scholarly journals Assessment of the Kinetics of Treponema pallidum Dissemination into Blood and Tissues in Experimental Syphilis by Real-Time Quantitative PCR

2007 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 2954-2958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan C. Salazar ◽  
Asha Rathi ◽  
Nelson L. Michael ◽  
Justin D. Radolf ◽  
Linda L. Jagodzinski

ABSTRACT Little is known about the size and kinetics of treponemal burdens in blood and tissues during acquired or experimental syphilitic infection. We used real-time quantitative PCR to measure Treponema pallidum DNA levels in rabbits infected intratesticularly with the prototype Nichols strain. At the outset, we performed a series of in vitro blood spiking experiments to determine the effect of blood processing procedures on the distribution of treponemes in various blood components. T. pallidum DNA levels in plasma and whole blood were approximately 10-fold higher than those in serum and more than 200-fold greater than those in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Ten rabbits were inoculated intratesticularly with doses of treponemes ranging from 4 × 107 to 2 × 108 organisms. In five rabbits, T. pallidum DNA levels were measured sequentially in serum, plasma, whole blood, and PBMCs until sacrifice at peak orchitis, at which time brain, kidney, liver, spleen, and testicles were harvested; blood and organs were also harvested at orchitis from the other five rabbits. T. pallidum DNA was detected in plasma within 24 h postinfection. Treponeme levels in whole blood and blood components increased significantly with the development of peak orchitis. Overall, levels in serum and PBMCs were lower than those in plasma and whole blood; this disparity was particularly marked at early time points. Significantly greater numbers of spirochetes were found in the spleen than in liver, kidney, or brain tissue at the time of sacrifice. Our findings highlight the remarkable capacity of T. pallidum to disseminate from the site of infection to blood and tissues, and they identify the spleen as a prime target for treponemal invasion.

Blood ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 1137-1139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micaela Rios Visconti ◽  
Joanne Pennington ◽  
Stephen F. Garner ◽  
Jean-Pierre Allain ◽  
Lorna M. Williamson

Abstract To assess removal of cytomegalovirus (CMV) by leukocyte depletion (LD) filters, we developed a spiking model of latent virus using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) infected by coculture with CMV-infected human fibroblasts. Infected PBMCs were purified by dual magnetic column selection and then spiked into whole blood units or buffy coat pools prior to LD by filtration. CMV load and fibroblast contamination were assessed using quantitative CMV DNA real-time PCR and quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of mRNA encoding the fibroblast-specific splice variant of prolyl-4-hydroxylase, respectively. After correcting for fibroblast-associated CMV, the mean CMV load was reduced in whole blood by LD from 7.42 × 102 to 1.13 copies per microliter (2.8110log reduction) and from 3.8 × 102 to 4.77 copies per microliter (1.910log reduction) in platelets. These results suggest that LD by filtration reduces viral burden but does not completely remove CMV from blood components. (Blood. 2004;103:1137-1139)


Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 3669-3669
Author(s):  
Tania N. Masmas ◽  
Soren L. Petersen ◽  
Hans O. Madsen ◽  
Lars Ryder ◽  
Ebbe Dickmeiss ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose: From May 2003 to March 2005, 37 patients with haematological malignancies were transplanted with peripheral blood stem cells after nonmyeloablative conditioning with fludarabine 30 mg/m2 i.v. once daily on day −4 to −2 and 200 cGY of total body irradiation on day 0. Post-transplant immunosuppression consisted of oral cyclosporin 12.5 mg/kg/day and mycophenolate mofetil 30 mg/kg/day. Three patients were not eligible for follow-up due to lack of informed consent or informative markers for chimerism measurement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate kinetics of early chimerism of CD4+, CD8+, and, CD15+ cells immediately post transplant and furthermore to identify factors associated with rejection of graft. Methods: Blood samples were collected post transplant on day +1–3, +5–7, and then weekly. Samples were separated with immunomagnetic beads and DNA was salt extracted. Chimerism analysis was performed by automated high-resolution real-time quantitative PCR based on short insertion or deletion polymorphisms or single nucleotide polymorphisms. Results: The kinetics of CD15+ chimerism differed from that of CD4+ and CD8+ chimerism (Figure). CD15+ donor chimerism was low with a median of 0.9% donor cells on day +1–3, and remained low until around day +14. Subsequently the donor chimerism increased rapidly towards 100%. The CD4+ and CD8+ donor chimerism in contrast started higher with a median of 16.3% and 15.1% respectively on day +1–3, increased slowly, and took months to reach 100%. CD4+, CD8+ or CD15+ donor chimerism on day +1–3 did not predict later development of acute graft versus host disease. Two patients had primary rejection of the donor stem cells, while four patients had secondary rejection. The patients with primary rejection had no measurable donor chimerism in any cell lineages from day +1–3. No patient with CD15+ donor chimerism above the median (0.9%) on day +1–3 rejected, while 40% (6/15) of the patients with CD15+ donor chimerism below the median rejected (LogRank test, p=0.01). No differences were found in total number of nucleated cells, CD34+, CD3+, CD4+, or CD8+ cells in the donor harvest between patient who rejected and those who did not. Conclusions: The kinetics of early CD15+ donor chimerism differed from the kinetics of early CD4+ and CD8+ donor chimerism. Early CD15+ donor chimerism was markedly lower than CD4+ and CD8+ donor chimerism. CD15+ donor chimerism increased toward 100% donor chimerism more rapidly than the CD4+ and CD8+ chimerism. Primary rejection of donor stem cells can be identified early, as these patients have no measurable donor CD4+ or CD8+ chimerism on day +1–3. Furthermore, patients with CD15+ donor chimerism above the median on day +1–3 have a low risk for rejection. Figure Figure


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariè van der Merwe ◽  
Richard J. Bloomer

Background. Inflammation is associated with strenuous exercise and methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties.Methods. Physically active men were supplemented with either placebo or MSM (3 grams per day) for 28 days before performing 100 repetitions of eccentric knee extension exercise.Ex vivoandin vitrotesting consisted of evaluating cytokine production in blood (whole blood and isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)) exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), before and through 72 hours after exercise, whilein vivotesting included the evaluation of cytokines before and through 72 hours after exercise.Results. LPS stimulation of whole blood after MSM supplementation resulted in decreased induction of IL-1β, with no effect on IL-6, TNF-α, or IL-8. After exercise, there was a reduced response to LPS in the placebo, but MSM resulted in robust release of IL-6 and TNF-α. A small decrease in resting levels of proinflammatory cytokines was noted with MSM, while an acute postexercise increase in IL-10 was observed with MSM.Conclusion. Strenuous exercise causes a robust inflammatory reaction that precludes the cells from efficiently responding to additional stimuli. MSM appears to dampen the release of inflammatory molecules in response to exercise, resulting in a less incendiary environment, allowing cells to still have the capacity to mount an appropriate response to an additional stimulus after exercise.


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