El papel de anakinra en la fiebre mediterránea familiar / The role of anakinra in familial mediterranean fever

La fiebre mediterránea familiar (FMF) pertenece al grupo de las fiebres periódicas hereditarias, se caracteriza por presentar episodios febriles recurrentes y autolimitados con poliserositis, sinovitis y manifestaciones cutáneas. Es una enfermedad hereditaria transmitida de forma autosómica recesiva y afecta principalmente a descendientes de poblaciones mediterráneas. El tratamiento contempla varios objetivos: el alivio sintomático, la prevención y el tratamiento de los ataques agudos, así como evitar la aparición de amiloidosis secundaria. El fármaco de elección es, de manera clásica, es la colchicina. Aunque hoy día también se dispone de fármacos inhibidores de la interleucina 1. (AU)

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) belongs to the group of hereditary periodic fevers, characterised by recurrent and self-limited febrile episodes with polyserositis, synovitis and skin manifestations. It is a hereditary disease transmitted in an autosomal recessive manner and mainly affects descendants of Mediterranean populations. Treatment has several goals: symptomatic relief, prevention and treatment of acute attacks, and avoidance of secondary amyloidosis. The drug of choice is classically colchicine. However, interleukin-1 inhibitors are now also available. (AU)

Comparative analysis of the predicted secretomes of Rosaceae scab pathogens Venturia inaequalis and V. pirina reveals expanded effector families and putative determinants of host range.

BACKGROUND: Fungal plant pathogens belonging to the genus Venturia cause damaging scab diseases of members of the Rosaceae. In terms of economic impact, the most important of these are V. inaequalis, which infects apple, and V. pirina, which is a pathogen of European pear. Given that Venturia fungi colonise the sub-cuticular space without penetrating plant cells, it is assumed that effectors that contribute to virulence and determination of host range will be secreted into this plant-pathogen interface. Thus the predicted secretomes of a range of isolates of Venturia with distinct host-ranges were interrogated to reveal putative proteins involved in virulence and pathogenicity. RESULTS: Genomes of Venturia pirina (one European pear scab isolate) and Venturia inaequalis (three apple scab, and one loquat scab, isolates) were sequenced and the predicted secretomes of each isolate identified. RNA-Seq was conducted on the apple-specific V. inaequalis isolate Vi1 (in vitro and infected apple leaves) to highlight virulence and pathogenicity components of the secretome. Genes encoding over 600 small secreted proteins (candidate effectors) were identified, most of which are novel to Venturia, with expansion of putative effector families a feature of the genus. Numerous genes with similarity to Leptosphaeria maculans AvrLm6 and the Verticillium spp. Ave1 were identified. Candidates for avirulence effectors with cognate resistance genes involved in race-cultivar specificity were identified, as were putative proteins involved in host-species determination. Candidate effectors were found, on average, to be in regions of relatively low gene-density and in closer proximity to repeats (e.g. transposable elements), compared with core eukaryotic genes. CONCLUSIONS: Comparative secretomics has revealed candidate effectors from Venturia fungal plant pathogens that attack pome fruit. Effectors that are putative determinants of host range were identified; both those that may be involved in race-cultivar and host-species specificity. Since many of the effector candidates are in close proximity to repetitive sequences this may point to a possible mechanism for the effector gene family expansion observed and a route to diversification via transposition and repeat-induced point mutation.

Mediterranean fever gene mutations in greek patients with Behcet's disease / Mutacionesen el gen de la fiebre mediterránea en pacientes griegos con la enfermedadde Behçet

OBJECTIVE: It is known that clinical similarities between Behcet's disease and Familial Mediterranean Fever have led to the hypothesis of a common pathogenesis. Familial Mediterranean Fever is caused by MEFV gene mutations coding for pyrin. Therefore, we examined whether these pyrin mutations are also associated with Behcet's disease. METHODS: Molecular testing for pyrin mutations was performed in 96 unrelated Greek patients with an established diagnosis of Behcet's disease. The results were compared with an analysis for pyrin mutations in 140 unrelated healthy Greek controls. RESULTS:We found no pyrin mutations among the Behcet cases tested; this result is comparable with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Pyrin gene mutations in Greek patients with Behcet's disease are not more common than those in the general population. This finding is not in agreement with the findings in other populations. It is suggested that screening for pyrin mutations not be included in the evaluation of Greeks suspected to have Behcet's disease.

OBJETIVO:Se sabe que las similitudes clínicas entre la enfermedad de Behçet y la fiebre mediterránea familiar han llevado a la hipótesis de una patogénesis común. La fiebre mediterránea familiar es causada por mutaciones en el gen MEFV que codifica la pirina. Por lo tanto, examinamos si estas mutaciones de la pirina se hallan también asociadas con la enfermedad de Behçet. MÉTODOS: La prueba molecular para la detección de las mutaciones de la pirina se realizó en 96 pacientes griegos no relacionados, y diagnosticados con la enfermedad de Behçet. Los resultados se compararon con un análisis de las mutaciones de la pirina en 140 controles formados por individuos griegos saludables. RESULTADOS: No se encontraron mutaciones de pirina entre los casos de Behçet sometidos a prueba. Este resultado es comparable con el grupo control. CONCLUSIONES: Las mutaciones del gen de la pirina en los pacientes griegos con la enfermedad de Behçet no son más comunes que las de la población general. Este hallazgo no concuerda con los hallazgos en otras poblaciones. Se sugiere que el tamizaje para la detección de las mutaciones de pirina no se incluya en la evaluación de pacientes griegos sospechosos de padecer la enfermedad de Behçet.