No abstract

Objective. Characterization of the abundance, origin, and annexin V (AnxV)-binding capabilities of circulating microparticles (MPs) in SLE patients and healthy controls and to determine any associations with clinical parameters.Methods. Seventy unselected SLE patients and 29 sex-and age-matched healthy control subjects were included in the study. MPs were isolated from citratetreated plasma and characterized by flow cytometry using AnxV or antibodies to platelet, leukocyte, or endothelial cell surface markers.Results. SLE patients had significantly increased concentrations of AnxV-nonbinding (AnxV؊) MPs (P < 0.0001), while the concentrations of total MPs (P ‫؍‬ 0.011) and AnxV-binding (AnxV؉) MPs (P < 0.0001) were decreased, as compared with controls. Based on flow cytometric characteristics, 2 subgroups of AnxV؊ MPs could be discerned: AnxV؊ cell-derived MPs (CDMPs) and AnxV؊ MPs of unknown nature (UNMPs). Both fractions were significantly increased in SLE patients (P ‫؍‬ 0.007 and P ‫؍‬ 0.0018, respectively). Platelet-and leukocyte-derived MPs were decreased in the SLE patients (P < 0.0001), whereas no difference was observed for endothelial cell-derived MPs (P ‫؍‬ 0.14). The concentrations of AnxV؊ CDMPs correlated with the concentrations of endothelial cell-derived MPs, the disease activity score, active nephritis, hypertension, history of arterial thrombosis, and triglyceride levels (P < 0.05 for all comparisons).Conclusion. The concentrations and composition of MPs in SLE patients differ markedly from those in healthy subjects. Overall MP numbers were significantly decreased, but two distinct subpopulations of AnxV؊ MPs were significantly increased. These findings call for further characterization of MPs in SLE patients to elucidate their role in disease pathogenesis.

A total of 61 individuals involved in five norovirus outbreaks in Denmark were genotyped at nucleotides 428 and 571 of the FUT2 gene, determining secretor status, i.e., the presence of ABH antigens in secretions and on mucosa. A strong correlation (P ‫؍‬ 0.003) was found between the secretor phenotype and symptomatic disease, extending previous knowledge and confirming that nonsense mutations in the FUT2 gene provide protection against symptomatic norovirus (GGII.4) infections.Volunteer studies have shown that a subset of individuals are not affected by vomiting and diarrhea after challenges with noroviruses (1,16,19), and this information, together with the fact that attack rates seldom exceed 70% (4), suggests that inherited factors act to prevent certain individuals from symptomatic norovirus disease. Indeed, experimental and volunteer studies have indicated a correlation between secretor status and susceptibility to Norwalk virus (genogroup I norovirus) infections (3,12,14). These observations were recently confirmed and extended to also include authentic outbreaks by genogroup II viruses (17), which is the clinically most common genogroup of norovirus (9). Current knowledge thus suggests that secretor status determined by polymorphisms in the FUT2 gene is strongly associated with resistance to norovirus infections (3,11,12,17). Further support for this hypothesis is also the fact that nonsecretor and Lewis a-positive individuals have significantly lower antibody prevalence and titer to norovirus GGII than secretor and Lewis b-positive individuals (10). The association between secretor status and norovirus susceptibility is not fully understood, but transfection of the FUT2 gene to nonpermissive cells has been shown to increase cell susceptibility to norovirus infection (14), suggesting that the H antigen or a related structure acts as a receptor for the virus.FUT2 encodes an ␣(1,2)fucosyltransferase, which adds a fucose molecule to the H-type 1 precursor, giving the H-type 1 antigen. H-type 1 can, in contrast to its precursor, work as a precursor for the A and B blood group antigens. FUT2 determines the secretor status, which is the presence or absence of blood group ABH antigens on mucosal surfaces and in secretions such as saliva (5). Individuals carrying the secretor genotypes (SeSe or Sese) secrete the H antigen with or without A and/or B antigens, while individuals of the nonsecretor genotype (sese) do not. The polymorphisms found in the FUT2 gene show high ethnic specificity (8, 13), with a nonsense mutation at nucleotide 428 associated with the Caucasian populations (5, 8) The majority of the positive samples (90%) were submitted from hospitals, representing at least 30 different hospitals and situated in all parts of Denmark. For detection of norovirus in stool samples, purified viral RNA was reverse transcribed and PCR amplified (RT-PCR kit; QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany) by using the primers JV12 and JV13 essentially as described earlier (17,18). The PCR products (285 bp after trimming of the primer se...

A reporting system could provide early warning.

Porcine sapovirus is an enteric calicivirus in domestic pigs that belongs to the family Caliciviridae. Some porcine sapoviruses are genetically related to human caliciviruses, which has raised public health concerns over animal reservoirs and the potential cross-species transmission of sapoviruses. We report on the incidence, genetic diversity, and molecular epidemiology of sapoviruses detected in domestic pigs in a comprehensive study conducted in six European countries (Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, and Spain) between 2004 and 2007. A total of 1,050 swine fecal samples from 88 pig farms were collected and tested by reverse transcription-PCR for sapoviruses, and positive findings were confirmed by sequencing. Sapoviruses were detected in 80 (7.6%) samples collected on 39 (44.3%) farms and in every country. The highest prevalence was seen among piglets aged 2 to 8 weeks, and there was no significant difference in the proportion of sapoviruspositive findings for healthy animals and animals with diarrhea in Spain and Denmark (the only countries where both healthy animals and animals with diarrhea were tested). On the basis of the sequence of the RNA polymerase region, highly heterogeneous populations of viruses representing six different genogroups (genogroups III, VI, VII, and VIII, including potential new genogroups IX and X) were identified, with a predominance of genogroup GIII (50.6%). Genogroup VIII, found in five of the six countries, had the highest degree of homology (up to 66% at the amino acid level) to human sapovirus strains. Sapoviruses are commonly circulating and endemic agents in swine herds throughout Europe. Highly heterogeneous and potential new genogroups of sapoviruses were found in pigs; however, no "human-like" sapoviruses were detected.