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The efficacy of five selected plant extracts: Basil (Ocimum basilicum), Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum), Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus), Mint (Mentha sp.), and Dill (Anethum graveolens) against Aphis fabae on both nymph and adult stages was evaluated under laboratory conditions. Four concentrations were used 10000, 20000, 50000, and 100000 ppm. The results showed that the maximum mortality percentage of the nymph stage of A. fabae was achieved by basil, tarragon, and clove aqueous extracts at concentrations of 10000 ppm after 72 hours of treatment. Conversely, basil, clove, and tarragon extracts recorded the highest mortality rate of adults under the same experimental conditions. The positive control (Acetamiprid 20%) produced the highest mortality rate after 72 hours of exposure while using distilled water as the negative control resulted in a minimal mortality rate. The LC50 values indicate that basil extract exhibited the highest toxicity for nymphs at 1664.177 ppm after 72 hours, while for adults, tarragon extract was the most toxic at 720.553 ppm at 72 hours.

This study provides a detailed description of Adoretus hirsutus (Ohaus, 1914) (Coleoptera:Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae), as a first record in Iraq. Between March and July 2022, we collected specimens from various weed flowers in different locations within the Erbil Governorate, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. According to molecular analysis, Adoretus hirsutus was used as a source of samples for PCR amplification of the fragments (710 bp) of the mtCOI gene for phylogenetic analysis. To compare the nucleotide sequence with those of other insect species, a section of the mtCOI gene from the collected insect was aligned with the NCBI GenBank database using the BLAST tool. The BLAST results showed that the second record in the NCBI GenBank identity of insects. The COI sequence of Adoretus hirsutus was submitted to GenBank with accession numbers OQ4288117, OQ428818, and OQ428819. The morphological diagnostic characteristics of the species are; Labrum nearly cup shaped, lateral margins moderately concave with a row of small spines, median apical projection overhanging the mentum. Mandibles irregular shaped, apically with single oval shaped tooth. Terminal maxillary palpomere 1.5 times as long as the 2nd. Antenna brown, consisting of 10 antennomeres ending in a unilateral three lamellated club, equal in length. Outer margin of fore tibia with three acute teeth. Aedagaeus moderately curved, parameres elongated oval, apical part is very acute. Some important parts such as labrum, mandible, antenna, fore legs, elytra, pygidium and male genitalia have been photographed.

Transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) help identify disease causing genes, but often fail to pinpoint disease mechanisms at the cellular level because of the limited sample sizes and sparsity of cell-type-specific expression data. Here we propose scPrediXcan which integrates state-of-the-art deep learning approaches that predict epigenetic features from DNA sequences with the canonical TWAS framework. Our prediction approach, ctPred, predicts cell-type-specific expression with high accuracy and captures complex gene regulatory grammar that linear models overlook. Applied to type 2 diabetes and systemic lupus erythematosus, scPrediXcan outperformed the canonical TWAS framework by identifying more candidate causal genes, explaining more genome-wide association studies (GWAS) loci, and providing insights into the cellular specificity of TWAS hits. Overall, our results demonstrate that scPrediXcan represents a significant advance, promising to deepen our understanding of the cellular mechanisms underlying complex diseases., Competing Interests: Declaration of Interests Authors declare no conflict of interests.

Background: Lactococcus species are used to ferment milk to yogurt, cheese, and other products. The gram-positive coccus causes diseases in amphibia and fish and is a rare human pathogen. Patients and Methods: A 51-year-old male underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute and chronic calculous cholecystitis. Lactococcus lactis was isolated from pus from his gallbladder empyema. Results: Our institutional database was searched for other cases of Lactococcus spp. infections and four patients (2 males, 2 females; aged 51, 64, 78, and 80 years) were identified during a four-year period. The three other patients had positive blood cultures associated with pneumonia, toxic megacolon, and severe gastroenteritis. All isolates were monocultures with Lactococcus lactis (2), Lactococcus garvieae (1) and Lactococcus raffinolactis (1). Two patients died related to their sepsis. We report the second case of cholecystitis involving Lactococcus . Conclusions: Lactococcus is a very rare pathogen mainly causing blood stream infections but needs to be considered to cause serious surgical infections in humans.

Antituberculosis drugs, mostly developed over 60 years ago, combined with a poorly effective vaccine, have failed to eradicate tuberculosis. More worryingly, multiresistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) are constantly emerging. Innovative strategies are thus urgently needed to improve tuberculosis treatment. Recently, host-directed therapy has emerged as a promising strategy to be used in adjunct with existing or future antibiotics, by improving innate immunity or limiting immunopathology. Here, using high-content imaging, we identified novel 1,2,4-oxadiazole-based compounds, which allow human macrophages to control MTB replication. Genome-wide gene expression analysis revealed that these molecules induced zinc remobilization inside cells, resulting in bacterial zinc intoxication. More importantly, we also demonstrated that, upon treatment with these novel compounds, MTB became even more sensitive to antituberculosis drugs, in vitro and in vivo, in a mouse model of tuberculosis. Manipulation of heavy metal homeostasis holds thus great promise to be exploited to develop host-directed therapeutic interventions., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Maure et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Humans display remarkable interindividual variation in their immune response to identical challenges. Yet, our understanding of the genetic and epigenetic factors contributing to such variation remains limited. Here we performed in-depth genetic, epigenetic and transcriptional profiling on primary macrophages derived from individuals of European and African ancestry before and after infection with influenza A virus. We show that baseline epigenetic profiles are strongly predictive of the transcriptional response to influenza A virus across individuals. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping revealed highly coordinated genetic effects on gene regulation, with many cis-acting genetic variants impacting concomitantly gene expression and multiple epigenetic marks. These data reveal that ancestry-associated differences in the epigenetic landscape can be genetically controlled, even more than gene expression. Lastly, among QTL variants that colocalized with immune-disease loci, only 7% were gene expression QTL, while the remaining genetic variants impact epigenetic marks, stressing the importance of considering molecular phenotypes beyond gene expression in disease-focused studies., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is an immune-mediated disease of the bile ducts that co-occurs with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in almost 90% of cases. Colorectal cancer is a major complication of patients with PSC and IBD, and these patients are at a much greater risk compared to patients with IBD without concomitant PSC. Combining flow cytometry, bulk and single-cell transcriptomics, and T and B cell receptor repertoire analysis of right colon tissue from 65 patients with PSC, 108 patients with IBD and 48 healthy individuals we identified a unique adaptive inflammatory transcriptional signature associated with greater risk and shorter time to dysplasia in patients with PSC. This inflammatory signature is characterized by antigen-driven interleukin-17A (IL-17A) + forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) + CD4 T cells that express a pathogenic IL-17 signature, as well as an expansion of IgG-secreting plasma cells. These results suggest that the mechanisms that drive the emergence of dysplasia in PSC and IBD are distinct and provide molecular insights that could guide prevention of colorectal cancer in individuals with PSC., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Influenza A virus (IAV) infections are frequent every year and result in a range of disease severity. Here, we wanted to explore the potential contribution of transposable elements (TEs) to the variable human immune response. Transcriptome profiling in monocyte-derived macrophages from 39 individuals following IAV infection revealed significant inter-individual variation in viral load post-infection. Using transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing (ATAC-seq), we identified a set of TE families with either enhanced or reduced accessibility upon infection. Of the enhanced families, 15 showed high variability between individuals and had distinct epigenetic profiles. Motif analysis showed an association with known immune regulators (e.g., BATFs, FOSs/JUNs, IRFs, STATs, NFkBs, NFYs, and RELs) in stably enriched families and with other factors in variable families, including KRAB-ZNFs. We showed that TEs and host factors regulating TEs were predictive of viral load post-infection. Our findings shed light on the role TEs and KRAB-ZNFs may play in inter-individual variation in immunity., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Resident-tissue macrophages (RTMs) arise from embryonic precursors 1,2 , yet the developmental signals that shape their longevity remain largely unknown. Here we demonstrate in mice genetically deficient in 12-lipoxygenase and 15-lipoxygenase (Alox15 -/- mice) that neonatal neutrophil-derived 12-HETE is required for self-renewal and maintenance of alveolar macrophages (AMs) during lung development. Although the seeding and differentiation of AM progenitors remained intact, the absence of 12-HETE led to a significant reduction in AMs in adult lungs and enhanced senescence owing to increased prostaglandin E 2 production. A compromised AM compartment resulted in increased susceptibility to acute lung injury induced by lipopolysaccharide and to pulmonary infections with influenza A virus or SARS-CoV-2. Our results highlight the complexity of prenatal RTM programming and reveal their dependency on in trans eicosanoid production by neutrophils for lifelong self-renewal., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

There is growing recognition that regionalization of bacterial colonization and immunity along the intestinal tract has an important role in health and disease. Yet, the mechanisms underlying intestinal regionalization and its dysregulation in disease are not well understood. This study found that regional epithelial expression of the transcription factor GATA4 controls bacterial colonization and inflammatory tissue immunity in the proximal small intestine by regulating retinol metabolism and luminal IgA. Furthermore, in mice without jejunal GATA4 expression, the commensal segmented filamentous bacteria promoted pathogenic inflammatory immune responses that disrupted barrier function and increased mortality upon Citrobacter rodentium infection. In celiac disease patients, low GATA4 expression was associated with metabolic alterations, mucosal Actinobacillus, and increased IL-17 immunity. Taken together, these results reveal broad impacts of GATA4-regulated intestinal regionalization on bacterial colonization and tissue immunity, highlighting an elaborate interdependence of intestinal metabolism, immunity, and microbiota in homeostasis and disease., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) comprises rare inherited disorders of immunity that require definitive treatment through hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) or gene therapy for survival. Despite successes of allogeneic HCT, many SCID patients experience incomplete immune reconstitution, persistent T-cell lymphopenia, and poor long-term outcomes., Objective: We hypothesized that CD4 + T-cell lymphopenia could be associated with a state of T-cell exhaustion in previously transplanted SCID patients., Methods: We analyzed markers of exhaustion in blood samples from 61 SCID patients at a median of 10.4 years after HCT., Results: Compared to post-HCT SCID patients with normal CD4 + T-cell counts, those with poor T-cell reconstitution showed lower frequency of naive CD45RA + /CCR7 + T cells, recent thymic emigrants, and TCR excision circles. They also had a restricted TCR repertoire, increased expression of inhibitory receptors (PD-1, 2B4, CD160, BTLA, CTLA-4), and increased activation markers (HLA-DR, perforin) on their total and naive CD8 + T cells, suggesting T-cell exhaustion and aberrant activation, respectively. The exhaustion score of CD8 + T cells was inversely correlated with CD4 + T-cell count, recent thymic emigrants, TCR excision circles, and TCR diversity. Exhaustion scores were higher among recipients of unconditioned HCT, especially when further in time from HCT. Patients with fewer CD4 + T cells showed a transcriptional signature of exhaustion., Conclusions: Recipients of unconditioned HCT for SCID may develop late post-HCT T-cell exhaustion as a result of diminished production of T-lineage cells. Elevated expression of inhibitory receptors on their T cells may be a biomarker of poor long-term T-cell reconstitution., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)