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Aims/hypothesis: We previously demonstrated hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) gene therapy was able to induce regression of glomerulosclerosis in diabetic nephropathy through local reparative mechanisms. The aim of this study was to test whether bone-marow-derived cells are also involved in this HGF-induced reparative process. Methods: We have created chimeric db/db mice as a model of diabetes that produce enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in bone marrow cells. We performed treatment with HGF gene therapy either alone or in combination with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, in order to induce mobilisation of haematopoietic stem cells in these diabetic and chimeric animals. Results: We find HGF gene therapy enhances renal expression of stromal-cell-derived factor-1 and is subsequently associated with an increased number of bone-marrow-derived cells getting into the injured kidneys. These cells are mainly monocyte-derived macrophages, which may contribute to the renal tissue repair and regeneration consistently observed in our model. Finally, HGF gene therapy is associated with the presence of a small number of Bowman's capsule parietal epithelial cells producing EGFP, suggesting they are fused with bone-marrow-derived cells and are contributing to podocyte repopulation. Conclusions/interpretation: Altogether, our findings provide new evidence about the therapeutic role of HGF and open new opportunities for inducing renal regeneration in diabetic nephropathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Nefrologia is the property of Revista Nefrologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Nefrologia is the property of Revista Nefrologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Some of the psychological effects of viewing bullfights on children 8–12 years old are described. Two hundred and forty subjects (120 girls and 120 boys) aged between eight and twelve from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds were selected from three public or private elementary / secondary schools in Madrid, Spain. The first study used a questionnaire to examine the children's attitudes towards bullfighting by looking at their acceptance and cognitive-emotional appraisal of the event. Videotapes of bullfights with differing commentaries were then used, along with a battery of questionnaires, to assess the emotional impact of these events, as well as the impact of narrative explanations on aggression and anxiety. Most children were not very positive about bullfights in the initial questionnaire. Viewing of tapes with ‘festive’ or aggressive dialogues (but not tapes without a justification) resulted in more expressed aggression in boys than girls. There was also evidence that age had a significant effect, and that some children appeared disturbed by the exposure. Aggr. Behav. 30:16–28, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the editorial regarding clinical research in Spain by Manuel Praga.

The ‘injury hypothesis’ in organ transplantation suggests that ischemia–reperfusion injury is involved in the adaptative alloimmune response. We previously found that a strong immune/inflammatory response was induced by ischemia during kidney transplantation in rats. We show here that immature dendritic cells (DCs) undergo hypoxia-mediated differentiation comparable to allogeneic stimulation. Hypoxia-differentiated DCs overexpress hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and its downstream target genes, such as vascular endothelial growth factor or glucose transporter-1. Rapamycin attenuated DC differentiation, HIF-1α expression, and its target gene expression in a dose-dependent manner along with downregulated interleukin-10 secretion. Coculture of hypoxia-differentiated DCs with CD3 lymphocytes induced proliferation of lymphocytes, a process also neutralized by rapamycin. Furthermore, in vivo examination of ischemia–reperfusion-injured mouse kidneys showed a clear maturation of resident DCs that was blunted by rapamycin pretreatment. Our results suggest that hypoxia is a central part of the ‘injury hypothesis’ triggering DC differentiation under hypoxic conditions. Rapamycin attenuates the hypoxic immune-inflammatory response through inhibition of the HIF-1α pathway.Kidney International (2008) 73, 816–825; doi:10.1038/sj.ki.5002792; published online 23 January 2008 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High human leukocyte antigen (HLA) sensitization limits access to compatible transplantation. New CD38-targeting agents have been shown to reduce anti-HLA antibodies, although with important interpatient variability. Thus, pretreatment identification of responder and nonresponder (NR) patients is needed for treatment decision-making. We analyzed 26 highly sensitized (HS) patients from 2 desensitization trials using anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies. Hierarchical clustering identified 3 serologic responder groups: high responders, low responders, and NR. Spectral flow cytometry and functional HLA-specific memory B cell (mBC) assessment were first conducted on peripheral blood mononuclear cells and bone marrow samples from 16 patients treated with isatuximab (NCT04294459). Isatuximab effectively depleted bone marrow plasma cells, peripheral CD38-expressing plasmablasts, plasma cells, transitional B cells, and class-switch mBCs, ultimately reducing frequencies of HLA-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG)-producing mBCs. Multidimensional spectral flow cytometry with partial least squares discriminant analysis revealed that pretreatment abundance of specific circulating mBC phenotypes, especially CD38neg class-switch mBCs, accurately distinguished between high serologic responders and low responders or NR (AUC 0.958, 0.860-1.000, P = .009), who also displayed significantly lower frequencies of HLA-specific IgG-producing mBCs (P < .0001). This phenotypical mBC signature predicting response to therapy was validated in an external HS patient cohort (n = 10) receiving daratumumab (NCT04204980). This study identifies critical circulating mBC subset phenotypes that distinguish HS patients with successful serologic responses to CD38-targeting desensitization therapies, potentially guiding treatment decision-making., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors of this manuscript have conflicts of interest to disclose as described by the American Journal of Transplantation. H. Lee is a Sanofi employee and may hold stock/stock options in the company. O. Bestard reports patents or royalties from Oxford Immunotec. All the remaining authors have nothing to disclose related to this study., (Copyright © 2024 American Society of Transplantation & American Society of Transplant Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To determine the causative organisms, clinical features and outcome of canine infective endocarditis in the UK., Materials and Methods: Medical records of three veterinary referral hospitals were searched for dogs with infective endocarditis between December 2009 and December 2019. Signalment, clinical signs, causative organism, valve affected, treatment and survival data were recorded., Results: Seventy-seven cases with possible or definite infective endocarditis (according to the modified Duke criteria) were included. The majority were large breed (40/77 - 51.9%). There were 47 of 77 (61%) male dogs and the mean age was 7.3 ±3 years. A causative organism was identified in 26 of 77 (33.8%) cases. The most common organisms were Escherichia coli (7/27 - 25.9%), Pasteurella spp. (5/27 - 18.5%), Staphylococcus spp. (4/27 - 14.8%) and Corynebacterium spp. (4/27 - 14.8%). Bartonella spp. were not detected in any patients. The mitral valve was most commonly affected (48/77 - 62.3%). Clinical features were non-specific, with lethargy being the most common clinical sign observed (53/77 - 68.8%). Fifty-three dogs (68.8%) survived to discharge. The median survival time post discharge was 425 days (2 to 3650 days). The development of congestive heart failure was associated with a poorer outcome. Cardiac troponin concentration, antithrombotic use and the development of thromboembolism or arrhythmias were not significantly associated with outcome., Clinical Significance: Some dogs with infective endocarditis that survive to discharge can have a long lifespan. The inability to detect an underlying organism is common and Bartonella spp. may be a less prevalent cause of canine infective endocarditis in the UK than in the USA., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Small Animal Practice published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Small Animal Veterinary Association.)

Objectives: To design and validate a clinical risk scale for 90-day adverse events after emergency department (ED) discharge of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF)., Material and Methods: Prospective, observational CoSTuM (Spanish acronym for comorbidity, symptoms, treatments, and poor heart rate control) study of patients with AF. We recorded all adverse events occurring during follow-up and used multivariate logistic regression analysis to identify variables independently associated with the occurrence of any such event. A risk model was developed with data from a random sample of 66% of the patients. Data for the remaining patients were used for internal validation of the model., Results: We analyzed data for 645 patients (50.2% women; median [interquartile range] age, 76 (67-81 years). At 90 days, at least 1 adverse event had occurred in 165 patients (25.6%); 114 were in the development sample and 51 were in the validation sample. Independent variables associated with risk for adverse events were age 70 years or older; vascular disease; heart failure; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; kidney disease; obesity; poorly controlled AF symptoms (European Heart Rhythm Association score, III-IV); use of oxygen therapy, digoxin, or other antiarrhythmics in the ED; and poor control of heart rate. The CoSTuM scale based on these variables demonstrated optimal predictive value in both the development sample (c statistic, 0.901; 95% CI, 0.869-0.928; P .001) and the validation sample (c statistic, 0.850, 95% CI, 0.796-0.894; P .001)., Conclusion: The CoSTuM risk score was a good predictor of 90-day adverse events after ED discharge of patients treated for AF.

Bacterial microorganisms which are latent in in vitro cultures can limit the efficiency of in vitro methods for the conservation of genetic resources. In this study we screened 2,373 accessions from the in vitro sweetpotato germplasm collection of the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru for bacteria associated with plantlets in tissue culture through a combination of morphological methods and partial 16S rDNA sequencing. Bacteria were detected in 240 accessions (10% of the accessions screened) and we were able to isolate 184 different bacterial isolates from 177 different accessions. These corresponded to at least nineteen Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) of bacteria, belonging to the genera Sphingomonas , Bacillus , Paenibacillus , Methylobacterium , Brevibacterium , Acinetobacter , Microbacterium , Streptomyces , Staphylococcus , and Janibacter . Specific primers were developed for PCR based diagnostic tests that were able to rapidly detect these bacteria directly from tissue culture plants, without the need of microbial sub-culturing. Based on PCR screening the largest bacterial OTUs corresponded to a Paenibacillus sp. closely related to Paenibacillus taichungensis (41.67%), and Bacillus sp. closely related to Bacillus cereus (22.22%), and Bacillus pumilus (16.67%). Since in vitro plant genetic resources must be microbe-free for international distribution and use, any microbial presence is considered a contamination and therefore it is critical to clean all cultures of these latent-appearing bacteria. To accomplish this, plantlets from in vitro were transferred to soil, watered with Dimanin ® (2 ml/l) weekly and then reintroduced into in vitro . Of the 191 accessions processed for bacterial elimination, 100% tested bacteria-free after treatment. It is suspected that these bacteria may be endosymbionts and some may be beneficial for the plants., (Copyright © 2020 Izarra, Panta, Maza, Zea, Cruzado, Gutarra, Rivera, Ellis and Kreuze.)

Bat acoustic libraries are important tools that assemble echolocation calls to allow the comparison and discrimination to confirm species identifications. The Sonozotz project represents the first nation-wide library of bat echolocation calls for a megadiverse country. It was assembled following a standardized recording protocol that aimed to cover different recording habitats, recording techniques, and call variation inherent to individuals. The Sonozotz project included 69 species of echolocating bats, a high species richness that represents 50% of bat species found in the country. We include recommendations on how the database can be used and how the sampling methods can be potentially replicated in countries with similar environmental and geographic conditions. To our knowledge, this represents the most exhaustive effort to date to document and compile the diversity of bat echolocation calls for a megadiverse country. This database will be useful to address a range of ecological questions including the effects of anthropogenic activities on bat communities through the analysis of bat sound., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2020 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)