Low compliance bladder plays a role in hydronephrosis in lupus cystitis: a case report.

Lupus cystitis is uncommon in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Lupus cystitis is usually associated with hydronephrosis. To our knowledge, it is considered to be due to distal ureteral obstruction at the ureterovesical junction. However, in a Chinese female, we found low compliance bladder played a role in hydronephrosis.

Effects of Rhynchophylline on relaxation and contraction of the bladder detrusor in rats.

AIM: The aim of this study was to observe the effects of Rhynchophylline (Rhy) on the relaxation and contraction of rat bladder detrusor and urodynamics and determine the changes in the tension of isolated rat bladder muscle strips. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rats were randomly divided into four groups: sham-operated, overactive bladder (OAB) model, Rhy-treated, and the control group. Sections of urodynamic testing and electrophysiological OAB indicators of detrusor were measured. The effect of tension on the isolated rat bladder detrusor muscle strips was determined; activators and antagonists of calcium-activated potassium ion channels were detected in vitro using the tension method. The contraction of detrusor muscle strips and the antagonism of acetylcholine due to changes in muscle contraction were observed. RESULTS: The Rhy-treated group significantly decreased the maximum bladder capacity, bladder filling pressure, leak point pressure, contraction frequency, motility index (p < 0.05). The affinity index of Rhy was 4.53 ± 0.22. However, 1 µmol/L to 2 µmol/L Rhy shifts CaCl2 cumulative dose-response curves to the right in a non-parallel manner, showing a non-competitive antagonism. Rhy inhibits detrusor contraction by blocking L-type calcium channels and activating big-conductance calcium-activated potassium channels. A low concentration of Rhy can inhibit muscle contraction caused by intracellular calcium. CONCLUSIONS: Rhy plays an important role in OAB treatment and decreases effectively on sections of urodynamic testing and electrophysiological OAB indicators of detrusor.

Primary virus envelope cross-reactivity of the broadening neutralizing antibody response during early chronic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection.

To test the hypothesis that changing neutralizing antibody responses against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) during chronic infection were a response to emergence of neutralization escape mutants, we cloned expressed and characterized envelope clones from patients in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS). Pseudotyped HIV-1 envelope clones obtained from differing time points were assessed for sensitivity to neutralization by using sera from different times from the same and different patients. Clones from early and late time points during chronic infection had similar neutralization sensitivity, and neutralizing antibody responses cross-reacted with early, late, and heterologous envelopes. The potential for broadly effective HIV-1 immunization is supported.

Expression and characterization of HIV type 1 envelope protein associated with a broadly reactive neutralizing antibody response.

We have studied envelope protein from a donor with nonprogressive HIV-1 infection whose serum contains broadly cross-reactive, primary virus NA. DNA was extracted from lymphocytes, which had been collected approximately 6 and 12 months prior to the time of collection of the cross-reactive serum, and env genes were synthesized, cloned, expressed on pseudoviruses, and phenotyped in NA assays. Two clones from each time point had identical V3 region nucleotide sequences, utilized CCR5 but not CXCR4 for cell entry, and had similar reactivities with reference sera. Analysis of the full nucleotide sequence of one clone (R2) demonstrated it to be subtype B and have normal predicted glycosylation. R2 pseudovirus was compared with others expressing env genes of various clades for neutralization by sera from U.S. donors (presumed or known subtype B infections), and from individuals infected with subtypes A, C, D, E, and F viruses. Neutralization by the U.S. sera of R2 and other clade B pseudoviruses was low to moderate, although R2 was uniquely neutralized by all. R2 was neutralized by 3/3, 3/3, 2/5, 5/8, and 3/4 clade A, C, D, E, and F sera, respectively. R2 and a clade E pseudovirus were neutralized by largely complementary groups of sera, potentially defining two antigenic subgroups of HIV-1. The results suggest that the epitope(s) that induced the cross-clade reactive NA in donor 2 may be expressed on the R2 envelope.

Evolution of neutralizing antibody response against HIV type 1 virions and pseudovirions in multicenter AIDS cohort study participants.

Changes in neutralizing antibody (NA) titers in stored sera collected over 5 years from 10 participants in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) were evaluated. The participants were HIV-1 infected on enrollment in the MACS, and remained AIDS free during the 5-year study interval. Seven viruses derived from molecular clones were used in NA assays; five of the viruses were T tropic (NL4-3, ALA1, NY5, SF2, and Z2Z6) and two were M tropic [AD8 and NL(SF162)]. In addition, pseudoviruses (PVs) were constructed that expressed envelope genes from NL4-3, ALA1, AD8, and SF162 and from primary viruses from two MACS participants (PV-9 and PV-10). There was significant correlation between NA titers obtained in four of five virus/PV comparisons, while the SF162 PV was more sensitive to NA than the corresponding virus. Comparable changes in NA titers were detected using viruses and PVs. Fourfold or greater increases in NA titers were noted in each of the participants, involving recognition of one to five of the nine strains tested. In some patients these NA titer changes appeared as discrete episodes of immune responses, while in others there may have been either multiple episodes or continuous evolution of the NA responses. The data indicate that changes in NA specificity occur during HIV-1 infection, which may result from the occurrence of neutralization escape mutation. The use of PVs for the study of phenotypic characteristics of envelope glycoproteins should facilitate the study of neutralization escape mutation in HIV-1 infection.

Establishment and characterization of Japanese B encephalitis virus persistent infection in the Sf9 insect cell line.

The Sf9 cell line, commonly used for gene expression by recombinant baculoviruses, can be productively infected by Japanese B encephalitis virus (JEV). Two wild-type JEV strains (P3 and SA14) caused a cytopathic effect (CPE) in the Sf9 cells, while no apparent CPE was caused by an attenuated strain (SA14-14-2). The JEV viral antigens were expressed in the infected Sf9 cells and intracellular virus particles were found by electron microscopy as a result of infection with all three strains. Titres of cell-associated and cell-free supernatant virus remained stable for relatively long periods of cultivation, suggesting that both wild-type and attenuated JEV strains established productive and persistent infections of Sf9 cells. The JEV produced by the Sf9 cells could be neutralized by anti-JEV reference serum, but relatively smaller plaques were formed in BHK21 cells infected with JEV that had been cultivated long term in Sf9 cells. This system for virus propagation has a number of potentially important uses for enhancing progress in JEV study and control.