Immunosenescence studies of age-related immune system damage focused on clinical lymphopenic situations or androgenic blockade have revealed new insights about adult human immune reconstitution. However, as far as we know, the extent of lymphopoiesis in the thymus of elderly humans remains unclear. To this effect, we have analyzed 65 adult human thymuses (from 36 to 81 years; median age 68.6 years) obtained from patients who underwent cardiac surgery. Our results show a correlation between CD4 + CD8 + double-positive (DP) cells and both the age (inverse) and percentage (direct) of peripheral naive T cells, indicating that the thymus is still able to affect the peripheral lymphocyte pool even in the elderly. We also found significant correlation between the degree of thymopoiesis and the inflammation markers, as shown by the inverse correlations between DP and the percentage of neutrophils and IL-6 levels and the percentage of peripheral lymphocytes. Furthermore, in a multivariate linear regression the percentage of DP and IL-7 levels, but not age, were independently associated with the percentage of neutrophils. In conclusion, the thymus maintains, even in the elderly, an active thymopoiesis that rejuvenates the peripheral naive T-cell pool. Moreover, age-related thymopoietic decay is associated with the peripheral inflammation markers.

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Objective: The aim of the study was to determine whether regional cerebral blood flow in survivors of torture suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) differed significantly from that in healthy controls. Method: We examined the cerebral regional distribution of 99m-technetium-hexamethylpropyleneamineoxime (HMPAO) using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in 8 patients and in 8 healthy controls. A semi-quantitative analysis was performed in which symmetrical regions of interest (ROI) were drawn in all subjects. Results: Regional blood flow was markedly more heterogeneous in patients suffering from PTSD than in healthy controls. The differences are significant. Conclusion: Severe psychological trauma induced by torture can cause neurobiologic alterations that may contribute, even years after the original trauma, to a number of complaints commonly expressed by patients suffering from PTSD.

Clin Microbiol Infect 2012; 18: E482–E484 Abstract Cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) are frequently related to endocarditis. Most cases of intravascular CIED infections are usually related to skin flora, but a few cases may occur with negative blood culture. Coxiella burnetii is one of the main causes of blood culture‐negative endocarditis in native and prosthetic valves, but to date no cases related to CIED have been published. Herein we report two cases of Q fever endocarditis related to these non‐valvular cardiovascular devices.

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