Bruno Rivas Santiago - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Bruno Rivas Santiago
Revista del Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, 2009
![Research paper thumbnail of [Toll-like receptor in lung response to pathogens]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/119356836/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Revista de investigación clínica; organo del Hospital de Enfermedades de la Nutrición
Innate immunity plays a central role in antimicrobial defense. Advances in the understanding of p... more Innate immunity plays a central role in antimicrobial defense. Advances in the understanding of pathogen recognition systems of innate cells have yielded the identification of Toll like receptors (TLR) as key elements of the lung defense mechanisms which is heavily exposed to a variety of stimuli. TLR recognition of several microbial compounds induces proinflammatory cytokines production whose contribution to the host may be either protective or detrimental. Human immune response diversity may explain the differences observed between patients facing bacterial, viral and fungal lung infections. New strategies designs that modify innate immune response may be useful to limit detrimental consequences of inflammatory processes in the lung.
The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries, 2011
Introduction: Lymph node tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of extrapulmonary tuberculosis a... more Introduction: Lymph node tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of extrapulmonary tuberculosis and is the most frequently identified type in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Conventional diagnosis has serious limitations for rapid detection of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in clinical samples. Here PCR and modified FISH have been tested as complementary diagnosis methods for extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Methodology: The specific insertion sequence IS6110 for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex was used to perform PCR and build DNA and PNA FISH probes (20bp). PCR and modified DNA and PNA FISH assays were performed to evaluate 41 lymph node paraffin-embedded tissue samples, in comparison with the histopathology diagnosis, which was considered the gold standard (22 positive and 19 negative). Results: In comparison with histopathology diagnosis PCR showed 62.5 % sensitivity and 77.8 % specificity (χ2 = 4.583 p < 0.05). Modified DNA FISH showed 71.4% sensitivity and 84.6% specificity (χ2 = 11.21...
Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 2013
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the coronavir... more The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a highly contagious infectious disease that has caused many deaths worldwide. Despite global efforts, it continues to cause great losses, and leaving multiple unknowns that we must resolve in order to face the pandemic more effectively. One of the questions that has arisen recently is what happens, after recovering from COVID-19. For this reason, the objective of this study is to identify the risk of presenting persistent symptoms in recovered from COVID-19. This case-control study was conducted in one state of Mexico. Initially the data were obtained from the participants, through a questionnaire about symptoms that they had at the moment of the interview. Initially were captured the collected data, to make a dataset. After the pre-processed using the R project tool to eliminate outliers or missing data. Obtained finally a total of 219 participants, 141 recovered ...
BioMed Research International, 2019
Chronic exposure to arsenic (As), whether directly through the consumption of contaminated drinki... more Chronic exposure to arsenic (As), whether directly through the consumption of contaminated drinking water or indirectly through the daily intake of As-contaminated food, is a health threat for more than 150 million people worldwide. Epidemiological studies found an association between chronic consumption of As and several pathologies, the most common being cancer-related disorders. However, As consumption has also been associated with metabolic disorders that could lead to diverse pathologies, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and obesity. Here, we used ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to electrospray ionization/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-QToF) to assess the effect of chronic intergenerational As exposure on the lipid metabolism profiles of serum from 4-month-old Wistar rats exposed to As prenatally and also during early life in drinking water (3 ppm). Significant differences in the levels of certain ident...
Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 2019
BACKGROUND Once in the pulmonary alveoli, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) enters into contact wi... more BACKGROUND Once in the pulmonary alveoli, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) enters into contact with alveolar macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). DCs represent the link between the innate and adaptive immune system owing to their capacity to be both a sentinel and an orchestrator of the antigen-specific immune responses against Mtb. The effect that the virulence of Mtb has on the interaction between the bacilli and human DCs has not been fully explored. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of Mtb virulence on human monocyte-derived DCs. METHODS We exposed human monocyte-derived DCs to Mtb clinical strains (isolated from an epidemiological Mtb diversity study in Mexico) bearing different degrees of virulence and evaluated the capacity of DCs to internalise the bacilli, control intracellular growth, engage cell death pathways, express markers for activation and antigen presentation, and expand to stimulate autologous CD4 + T cells proliferation. FINDINGS In the case of the hypervirulent Mtb strain (Phenotype 1, strain 9005186, lineage 3), we report that DCs internalise and neutralise intracellular growth of the bacilli, undergo low rates of apoptosis, and contribute poorly to T-cell expansion, as compared to the H37Rv reference strain. In the case of the hypovirulent Mtb strain (Phenotype 4, strain 9985449, lineage 4), although DCs internalise and preclude proliferation of the bacilli, the DCs also display a high level of apoptosis, massive levels of apoptosis that prevent them from maintaining autologous CD4 + T cells in a co-culture system, as compared to H37Rv. MAIN CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that variability in virulence among Mtb clinical strains affects the capacity of DCs to respond to pathogenic challenge and mount an immune response against it, highlighting important parallels to studies previously done in mouse models.
Pathogens and Disease, 2018
This study shows a novel host response to tuberculosis infection involving antimicrobial peptides... more This study shows a novel host response to tuberculosis infection involving antimicrobial peptides and induction of RNase 7.
Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical, 2019
Introduction: Biomarkers are critical tools for finding new approaches for controlling the spread... more Introduction: Biomarkers are critical tools for finding new approaches for controlling the spread of tuberculosis (TB), including for predicting the development of TB therapeutics, vaccines, and diagnostic tools. Methods: Expression of immune biomarkers was analyzed in peripheral blood cells stimulated and non-stimulated with M. tuberculosis antigens ESAT-6, CFP10 and TB7.7. in Warao indigenous individuals. These biomarkers may be able to differentiate TB states, such as active tuberculosis (ATB) cases and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) from non-infected controls (NIC). A real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assay was performed on 100 blood samples under non-stimulation or direct ex vivo conditions (NS=50) and stimulation conditions (S=50). Results: The findings are shown as the median and interquartile range (IQR) of relative gene expression levels of IFN-γ, CD14, MMP9, CCR5, CCL11, CXCL9/MIG, and uPAR/PLAUR immune biomarkers. MMP9 levels were significantly higher in the LTBI-NS and LTBI-S groups compared with the NIC-NS and NIC-S groups. However, CCR5 levels were significantly lower in the LTBI-S group compared with both NIC-NS and NIC-S groups. CCL11 levels were significantly lower in the LTBI-S group compared with the NIC-NS group. Conclusions: Preliminary findings showed that MMP9 immune biomarkers separated LTBI indigenous individuals from NIC indigenous individuals, while CCR5, CCL11, CD14, and IFN-γ did not differentiate TB states from NIC. MMP9 may be useful as a potential biomarker for LTBI and new infected case detection among Warao indigenous individuals at high risk of developing the disease. It may also be used to halt the epidemic, which will require further validation in larger studies.
Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Jan 19, 2018
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a risk factor for the development of tuberculosis (TB), although the ass... more Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a risk factor for the development of tuberculosis (TB), although the associated mechanisms are not known. To study the association between T2D and the basal phenotype of macrophages, and their immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. We evaluated the influence of T2D on the response of monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) to Mtb in patients with T2D (n = 10) compared to healthy subjects (n = 9), before and after infection with Mtb clinical isolates bearing different degrees of virulence. The levels of cell surface markers for activation secreted cytokines and chemokines, bacterial association, and intracellular bacterial growth were evaluated. The expression levels of HLA-DR, CD80, and CD86 were low while those of of PD-L1 were high in uninfected MDMs derived from patients with diabetes; as a result of Mtb infection, changes were only observed in the expression levels of PD-L1. The levels of cytokines (e.g., IL-6, IL-1β, IL-10, and IL-12)...
International journal for vitamin and nutrition research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Vitamin- und Ernahrungsforschung. Journal international de vitaminologie et de nutrition, Jan 20, 2017
Elderly individuals are susceptible to develop infectious diseases; promoting innate immunity to ... more Elderly individuals are susceptible to develop infectious diseases; promoting innate immunity to prevent infections is a key issue. Human β-defensin-2 (hBD-2) is an antimicrobial peptide with antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties. L-isoleucine and vitamin D are important molecules that induce hBD-2. The Aim of this study was to determine the use L-isoleucine and Vitamin D to induce hBD-2 in cells from healthy elderly individuals and elderly individuals with recurrent infections. We explored three groups: young adults (n = 20) used as control group, elderly adults (n = 18) and elderly with recurrent infections (n = 11). PBMCs (peripheral blood mononuclear cells) were isolated from the different groups and then were treated with L-isoleucine or vitamin D3. hBD-2 concentration was assessed with a sandwich enzyme Immunosorbent assay by triplicate. Using the vehicle as a mock control. Our results showed that a percentage of the individuals responded to the treatments producing hB...
Infection and Immunity, 2015
Tuberculosis is one of the most important infectious diseases worldwide. The susceptibility to th... more Tuberculosis is one of the most important infectious diseases worldwide. The susceptibility to this disease depends to a great extent on the innate immune response against mycobacteria. Host defense peptides (HDP) are one of the first barriers to counteract infection. Cathelicidin (LL-37) is an HDP that has many immunomodulatory effects besides its weak antimicrobial activity. Despite advances in the study of the innate immune response in tuberculosis, the immunological role of LL-37 during M. tuberculosis infection has not been clarified. Monocyte-derived macrophages were infected with M. tuberculosis strain H37Rv and then treated with 1, 5, or 15 μg/ml of exogenous LL-37 for 4, 8, and 24 h. Exogenous LL-37 decreased tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) while inducing anti-inflammatory IL-10 and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) production. Interestingly, the decreased production of anti-inflammatory cytokines did not reduce antimycobacterial activity. ...
Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, 2015
The present study aimed at measuring seropositivities for infection by Ascaris suum and Toxocara ... more The present study aimed at measuring seropositivities for infection by Ascaris suum and Toxocara canis using the excretory/secretory (E/S) antigens from Ascaris suum (AES) and Toxocara canis (TES) within an indigenous population. In addition, quantification of cytokine expressions in peripheral blood cells was determined. A total of 50 Warao indigenous were included; of which 43 were adults and seven children. In adults, 44.1% were seropositive for both parasites; whereas children had only seropositivity to one or the other helminth. For ascariosis, the percentage of AES seropositivity in adults and children was high; 23.3% and 57.1%, respectively. While that for toxocariosis, the percentage of TES seropositivity in adults and children was low; 9.3% and 14.3%, respectively. The percentage of seronegativity was comparable for AES and TES antigens in adults (27.9%) and children (28.6%). When positive sera were analyzed by Western blotting technique using AES antigens; three bands of 9...
Vaccine, 2013
The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that there are about 8 million new cases annual... more The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that there are about 8 million new cases annually of active Tuberculosis (TB). Despite its irregular effectiveness (0-89%), the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) BCG is the only vaccine available worldwide for prevention of TB; thus, the design is important of novel and more efficient vaccination strategies. Considering that βdefensin-2 is an antimicrobial peptide that induces dendritic cell maturation through the TLR-4 receptor and that both ESAT-6 and Ag85B are immunodominant mycobacterial antigens and efficient activators of the protective immune response, we constructed two DNA vaccines by the fusion of the gene encoding β-defensin-2 and antigens ESAT6 (pDE) and 85B (pDA). After confirming efficient local antigen expression that induced high and stable Interferon gamma (IFNγ) production in intramuscular (i.m.) vaccinated Balb/c mice, groups of mice were vaccinated with DNA vaccines in a prime-boost regimen with BCG and with BCG alone, and 2 months later were challenged with the mild virulence reference strain H37Rv and the highly virulent clinical isolate LAM 5186. The level of protection was evaluated by survival, lung bacilli burdens, and extension of tissue damage (pneumonia). Vaccination with both DNA vaccines showed similar protection to
Infection and Immunity, 2009
ABSTRACTIn the last few years, the great impact of antimicrobial peptides on infectious disease s... more ABSTRACTIn the last few years, the great impact of antimicrobial peptides on infectious disease susceptibility and natural resistance has been reported. In some cases, susceptibility to diseases is related to antimicrobial peptide polymorphisms and gene copy numbers, but for the vast majority of infectious diseases, these phenomena need to be elucidated. This review is focused on the current knowledge about susceptibility and resistance conferred by genetic variations in antimicrobial peptide expression in infectious diseases.
Revista del Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, 2009
Revista de investigación clínica; organo del Hospital de Enfermedades de la Nutrición
Innate immunity plays a central role in antimicrobial defense. Advances in the understanding of p... more Innate immunity plays a central role in antimicrobial defense. Advances in the understanding of pathogen recognition systems of innate cells have yielded the identification of Toll like receptors (TLR) as key elements of the lung defense mechanisms which is heavily exposed to a variety of stimuli. TLR recognition of several microbial compounds induces proinflammatory cytokines production whose contribution to the host may be either protective or detrimental. Human immune response diversity may explain the differences observed between patients facing bacterial, viral and fungal lung infections. New strategies designs that modify innate immune response may be useful to limit detrimental consequences of inflammatory processes in the lung.
The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries, 2011
Introduction: Lymph node tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of extrapulmonary tuberculosis a... more Introduction: Lymph node tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of extrapulmonary tuberculosis and is the most frequently identified type in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Conventional diagnosis has serious limitations for rapid detection of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in clinical samples. Here PCR and modified FISH have been tested as complementary diagnosis methods for extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Methodology: The specific insertion sequence IS6110 for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex was used to perform PCR and build DNA and PNA FISH probes (20bp). PCR and modified DNA and PNA FISH assays were performed to evaluate 41 lymph node paraffin-embedded tissue samples, in comparison with the histopathology diagnosis, which was considered the gold standard (22 positive and 19 negative). Results: In comparison with histopathology diagnosis PCR showed 62.5 % sensitivity and 77.8 % specificity (χ2 = 4.583 p < 0.05). Modified DNA FISH showed 71.4% sensitivity and 84.6% specificity (χ2 = 11.21...
Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 2013
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the coronavir... more The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a highly contagious infectious disease that has caused many deaths worldwide. Despite global efforts, it continues to cause great losses, and leaving multiple unknowns that we must resolve in order to face the pandemic more effectively. One of the questions that has arisen recently is what happens, after recovering from COVID-19. For this reason, the objective of this study is to identify the risk of presenting persistent symptoms in recovered from COVID-19. This case-control study was conducted in one state of Mexico. Initially the data were obtained from the participants, through a questionnaire about symptoms that they had at the moment of the interview. Initially were captured the collected data, to make a dataset. After the pre-processed using the R project tool to eliminate outliers or missing data. Obtained finally a total of 219 participants, 141 recovered ...
BioMed Research International, 2019
Chronic exposure to arsenic (As), whether directly through the consumption of contaminated drinki... more Chronic exposure to arsenic (As), whether directly through the consumption of contaminated drinking water or indirectly through the daily intake of As-contaminated food, is a health threat for more than 150 million people worldwide. Epidemiological studies found an association between chronic consumption of As and several pathologies, the most common being cancer-related disorders. However, As consumption has also been associated with metabolic disorders that could lead to diverse pathologies, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and obesity. Here, we used ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to electrospray ionization/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-QToF) to assess the effect of chronic intergenerational As exposure on the lipid metabolism profiles of serum from 4-month-old Wistar rats exposed to As prenatally and also during early life in drinking water (3 ppm). Significant differences in the levels of certain ident...
Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 2019
BACKGROUND Once in the pulmonary alveoli, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) enters into contact wi... more BACKGROUND Once in the pulmonary alveoli, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) enters into contact with alveolar macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). DCs represent the link between the innate and adaptive immune system owing to their capacity to be both a sentinel and an orchestrator of the antigen-specific immune responses against Mtb. The effect that the virulence of Mtb has on the interaction between the bacilli and human DCs has not been fully explored. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of Mtb virulence on human monocyte-derived DCs. METHODS We exposed human monocyte-derived DCs to Mtb clinical strains (isolated from an epidemiological Mtb diversity study in Mexico) bearing different degrees of virulence and evaluated the capacity of DCs to internalise the bacilli, control intracellular growth, engage cell death pathways, express markers for activation and antigen presentation, and expand to stimulate autologous CD4 + T cells proliferation. FINDINGS In the case of the hypervirulent Mtb strain (Phenotype 1, strain 9005186, lineage 3), we report that DCs internalise and neutralise intracellular growth of the bacilli, undergo low rates of apoptosis, and contribute poorly to T-cell expansion, as compared to the H37Rv reference strain. In the case of the hypovirulent Mtb strain (Phenotype 4, strain 9985449, lineage 4), although DCs internalise and preclude proliferation of the bacilli, the DCs also display a high level of apoptosis, massive levels of apoptosis that prevent them from maintaining autologous CD4 + T cells in a co-culture system, as compared to H37Rv. MAIN CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that variability in virulence among Mtb clinical strains affects the capacity of DCs to respond to pathogenic challenge and mount an immune response against it, highlighting important parallels to studies previously done in mouse models.
Pathogens and Disease, 2018
This study shows a novel host response to tuberculosis infection involving antimicrobial peptides... more This study shows a novel host response to tuberculosis infection involving antimicrobial peptides and induction of RNase 7.
Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical, 2019
Introduction: Biomarkers are critical tools for finding new approaches for controlling the spread... more Introduction: Biomarkers are critical tools for finding new approaches for controlling the spread of tuberculosis (TB), including for predicting the development of TB therapeutics, vaccines, and diagnostic tools. Methods: Expression of immune biomarkers was analyzed in peripheral blood cells stimulated and non-stimulated with M. tuberculosis antigens ESAT-6, CFP10 and TB7.7. in Warao indigenous individuals. These biomarkers may be able to differentiate TB states, such as active tuberculosis (ATB) cases and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) from non-infected controls (NIC). A real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assay was performed on 100 blood samples under non-stimulation or direct ex vivo conditions (NS=50) and stimulation conditions (S=50). Results: The findings are shown as the median and interquartile range (IQR) of relative gene expression levels of IFN-γ, CD14, MMP9, CCR5, CCL11, CXCL9/MIG, and uPAR/PLAUR immune biomarkers. MMP9 levels were significantly higher in the LTBI-NS and LTBI-S groups compared with the NIC-NS and NIC-S groups. However, CCR5 levels were significantly lower in the LTBI-S group compared with both NIC-NS and NIC-S groups. CCL11 levels were significantly lower in the LTBI-S group compared with the NIC-NS group. Conclusions: Preliminary findings showed that MMP9 immune biomarkers separated LTBI indigenous individuals from NIC indigenous individuals, while CCR5, CCL11, CD14, and IFN-γ did not differentiate TB states from NIC. MMP9 may be useful as a potential biomarker for LTBI and new infected case detection among Warao indigenous individuals at high risk of developing the disease. It may also be used to halt the epidemic, which will require further validation in larger studies.
Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Jan 19, 2018
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a risk factor for the development of tuberculosis (TB), although the ass... more Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a risk factor for the development of tuberculosis (TB), although the associated mechanisms are not known. To study the association between T2D and the basal phenotype of macrophages, and their immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. We evaluated the influence of T2D on the response of monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) to Mtb in patients with T2D (n = 10) compared to healthy subjects (n = 9), before and after infection with Mtb clinical isolates bearing different degrees of virulence. The levels of cell surface markers for activation secreted cytokines and chemokines, bacterial association, and intracellular bacterial growth were evaluated. The expression levels of HLA-DR, CD80, and CD86 were low while those of of PD-L1 were high in uninfected MDMs derived from patients with diabetes; as a result of Mtb infection, changes were only observed in the expression levels of PD-L1. The levels of cytokines (e.g., IL-6, IL-1β, IL-10, and IL-12)...
International journal for vitamin and nutrition research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Vitamin- und Ernahrungsforschung. Journal international de vitaminologie et de nutrition, Jan 20, 2017
Elderly individuals are susceptible to develop infectious diseases; promoting innate immunity to ... more Elderly individuals are susceptible to develop infectious diseases; promoting innate immunity to prevent infections is a key issue. Human β-defensin-2 (hBD-2) is an antimicrobial peptide with antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties. L-isoleucine and vitamin D are important molecules that induce hBD-2. The Aim of this study was to determine the use L-isoleucine and Vitamin D to induce hBD-2 in cells from healthy elderly individuals and elderly individuals with recurrent infections. We explored three groups: young adults (n = 20) used as control group, elderly adults (n = 18) and elderly with recurrent infections (n = 11). PBMCs (peripheral blood mononuclear cells) were isolated from the different groups and then were treated with L-isoleucine or vitamin D3. hBD-2 concentration was assessed with a sandwich enzyme Immunosorbent assay by triplicate. Using the vehicle as a mock control. Our results showed that a percentage of the individuals responded to the treatments producing hB...
Infection and Immunity, 2015
Tuberculosis is one of the most important infectious diseases worldwide. The susceptibility to th... more Tuberculosis is one of the most important infectious diseases worldwide. The susceptibility to this disease depends to a great extent on the innate immune response against mycobacteria. Host defense peptides (HDP) are one of the first barriers to counteract infection. Cathelicidin (LL-37) is an HDP that has many immunomodulatory effects besides its weak antimicrobial activity. Despite advances in the study of the innate immune response in tuberculosis, the immunological role of LL-37 during M. tuberculosis infection has not been clarified. Monocyte-derived macrophages were infected with M. tuberculosis strain H37Rv and then treated with 1, 5, or 15 μg/ml of exogenous LL-37 for 4, 8, and 24 h. Exogenous LL-37 decreased tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) while inducing anti-inflammatory IL-10 and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) production. Interestingly, the decreased production of anti-inflammatory cytokines did not reduce antimycobacterial activity. ...
Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, 2015
The present study aimed at measuring seropositivities for infection by Ascaris suum and Toxocara ... more The present study aimed at measuring seropositivities for infection by Ascaris suum and Toxocara canis using the excretory/secretory (E/S) antigens from Ascaris suum (AES) and Toxocara canis (TES) within an indigenous population. In addition, quantification of cytokine expressions in peripheral blood cells was determined. A total of 50 Warao indigenous were included; of which 43 were adults and seven children. In adults, 44.1% were seropositive for both parasites; whereas children had only seropositivity to one or the other helminth. For ascariosis, the percentage of AES seropositivity in adults and children was high; 23.3% and 57.1%, respectively. While that for toxocariosis, the percentage of TES seropositivity in adults and children was low; 9.3% and 14.3%, respectively. The percentage of seronegativity was comparable for AES and TES antigens in adults (27.9%) and children (28.6%). When positive sera were analyzed by Western blotting technique using AES antigens; three bands of 9...
Vaccine, 2013
The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that there are about 8 million new cases annual... more The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that there are about 8 million new cases annually of active Tuberculosis (TB). Despite its irregular effectiveness (0-89%), the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) BCG is the only vaccine available worldwide for prevention of TB; thus, the design is important of novel and more efficient vaccination strategies. Considering that βdefensin-2 is an antimicrobial peptide that induces dendritic cell maturation through the TLR-4 receptor and that both ESAT-6 and Ag85B are immunodominant mycobacterial antigens and efficient activators of the protective immune response, we constructed two DNA vaccines by the fusion of the gene encoding β-defensin-2 and antigens ESAT6 (pDE) and 85B (pDA). After confirming efficient local antigen expression that induced high and stable Interferon gamma (IFNγ) production in intramuscular (i.m.) vaccinated Balb/c mice, groups of mice were vaccinated with DNA vaccines in a prime-boost regimen with BCG and with BCG alone, and 2 months later were challenged with the mild virulence reference strain H37Rv and the highly virulent clinical isolate LAM 5186. The level of protection was evaluated by survival, lung bacilli burdens, and extension of tissue damage (pneumonia). Vaccination with both DNA vaccines showed similar protection to
Infection and Immunity, 2009
ABSTRACTIn the last few years, the great impact of antimicrobial peptides on infectious disease s... more ABSTRACTIn the last few years, the great impact of antimicrobial peptides on infectious disease susceptibility and natural resistance has been reported. In some cases, susceptibility to diseases is related to antimicrobial peptide polymorphisms and gene copy numbers, but for the vast majority of infectious diseases, these phenomena need to be elucidated. This review is focused on the current knowledge about susceptibility and resistance conferred by genetic variations in antimicrobial peptide expression in infectious diseases.