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Rapamycin, unlike cyclosporine A, does not inhibit the function of CD4(+)CD25(+) Tregs. This implies that rapamycin could contribute to the development of transplantation tolerance by promoting the induction of functional CD4(+)CD25(+) Tregs. Moreover, our results suggest that rapamycin could be combined with functional Tregs.

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Bacteriophages (viruses of bacteria) are currently considered a promising means of treating antibiotic-resistant infections. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the intensity of the whole-blood monocyte and neutrophil respiratory burst induced by purified preparations and lysates of the bacteriophages T4 and A3/R. While A3/R phage preparations did not induce a significant respiratory burst, T4 phage preparations increased the production of reactive oxygen species in a dose-dependent manner. However, the intensity of the phage-induced respiratory burst was much lower than that triggered by heat-inactivated Staphylococcus aureus cells. These results suggest that phage preparations are not likely to induce oxidative stress following their administration to patients.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of A3R phage and Staphylococcus aureus lysate obtained after phage infection on neutrophil degranulation. The exocytosis of primary and secondary granules from neutrophils was investigated in vitro in whole blood specimens by flow cytometry based on the expression of specific markers of exocytosis (CD63 for primary granules and CD66b for secondary granules). We found that both A3R and S. aureus lysate had no significant effect on the exocytosis of primary and secondary granules. These data suggest that neither A3R virions nor any products of phage-induced lysis of S. aureus are likely to induce neutrophil degranulation in patients who are treated with phage preparations. Since neutrophil granules contain some potentially toxic proteins, our results provide an important argument for the safety of phage therapy. Moreover, these data indicate that the induction of neutrophil degranulation is not likely to contribute to antibacterial effects of phages.

Muscle fibre formation takes place during embryonic development and is regulated by the MyoD gene family, which consists of four genes, MYOD1, myogenin, MYF5 and MRF4. A relationship was studied between MYOD1, myogenin and MYF5 genotypes and microstructural characteristics of the m. longissimus lumborum in pigs – crosses: Pietrain × (Polish Large White × Polish Landrace). The data included 115 unrelated animals slaughtered at about 105 kg live body weight. Within 45 min after exsanguination, samples were taken from the m. longissimus lumborum, frozen in liquid nitrogen and later analysed for the diameter of slow-twitch oxidative, fast-twitch oxidative and fast-twitch low-oxidative fibres, their proportion in a bundle, the proportion of pathological changes and number of fibres per unit area. The RYR1 and MyoD genotypes were determined using the PCR-RFLP technique. A significant or highly significant relation was observed between the diameter of all types of muscle fibres and genotype RYR1 – the highest values were recorded for homozygotes TT (genetically stress-sensitive). A relation between MyoD genotypes and microstructural characteristics of the m. longissimus lumborum was analysed on a group of 93 animals of the genotype CC or CT at locus RYR1. Sex appeared to have no significant effect on the muscle microstructural traits in this group of animals. The content of fast-twitch oxidative fibres (FTO) was significantly related to the MYF5 genotype, whereas that of fast-twitch low-oxidative fibres (FT) was affected by the MYOD1 and MYF5/DdeI genotypes. The proportion of angular fibres in a bundle was related to MYF5/HinfI genotype. The results showed that MyoD genes could be considered as candidate genes for some microstructural characteristics of m. longissimus lumborum in pigs.  

Samples of the M. longissimus dorsi from growing up pigs were taken by a shooting-biopsy. The types of muscle-fibers could be demonstrated by two different histochemical staining procedures. With these two histochemical staining procedures significant differences between the different structure of the muscle-fibers during increasing age of the pigs could be detected.