responses to H1N1/2009 in high-risk children suggests suboptimal responses for SOT and SLE subjects, but not for subjects with SCD or asthma. Higher antigen dose, additional dose regimens, or both for immunocompromised children warrant further investigation.

Psicoterapia psicoanalítica de grupo de púberes: estudio de las variaciones en los perfiles sintomáticos / Psychoanalytic psychotherapy of early adolescents’ groups: study of variations in symptomatic profiles

En este trabajo presentamos un estudio sobre los resultados obtenidos luego del abordaje psicoterapéutico de grupos paralelos de padres y de hijos; coordinado por terapeutas noveles. Esta modalidad terapéutica se implementa frente a la consulta por púberes, que fueron derivados desde instituciones educativas refiriendo problemas de aprendizaje y/o problemas para la adaptación a las normas escolares. Partimos de considerar que en la consulta psicológica por púberes, dicho abordaje resulta adecuado porque posibilita trabajar profundamente las fantasías inconscientes instaladas en la dinámica relacional intersubjetiva, estructurantes del psiquismo. El material clínico sobre el que nos basamos fue recogido a través de las técnicas de test-retest de: a) El Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) de Achenbach y Edelbrock (1983), versión para padres adaptada y estandarizada en Argentina por Samaniego (1999) y el de Matrices Progresivas de Raven; b) el Dibujo Libre y el CAT-A, modificados en su modalidad de administración y evaluación. Además, se realizaron video filmaciones de las sesiones, registro de las supervisiones semanales y supervisión de las supervisiones. Podemos señalar que los resultados globalmente analizados evidencian, en los cuatro púberes estudiados, modificaciones en los perfiles sintomáticos que involucran diferentes áreas del comportamiento. En Problemas de atención se registran cambios notables y las puntuaciones obtenidas en las escalas Ansiedad-depresión; Retraimiento; Agresión y Comportamiento antisocial revelan modificaciones moderadas.