Pathogenesis of Pulmonary Hemorrhagic Syndrome in Human Leptospirosis

Author(s):  
Antonio C. Nicodemo ◽  
Amaro Nunes Duarte-Neto

Based on a previous study and by incorporating new knowledge, the goal of our study was to understand more fully the pathogenesis of hemorrhagic pneumonia of severe human leptospirosis, highlighting the onset of capillary lesions by Leptospira itself and/or its antigenic/toxic products acting on the endothelium and binding to cadherins. Both events lead to loss of endothelial integrity, alter permeability, cause rupture, and open intercellular junctions, contributing to the hemorrhagic phenomena associated with severe leptospirosis.

Hypertension ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Torsten Kirsch ◽  
Uwe Klinge ◽  
Joon-Keun Park ◽  
Marion Haubitz ◽  
Hermann Haller ◽  
...  

Aldosterone (Ald) is involved in vascular remodeling and inflammation; however, the mechanisms are imperfectly defined. We hypothesized that Ald alters endothelial integrity and modifies paracellular permeability. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were exposed to Ald (10 -9 mol/L) and alterations in paracellular permeability, assembly of tight and adherens junctions, and activation of intracellular signaling pathways were determined. Ald increased endothelial paracellular permeability for molecules up to 70 kDa within 60 min. A transient loss of cortical actin with formation of actin stress fibers, and disruption of continuous adherens and tight junction strands, accompanied the changes. Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) blockade, inhibition of RhoA or disruption of extracellular regulated protein kinase (ERK) 1/2 signaling pathways attenuated the Ald-related effects. Moreover, the observed changes of the actin cytoskeleton and intercellular junction architecture were accompanied by a rapid dephosphorylation of protein kinase B (AKT) as well as deactivation of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS). Ex vivo tracer flux experiments with Evans Blue (EB)-conjugated albumin demonstrated concordant response to Ald in freshly isolated umbilical arteries. In summary, Ald leads to increased permeability of endothelial monolayer or isolated arteries. These alterations are associated with a temporal opening of Intercellular junctions and diminished eNOS activity, and depend on activation of the RhoA/ERK pathway. We conclude that these mechanisms could contribute to Ald-induced vasculopathy.


1999 ◽  
Vol 276 (2) ◽  
pp. H736-H748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond K. Wong ◽  
Ann L. Baldwin ◽  
Ronald L. Heimark

The response of the endothelial permeability barrier in microvascular networks of the rat mesentery to perfused immune inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) was examined. TNF-α (12.5 U/ml) treatment did not change albumin permeability, but in combination with IFN-γ (20 U/ml), there was a marked increase in the number of sites of extravascular albumin in postcapillary venules. Endothelial integrity was characterized by cadherin-5 immunoreactivity, which was localized to the continuous intercellular junctions of endothelium in arterioles, capillaries, and venules. Perfusion with the combined cytokines showed that the increased albumin permeability was dose dependent and correlated with the focal disorganization of cadherin-5 at intercellular junctions of venular endothelium. No correlation was found between the increase in albumin permeability and the localization of intravascular leukocytes or extravascular mast cells. These results show that the combination of TNF-α and IFN-γ induces an endothelial phenotype with focal loss of cadherin-5 intercellular adhesion, which, in part, facilitates passage of blood macromolecules and cells to the interstitium.


2018 ◽  
Vol 86 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles K. Gomes ◽  
Mariana Guedes ◽  
Hari-Hara Potula ◽  
Odir A. Dellagostin ◽  
Maria Gomes-Solecki

ABSTRACT A somewhat contradictory published body of evidence suggests that sex impacts severity outcomes of human leptospirosis. In this study, we used an acute animal model of disease to analyze leptospirosis in male and female hamsters infected side by side with low but increasing doses of Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni. We found that male hamsters were considerably more susceptible to leptospirosis, given that only 6.3% survived infection, whereas 68.7% of the females survived the same infection doses. In contrast to the females, male hamsters had high burdens of L. interrogans in kidney and high histopathological scores after exposure to low infection doses (∼103 bacteria). In hamsters infected with higher doses of L. interrogans (∼104 bacteria), differences in pathogen burdens as well as cytokine and fibrosis transcript levels in kidney were not distinct between sexes. Our results indicate that male hamsters infected with L. interrogans are more susceptible to severe leptospirosis after exposure to lower infectious doses than females.


Author(s):  
J.S. Ryerse

Gap junctions are intercellular junctions found in both vertebrates and invertebrates through which ions and small molecules can pass. Their distribution in tissues could be of critical importance for ionic coupling or metabolic cooperation between cells or for regulating the intracellular movement of growth control and pattern formation factors. Studies of the distribution of gap junctions in mutants which develop abnormally may shed light upon their role in normal development. I report here the distribution of gap junctions in the wing pouch of 3 Drosophila wing disc mutants, vg (vestigial) a cell death mutant, 1(2)gd (lethal giant disc) a pattern abnormality mutant and 1(2)gl (lethal giant larva) a neoplastic mutant and compare these with wildtype wing discs.The wing pouch (the anlagen of the adult wing blade) of a wild-type wing disc is shown in Fig. 1 and consists of columnar cells (Fig. 5) joined by gap junctions (Fig. 6). 14000x EMs of conventionally processed, UA en bloc stained, longitudinally sectioned wing pouches were enlarged to 45000x with a projector and tracings were made on which the lateral plasma membrane (LPM) and gap junctions were marked.


Author(s):  
J. Metz ◽  
M. Merlo ◽  
W. G. Forssmann

Structure and function of intercellular junctions were studied under the electronmicroscope using conventional thin sectioning and freeze-etch replicas. Alterations of tight and gap junctions were analyzed 1. of exocrine pancreatic cells under cell isolation conditions and pancreatic duct ligation and 2. of hepatocytes during extrahepatic cholestasis.During the different steps of cell isolation of exocrine pancreatic cells, gradual changes of tight and gap junctions were observed. Tight junctions, which formed belt-like structures around the apex of control acinar cells in situ, subsequently diminished, became interrupted and were concentrated into macular areas (Fig. 1). Aggregations of membrane associated particles, which looked similar to gap junctions, were intermixed within tight junctional areas (Fig. 1). These structures continously disappeared in the last stages of the isolation procedure. The intercellular junctions were finally separated without destroying the integrity of the cell membrane, which was confirmed with porcion yellow, lanthanum chloride and horse radish peroxidase.


Author(s):  
E.L. Benedetti ◽  
I. Dunia ◽  
Do Ngoc Lien ◽  
O. Vallon ◽  
D. Louvard ◽  
...  

In the eye lens emerging molecular and structural patterns apparently cohabit with the remnants of the past. The lens in a rather puzzling fashion sums up its own natural history and even transient steps of the differentiation are memorized. A prototype of this situation is well outlined by the study of the lenticular intercellular junctions. These membrane domains exhibit structural, biochemical and perhaps functional polymorphism reflecting throughout life the multiple steps of the differentiation of the epithelium into fibers and of the ageing process of the lenticular cells.The most striking biochemical difference between the membrane derived from the epithelium and from the fibers respectively, concerns the presence of the 26,000 molecular weight polypeptide (MP26) in the latter membranes.


Author(s):  
D.J.P. Ferguson ◽  
M. Virji ◽  
H. Kayhty ◽  
E.R. Moxon

Haemophilus influenzae is a human pathogen which causes meningitis in children. Systemic H. influenzae infection is largely confined to encapsulated serotype b organisms and is a major cause of meningitis in the U.K. and elsewhere. However, the pathogenesis of the disease is still poorly understood. Studies in the infant rat model, in which intranasal challenge results in bacteraemia, have shown that H. influenzae enters submucosal tissues and disseminates to the blood stream within minutes. The rapidity of these events suggests that H. influenzae penetrates both respiratory epithelial and endothelial barriers with great efficiency. It is not known whether the bacteria penetrate via the intercellular junctions, are translocated within the cells or carried across the cellular barrier in 'trojan horse' fashion within phagocytes. In the present studies, we have challenged cultured human umbilical cord_vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with both capsulated (b+) and capsule-deficient (b-) isogenic variants of one strain of H. influenzae in order to investigate the interaction between the bacteria and HUVEC and the effect of the capsule.


2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie von Stumm

Intelligence-as-knowledge in adulthood is influenced by individual differences in intelligence-as-process (i.e., fluid intelligence) and in personality traits that determine when, where, and how people invest their intelligence over time. Here, the relationship between two investment traits (i.e., Openness to Experience and Need for Cognition), intelligence-as-process and intelligence-as-knowledge, as assessed by a battery of crystallized intelligence tests and a new knowledge measure, was examined. The results showed that (1) both investment traits were positively associated with intelligence-as-knowledge; (2) this effect was stronger for Openness to Experience than for Need for Cognition; and (3) associations between investment and intelligence-as-knowledge reduced when adjusting for intelligence-as-process but remained mostly significant.


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