Plos One
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Local anesthetics are frequently used in fine-needle aspiration of thyroid lesions and locoregional control of persistent or recurrent thyroid cancer. Recent evidence suggests that local anesthetics have a broad spectrum of effects including inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis in neuronal and other types of cells. In this study, we demonstrated that treatment with lidocaine and bupivacaine resulted in decreased cell viability and colony formation of both 8505C and K1 cells in a dose-dependent manner. ⋯ Pharmacological inhibitors of MAPK/ERK kinase and p38 MAPK suppressed caspase 3 activation and PARP cleavage. Taken together, our results for the first time demonstrate the cytotoxic effects of local anesthetics on thyroid cancer cells and implicate the MAPK pathways as an important mechanism. Our findings have potential clinical relevance in that the use of local anesthetics may confer previously unrecognized benefits in the management of patients with thyroid cancer.
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Understanding the genetic variations among Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains with differential ability to transmit would be a major step forward in preventing transmission. ⋯ Our finding that the distribution of CPP scores was unequal across four different phylogenetic lineages supports the notion that host-related factors should be controlled for to attain comparability in measuring the different phylogenetic lineages' ability to propagate. Although Euro-American strains were more likely to be in clusters in an unadjusted analysis, no significant differences among the four lineages persisted after we controlled for host factors.
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We set out to determine the magnitude of antigen-specific memory T helper cell responses to Pseudomonas aeruginosa in healthy humans and patients with cystic fibrosis. ⋯ Th22 cells specific to Pseudomonas aeruginosa are induced in both healthy individuals and patients with cystic fibrosis. Along with Th17 cells, they may play an important role in the pulmonary response to this microbe in patients with cystic fibrosis and other conditions.
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Adiponectin (APN) is an anti-inflammatory hormone derived from adipose tissue that attenuates acute lung injury in rodents. In this study, we investigated the association between circulating APN and outcomes among patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ⋯ Plasma APN levels did not correlate with disease severity or mortality in a large cohort of patients with ARDS. However, higher APN levels were associated with increased mortality among patients developing ARDS from extra-pulmonary etiologies.
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Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children and is responsible for as many as 199,000 childhood deaths annually worldwide. To support the development of viral therapeutics and vaccines for RSV, a human adult experimental infection model has been established. In this report, we describe the provenance and sequence of RSV Memphis-37, the low-passage clinical isolate used for the model's reproducible, safe, experimental infections of healthy, adult volunteers. ⋯ Human T- cell epitope sequences previously defined by in vitro studies were observed to be closely matched between Memphis-37 and the laboratory strain RSV A2. Memphis-37 sequences provide baseline data with which to assess: (i) virus heterogeneity that may be evident following virus infection/transmission, (ii) the efficacy of candidate RSV vaccines and therapeutics in the experimental infection model, and (iii) the potential emergence of escape mutants as a consequence of experimental drug treatments. Memphis-37 is a valuable tool for pre-clinical research, and to expedite the clinical development of vaccines, therapeutic immunomodulatory agents, and other antiviral drug strategies for the protection of vulnerable populations against RSV disease.