Effect of blueberry ingestion on natural killer cell counts, oxidative stress, and inflammation prior to and after 2.5 h of running.

Blueberries are rich in antioxidants known as anthocyanins, which may exhibit significant health benefits. Strenous exercise is known to acutely generate oxidative stress and an inflammatory state, and serves as an on-demand model to test antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds. The purpose of this study was to examine whether 250 g of blueberries per day for 6 weeks and 375 g given 1 h prior to 2.5 h of running at ∼72% maximal oxygen consumption counters oxidative stress, inflammation, and immune changes. Twenty-five well-trained subjects were recruited and randomized into blueberry (BB) (N = 13) or control (CON) (N = 12) groups. Blood, muscle, and urine samples were obtained pre-exercise and immediately postexercise, and blood and urine 1 h postexercise. Blood was examined for F2-isoprostanes for oxidative stress, cortisol, cytokines, homocysteine, leukocytes, T-cell function, natural killer (NK), and lymphocyte cell counts for inflammation and immune system activation, and ferric reducing ability of plasma for antioxidant capacity. Muscle biopsies were examined for glycogen and NFkB expression to evaluate stress and inflammation. Urine was tested for modification of DNA (8-OHDG) and RNA (5-OHMU) as markers of nucleic acid oxidation. A 2 (treatment) × 3 (time) repeated measures ANOVA was used for statistical analysis. Increases in F2-isoprostanes and 5-OHMU were significantly less in BB and plasma IL-10 and NK cell counts were significantly greater in BB vs. CON. Changes in all other markers did not differ. This study indicates that daily blueberry consumption for 6 weeks increases NK cell counts, and acute ingestion reduces oxidative stress and increases anti-inflammatory cytokines.

Muscle metabolites, detected in urine by proton spectroscopy, correlate with disease damage in juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathies.

OBJECTIVE: To assess for novel markers of muscle damage using urinary muscle metabolites by 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy in patients with juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM). METHODS: Creatine (Cr), choline (Cho), betaine (Bet), glycine (Gly), trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), and several other metabolites were measured in first morning void urine samples from 45 patients with juvenile IIM and from 35 healthy age-matched controls, and correlated with measures of myositis disease activity and damage. Urinary metabolite to age-adjusted creatinine (Cn) ratios were examined. RESULTS: Age-adjusted initial Cr:Cn, Cho:Cn, Bet:Cn, Gly:Cn, and TMAO:Cn ratios were higher in patients with juvenile IIM than controls (P < 0.01). Cr:Cn ratios showed significant correlations with physician-assessed global disease damage (Spearman rs = 0.37; P = 0.01), Steinbrocker functional class (rs = 0.35; P = 0.02), serum Cr (rs = 0.72; P = 0.001), and lactate dehydrogenase (rs = 0.34; P = 0.03) levels. Cho:Cn (rs = 0.3; P = 0.05), Gly:Cn (rs = 0.33; P = 0.03), and TMAO:Cn (rs = 0.36; P = 0.02) ratios showed a significant correlation with serum aldolase levels. Cho:Cn ratios also showed a significant correlation with aspartate aminotransferase levels (rs = 0.35; P = 0.02). A linear regression model was used to evaluate the factors influencing urinary Cr:Cn ratios in the 43 patients with data sets available at the initial visit. The regression model explained 73% of the variation in Cr:Cn ratios. The most significant factor was the physician-assessed global disease damage (R2 = 0.50, P = 0.015). CONCLUSION: Urinary Cr:Cn, Cho:Cn, Bet:Cn, Gly:Cn, and TMAO:Cn ratios are elevated in juvenile IIM and Cr:Cn correlates strongly with global disease damage. The Cr:Cn ratio may have potential utility as a marker of myositis disease damage.

Laboratory evaluation of the inflammatory myopathies.

The laboratory plays an important role in the diagnosis, evaluation, and classification of the heterogeneous group of diseases known as the IIM, which are characterized by chronic muscle inflammation. Serial measurements of the levels of muscle-derived enzymes in serum are the traditional laboratory studies used to follow the clinical course of patients with IIM, although other laboratory tests can also be useful in assessing myositis disease activity. Several markers of immune system activation, including cytokines and lymphocyte markers, show promise as possibly more sensitive measures of myositis disease activity. Discovery of a unique group of MSAs over the past decade has provided an immunologic basis for defining relatively homogeneous subsets of patients who share similar clinical features, disease courses, and responses to therapy. Future investigations of novel immunologic activation markers, as well as the cloning and expression of target autoantigens of the MSAs, should allow better diagnostic assays, enhanced prognosis, and a better understanding of the pathogenesis of these disorders.

A human inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor alpha.

Urine of some febrile patients exhibits a TNF-alpha inhibitory activity (TNF-alpha INH), sensitive to heat and trypsin, with an apparent mol wt of 40-60 X 10(3) and a pI range of 5.5-6.1. As for the Il-1 INH, the TNF INH activity involves a competitive mechanism of action suggesting the existence of a family of negative feedback-regulating molecules interfering with cytokines actions.

Isolation of influenza virus from muscle in myoglobinuric polymyositis.

We report the first isolation of influenza virus from muscle in a man with myoglobinuria and acute polymyositis. Influenza virus was isolated from cultures of Madin Darby bovine kidney and primary rhesus monkey kidney cells inoculated with muscle homogenates in the presence of trypsin; the virus was identified by neutralization and hemagglutination inhibition studies using influenza B/Lee antiserum. Viral plaque assay was performed with Madin Darby canine cells. Viral antigen was also detected by specific immunofluorescence in muscle, and myxovirus-like particles were seen in subsarcolemmal vacuoles by electronmicroscopy. The pathologic findings were similar to those of childhood dermatomyositis, except for a large proportion of necrotic muscle fibers. The evidence suggests that the pathogenesis of influenzal polymyositis in this patient involved direct viral infection of muscle.