| 1. |
- Lindh, Ingrid, et al.
(författare)
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Feeding of mice with Arabidopsis thaliana expressing the HIV-1 subtype C p24 antigen gives rise to systemic immune responses
- 2008
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Ingår i: Acta Pathologica, Microbiologica et Immunologica Scandinavica (APMIS). - Oxford : Blackwell. - 0903-4641 .- 1600-0463 .- 0903-465X .- 1600-5503. ; 116:11, s. 985-994
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Development of transgenic edible plants, to be used as production, storage and delivery systems for recombinant vaccine antigens, is a promising strategy to obtain cost effective vaccines against infectious diseases, not the least for use in developing countries. Therefore, we used Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated gene transfer to introduce the p24 gag gene encoding the nucleocapsid protein from HIV-1 subtype C into the Arabidopsis thaliana plant genome. Eighteen plant lines were confirmed positive for the p24 gene by PCR, four of these lines showed an apparent homozygous phenotype when grown on selective medium and these lines also showed transcription of the p24 gene into its corresponding mRNA. The mRNA in all four cases generated the p24 protein in plants, as verified by western blot analysis. The plants were shown to contain between 0.2 µg and 0.5 µg p24 protein per g of fresh tissue. Analysis of the localisation of the p24 protein showed that stem tissue contained the largest amount of protein, more than twice as much as leaf tissue, whereas no p24 protein was detected in roots. By using Southern blotting, we found that 4, 2-3, 2 and 1 T-DNA insertion events took place in the four lines 1, 2, 7, and 10, respectively. The genetic insertions of line 1 were stable from the T1 to the T4 generation and gave rise to the p24 protein in all cases, as verified by western blotting. In mice fed with fresh transgenic A. thaliana (line 10), anti-gag IgG was obtained in serum after a booster injection with recombinant p37Gag. No immune response was observed after equal booster injection of untreated mice or mice fed with A. thaliana WT plants.
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| 2. |
- Hallander, Hans O., et al.
(författare)
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Should fimbriae be included in pertussis vaccines? Studies on ELISA IgG anti-Fim2/3 antibodies after vaccination and infection
- 2009
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Ingår i: APMIS. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0903-465X .- 1600-5503 .- 0903-4641 .- 1600-0463. ; 117:9, s. 660-671
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The anti-Fim response and long-term persistence after vaccination and infection may be of importance in understanding population immunity. Longitudinal serum samples (n = 1330) from 542 non-infected children related to a Swedish vaccine trial showed that the post vaccination (DTPa5) antibody decay curve for pertussis ELISA IgG anti-fimbriae2/3 (anti-Fim2/3) was bi-phasic. A slower one followed an initial rapid decay approximately 5-6 months after the third dose at 12 months of age. After 71 months, however, 60% still had concentrations above > or =5 EU/ml, a level that had been shown to correlate with decreased risk of disease. Booster responses after re-vaccination with DTPa5 at 4, 5 and 6 years of age were strong and appeared within 1 week after vaccination, indicating immune memory. Ninety-six young children with verified pertussis infection, for whom we had serum samples both before, during and after the infection, showed a high response if they had been primed with fimbriae (either DTPa5 or DTPwc). In contrast, 76% of infected children not primed with fimbriae (a DTPa2 or DT group) only had concentrations below the minimum level of detection in all samples taken during and after the infection. In two Swedish seroepidemiological surveys, one from 1997 just after reintroduction of universal childhood vaccination against pertussis and one from 2007, the proportion of children 2-3 years with anti-Fim2/3 concentrations <5 EU/ml was similar and above 90%. This reflects that the two- or three-component pertussis vaccines (DTPa2 and DTPa3) that were introduced in Sweden in 1996 do not induce anti-Fim2/3 antibodies. In previous studies it was shown in multivariate analyses that levels of IgG anti-Fim2/3 > or =5 EU/ml reduced short-term risk of pertussis in small children. As the antibody response to Fim2/3 after infection is poor in children who have not been primed earlier in life, inclusion of immunogenic Fim2/3 in future pertussis vaccines should be considered.
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| 3. |
- Stark, Lisa, et al.
(författare)
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Staphylococcus aureus isolates from blood and anterior nares induce similar innate immune responses in endothelial cells
- 2009
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Ingår i: APMIS. - : Wiley. - 0903-4641 .- 1600-0463 .- 0903-465X .- 1600-5503. ; 117:11, s. 814-824
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To evaluate the possibility to distinguish virulent from non-virulent isolates, gene expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) induced by invasive and colonizing isolates of Staphylococcus aureus was compared. Gene expression in HUVEC was analyzed by microarray analysis after 4 h of infection with Staphylococcus aureus, isolated from healthy nasal carriers (n = 5) and from blood of septic patients (n = 5), to explore possible differences between the groups of bacteria in interaction with HUVEC. All isolates were spa-typed to disclose strain relatedness. Moreover, the isolates were characterized with DNA microarray to determine the presence of virulence genes and to investigate the potential genes of importance in HUVEC interaction. The expression of 41 genes was up-regulated, and four were down-regulated in HUVEC by all isolates. Most of the up-regulated genes encode cytokines, chemokines, interferon-induced proteins, proteins regulating apoptosis and cell proliferation. There was no difference in the gene expression pattern between HUVEC infected with invasive or colonizing isolates. Furthermore, there was no difference in the presence of bacterial virulence genes between the two groups. In conclusion, our data indicate that S. aureus isolates induce comparable expression patterns in HUVEC, irrespective of invasiveness or presence of virulence genes.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Karpman, Diana, et al.
(författare)
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The contact/kinin and complement systems in vasculitis.
- 2009
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Ingår i: APMIS Acta Pathologica, Microbiologica et Immunologica Scandinavica. Supplementum. - : Wiley. - 0903-465X. ; 117, s. 48-54
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vasculitides are a group of conditions with marked inflammation in and around vessel walls and vascular leakage. These conditions may involve the presence of auto-antibodies such as ANCA or may be mediated by other autoimmune or pathogenic mechanisms. Regardless of the primary trigger, vasculitides entail activation of the complement system as well as the contact/kinin system. In vivo and in vitro data support the involvement of these systems showing activation of the alternative, classical and lectin complement pathways as well as release of bradykinin at sites of vascular inflammation. This short review will summarize some of the data regarding the participation of these systems and the interplay between the complement and kinin systems as well as their interaction with the endothelium and neutrophils. Although these systems do not play a primary role in induction of vasculitis, the peptides released contribute to inflammation and vascular leakage and may thus be identified as potential therapeutic targets.
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| 7. |
- Kühme, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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Wound contamination in cardiac surgery
- 2007
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Ingår i: APMIS : acta pathologica, microbiologica, et immunologica Scandinavica. - : Wiley. - 1600-0463. ; 115:9, s. 1001-1007
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: To investigate the degree of bacterial contamination in the sternal wound during cardiac surgery and the sternal skin flora after operation in order to increase our understanding of the pathogenesis of sternal wound infections. Design: Prospective study where cultures were taken peri- and postoperatively from sternal wounds and skin. Setting: University Hospital. Patients: 201 cardiac surgery patients. Results: 89% of the patients grew bacteria from the subcutaneous sternal tissue. 98% of the patients showed bacterial growth on the surrounding skin at the end of the operation. We found both commensal and nosocomial bacteria in the sternal wound. These bacteria had different temporal distribution patterns. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) and Propionibacterium acnes (PA) were by far the most prevalent bacteria during and after the operation. Furthermore, 41% of patients had more than 10 000 CFU/pad CoNS on the skin. There was no correlation between length of operation and number of bacteria. Men displayed higher bacterial counts than women on the skin. Conclusion: Skin preparation with ethanol/chlorhexidine is unable to suppress the physiological skin flora for the duration of a heart operation. A decrease of CoNS and PA postoperatively can be caused by competitive recolonisation of commensal and nosocomial bacteria.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Burova, LA, et al.
(författare)
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Myocardial tissue damage in rabbits injected with group A streptococci, types M1 and M22. Role of bacterial immunoglobuhn G-binding surface proteins
- 2005
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Ingår i: APMIS : acta pathologica, microbiologica, et immunologica Scandinavica. - : Wiley. - 1600-0463. ; 113:1, s. 21-30
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN), two important sequelae of streptococcal throat or skin infections, according to current concepts may be elicited by autoimmune mechanisms due to molecular mimicry between group A streptococci (GAS) and human tissue. In the case of APSGN, however, Our experimental data have indicated that GAS immunoglobulin-binding surface proteins (IgG Bps) might be of pathogenic significance by triggering anti-IgG production and immune complex formation leading to renal damage. Thus, rabbits injected with IEG-binding, as opposed to non-binding, GAS strains were found to develop renal deposition of IgG and complement factor C3 and inflammatory and degenerative glomerular changes resembling the picture seen in APSGN. In the present study, cardiac tissue material from rabbits injected with GAS was investigated. After 8 or more weeks of intravenous (i.v.) injections, minimal changes were seen in those animals receiving an IgG non-binding GAS strain, type T27, whereas those animals receiving either of two IgG-binding GAS strains, types M1 or M22, developed strong inflammatory and degenerative myocardial changes accompanied by deposition of IgG and C3. Furthermore, on injecting rabbits with defined mutants of a type M22 strain, the development of myocardial tissue damage proved to be dependent on the presence of streptococcal IgG-binding activity. Our results demonstrate that myocardial tissue changes may be induced in the rabbit by i.v. injection of whole heat-killed GAS of at least two M serotypes. Conceivably, induction of immune complexes by bacterial IqG BPs may lead to myocardial deposition of IgG, in turn triggering a series of events, involving the complement system and proinflammatory cytokines, with resulting tissue damage. Though many virulence factors may be involved in the development of ARF and APSGN, and a given GAS strain will never cause both, our results may suggest a new pathogenetic mechanism common to these two major non-suppurative complications.
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| 10. |
- Forsum, Urban, 1946-, et al.
(författare)
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Bacterial vaginosis--a microbiological and immunological enigma.
- 2005
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Ingår i: APMIS : acta pathologica, microbiologica, et immunologica Scandinavica. - : Wiley. - 0903-4641 .- 1600-0463. ; 113:2, s. 81-90
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The development of bacterial vaginosis (BV) among women of childbearing age and the resulting quantitative and qualitative shift from normally occurring lactobacilli in the vagina to a mixture of mainly anaerobic bacteria is a microbiological and immunological enigma that so far has precluded the formulation of a unifying generally accepted theory on the aetiology and clinical course of BV. This critical review highlights some of the more important aspects of BV research that could help in formulating new basic ideas respecting the biology of BV, not least the importance of the interleukin mediators of local inflammatory responses and the bacterial shift from the normally occurring lactobacilli species: L. crispatus, L. gasseri, L. jensenii, and L. iners to a mixed flora dominated by anaerobic bacteria.
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