Antitoxins are needed that can be produced economically with improved safety and shelf life compared to conventional antisera-based therapeutics. Here we report a practical strategy for development of simple antitoxin therapeutics with substantial advantages over currently available treatments. The therapeutic strategy employs a single recombinant ‘targeting agent’ that binds a toxin at two unique sites and a ‘clearing Ab’ that binds two epitopes present on each targeting agent. Co-administration of the targeting agent and the clearing Ab results in decoration of the toxin with up to four Abs to promote accelerated clearance. The therapeutic strategy was applied to two Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) serotypes and protected mice from lethality in two different intoxication models with an efficacy equivalent to conventional antitoxin serum. Targeting agents were a single recombinant protein consisting of a heterodimer of two camelid anti-BoNT heavy-chain-only Ab VH (VHH) binding domains and two E-tag epitopes. The clearing mAb was an anti-E-tag mAb. By comparing the in vivo efficacy of treatments that employed neutralizing vs. non-neutralizing agents or the presence vs. absence of clearing Ab permitted unprecedented insight into the roles of toxin neutralization and clearance in antitoxin efficacy. Surprisingly, when a post-intoxication treatment model was used, a toxin-neutralizing heterodimer agent fully protected mice from intoxication even in the absence of clearing Ab. Thus a single, easy-to-produce recombinant protein was as efficacious as polyclonal antiserum in a clinically-relevant mouse model of botulism. This strategy should have widespread application in antitoxin development and other therapies in which neutralization and/or accelerated clearance of a serum biomolecule can offer therapeutic benefit.

The Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO, https://www.iddo.org) has launched a clinical data platform for the collation, curation, standardisation and reuse of individual participant data (IPD) on treatments for two of the most globally important neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), schistosomiasis (SCH) and soiltransmitted helminthiases (STHs). This initiative aims to harness the power of data-sharing by facilitating collaborative joint analyses of pooled datasets to generate robust evidence on the efficacy and safety of anthelminthic treatment regimens. A crucial component of this endeavour has been the development of a Research Agenda to

b Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is a major cause of severe food-borne disease worldwide, and two Shiga toxins, Stx1 and Stx2, are primarily responsible for the serious disease consequence, hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). Here we report identification of a panel of heavy-chain-only antibody (Ab) V H (VHH) domains that neutralize Stx1 and/or Stx2 in cell-based assays. VHH heterodimer toxin-neutralizing agents containing two linked Stx1-neutralizing VHHs or two Stx2-neutralizing VHHs were generally much more potent at Stx neutralization than a pool of the two-component monomers tested in cell-based assays and in vivo mouse models. We recently reported that clearance of toxins can be promoted by coadministering a VHHbased toxin-neutralizing agent with an antitag monoclonal antibody (MAb), called the "effector Ab," that indirectly decorates each toxin molecule with four Ab molecules. Decoration occurs because the Ab binds to a common epitopic tag present at two sites on each of the two VHH heterodimer molecules that bind to each toxin molecule. Here we show that coadministration of effector Ab substantially improved the efficacy of Stx toxin-neutralizing agents to prevent death or kidney damage in mice following challenge with Stx1 or Stx2. A single toxin-neutralizing agent consisting of a double-tagged VHH heterotrimer-one Stx1-specific VHH, one Stx2-specific VHH, and one Stx1/Stx2 cross-specific VHH-was effective in preventing all symptoms of intoxication from Stx1 and Stx2 when coadministered with effector Ab. Overall, the availability of simple, defined, recombinant proteins that provide cost-effective protection against HUS opens up new therapeutic approaches to managing disease.

Background: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between chronic cough, pulmonary mechanical function, bronchial hyper-responsiveness, and peripheral airway inflammation in adult performance horses with nonseptic inflammatory airway disease (IAD).Hypothesis: We hypothesized that horses with a presenting complaint of cough have a higher percentage of inflammatory cells on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), greater airway obstruction, and airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR) than do horses without cough.Animals/Sample Population: Adult performance horses (n 5 137) referred for evaluation of signs of IAD including cough or exercise intolerance (university hospital patients) and BAL samples (n 5 142) taken in first opinion practice.Methods: A descriptive, retrospective cohort analysis was performed to evaluate the association between chronic cough and pulmonary mechanical function, AHR, BAL cytology, patient signalment, and comorbid features (multivariable logistic regression).Results: Cough was significantly more prevalent in horses 47 years, and best characterized by a high BAL neutrophil count (45%) and nasal discharge. Lung function mechanics, abnormal thoracic auscultation, and exercise intolerance did not retain statistical significance in the logistical regression analysis of cough. Although AHR was not related to neutrophilic airway inflammation (BAL neutrophils 45%), it was significantly associated with BAL mast cells 42%.Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Our data support that neutrophilic airway inflammation may potentiate cough without further changing respiratory mechanical function in IAD. In contrast, mast cell release increased AHR without affecting the incidence of cough. Cough may be used as an indicator of neutrophilic airway inflammation in the presence of low-grade nonseptic respiratory disease.

SummaryReasons for performing the study: Admission L-lactate concentration is a useful and commonly measured biomarker not previously prospectively evaluated in a large multicentre study of critically ill neonatal foals. Objectives: To evaluate overall outcome and the association of survival and L-lactate concentration at admission ([LAC]ADMIT) by periparturient history, presenting complaint and clinicians' major diagnosis for ill neonatal foals. Methods: Thirteen university and private equine referral hospitals enrolled 643 foals over the 2008 foaling season. Case details, historical, clinical and clinicopathological data were entered into standardised spreadsheets then unified for analysis.

In dogs, obesity appeared to cause airflow limitation during the expiratory phase of breathing, but this was only evident during hyperpnea. This suggests that flow limitation is dynamic and likely occurs in the distal (rather than proximal) portions of the airways. Further studies are warranted to localize the flow-limited segment and understand whether obesity is linked to exercise intolerance via airway dysfunction in dogs.

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Methods were established to maintain epithelial cells and keratocytes in vitro. PDGF-BB and EGF stimulate, while TGF-beta 1 inhibits the proliferation of epithelial cells and keratocytes. These growth factors may play a role in maintenance and repair of the equine cornea.