The balance between effector and regulatory responses after Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection may dictate outcome and progression to active disease. We investigated effector and regulatory T cell responses in bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells and whole blood cultures from persons with active tuberculosis (TB), persons with TB at the end of 6 months of treatment, and healthy control subjects with latent TB infection. All 3 groups displayed BCG-induced increases in effector and regulatory T cell phenotypes as defined by CD4(+)CD25(lo) and CD4(+)CD25(hi) T cells, respectively. In case patients with active disease, BCG stimulation induced the lowest increase of CD25, CD4(+)CD25(hi), CTLA-4, and interferon- gamma . However, these case patients expressed the highest mRNA levels of forkhead box P3, transforming growth factor (TGF)- beta , and interleukin (IL)-4 and a lower T-bet : GATA-3 ratio. There were no significant differences in IL-4 delta 2, IL-10, or TGF- beta receptor-II mRNA expression between groups. Together, these results suggest that immunosuppression seen after mycobacterial stimulation in case patients with active TB is associated with naturally occurring regulatory T cells.

In the present study, genetic analyses of diversity and differentiation were performed on four Basque-Navarrese semiferal native horse breeds. In total, 417 animals were genotyped for 12 microsatellite markers. Mean heterozygosity was higher than in other horse breeds, surely as a consequence of management. Although the population size of some of these breeds has declined appreciably in the past century, no genetic bottleneck was detected in any of the breeds, possibly because it was not narrow enough to be detectable. In the phylogenetic tree, the Jaca Navarra breed was very similar to the Pottoka, but appeared to stand in an intermediate position between this and the meat breeds. Assuming that Pottoka is the breed less affected by admixture, the others gradually distanced themselves from it through varying influences from outside breeds, among other factors. In a comparative study with other breeds, the French breeds Ardanais, Comtois, and Breton were the closest to the four native breeds. Three different approaches for evaluating the distribution of genetic diversity were applied. The high intrabreed variability of Euskal Herriko Mendiko Zaldia (EHMZ) was pointed out in these analyses. In our opinion, cultural, economic, and scientific factors should also be considered in the management of these horse breeds.

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A random sample of 586 Basque individuals from the province of Gipuzkoa was studied for 16 genetic systems: A1A2B0, Rh, MNSs, P, Lewis, Duffy, Kell, GC, TF, AAT, ACP, AK, ADA, ESD, HP and PGM1. The results of this study indicate that the Basque population of Gipuzkoa presents certain differential values with respect to other Basque series, such as maximum values for RH*cde, AK*2 and PGM1*2+ and minimum for PGM1*1-, while the remaining alleles are located within the range of values found in the Basque population to date. It is suggested that there is intraprovincial heterogeneity, as described for Bizkaia by Aguirre et al. in 1991, and the existence of heterogeneity within the Basque population on an inter-provincial level, backing up previous studies in this respect (by Aguirre et al. in 1989 and Manzano et al. 1993).

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In the Western Pyrenees, three out of four native cattle breeds are in grave danger of extinction. Genetic variation of all four breeds was assessed by analyzing 478 animals using 11 microsatellite markers. A moderate/high within-breed variability was found, a favorable factor to consider when planning conservation and improvement programs. Interestingly, the only selected commercial breed, the Pirenaica, showed depressed heterozygosity levels and a low average number of alleles, perhaps explainable by intensive human selection exacerbated by a bottleneck effect. The Pirenaica also exhibited pronounced genetic differences and was the largest contributor of diversity among the breeds from the Western Pyrenees. Among endangered cattle breeds from this region, our results highlight the singularity of the Betizu. Geographic isolation among herds may be responsible for the large F(IS) value found in the Betizu breed. Lastly, our study suggests that the use of highly selected breeds may be one of the causes of distortion in phylogenetic analyses.

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