Increasing attention has been directed to cytotoxic CD4+ T cells (CD4CTLs) in different pathologies, both in humans and mice. The impact of CD4CTLs in immunity and the mechanisms controlling their generation, however, remain poorly understood. Here, we show that CD4CTLs abundantly differentiate during mouse infection with the intracellular parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. CD4CTLs display parallel kinetics to Th1 cells in the spleen, mediate specific cytotoxicity against cells presenting pathogen-derived antigens and express immunoregulatory and/or exhaustion markers. We demonstrate that CD4CTL absolute numbers and activity are severely reduced in both Myd88-/- and Il18ra-/- mice. Of note, the infection of mixed-bone marrow chimeras revealed that WT but not Myd88-/- cells transcribe the CD4CTL gene signature and that Il18ra-/- and Myd88-/- CD4+ T cells phenocopy each other. Moreover, adoptive transfer of WT CD4+GzB+ T cells to infected Il18ra-/- mice extended their survival. Importantly, cells expressing the CD4CTL phenotype predominate among CD4+ T cells infiltrating the infected mouse cardiac tissue and are increased in the blood of Chagas patients, in which the frequency of CD4CTLs correlates with the severity of cardiomyopathy. Our findings describe CD4CTLs as a major player in immunity to a relevant human pathogen and disclose T-cell intrinsic IL-18R/MyD88 signaling as a key pathway controlling the magnitude of the CD4CTL response.

Tibolone, a synthetic steroid, is used in the treatment of natural or surgical menopause disturbs resultant of estrogenic deficiency. Isotibolone (Δ4-tibolone) is one of the three active metabolic degradation products of tibolone that displays progestagenic effects on carcinoma cell growth and gene regulation. Isotibolone can be present in raw material of tibolone due to some inadequate synthesis or storage. Its presence is necessary to be identified and quantified in active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), before its use in the manufacturing of medicines. After a recent study on the crystal structure determination of isotibolone, quantitative phase analyses of both tibolone and isotibolone in raw materials and tablets became possible to be conducted. X-ray powder diffraction is one recommended tool for this purpose, but it can be highly frustrating due to the extreme peak overlap when conventional laboratory equipments are used. In this work we show that the use of Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source X-ray powder diffraction data and the Rietveld method can be successfully applied to identify and quantify the isotibolone in two samples of tibolone raw materials.

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SAÚDE DO HOMEM: IMPACTOS RELACIONADOS AO GÊNERO DIANTE DO COVID 19izane caroline borba pires anna clara menezes padovani andreza fernanda matias amaral luana maria da silva rodrigues

Increasing attention has been directed to cytotoxic CD4+ T cells (CD4CTLs) in different pathologies, both in humans and mice. The impact of CD4CTLs in immunity and the mechanisms controlling their generation, however, remain poorly understood. Here, for the first time, we showed that CD4CTLs abundantly differentiate during mouse infection with an intracellular parasite. CD4CTLs appear in the spleen in parallel to Th1 cells, display pathogen-derived peptide-specific cytotoxicity against antigen-presenting cells and express immunoregulatory and/or exhaustion markers. We demonstrated that CD4CTL absolute numbers and activity are severely reduced in both Myd88-/- and Il18ra-/- mice. Of note, the infection of mixed-bone marrow chimeras revealed that WT, but not Myd88-/-, cells transcribe the CD4CTL gene signature and that Il18ra-/-CD4+ phenocopy Myd88-/-CD4+ T cells. Moreover, the adoptive transfer of WT CD4+GzB+ T cells to susceptible Il18ra-/- mice increased their survival. Importantly, cells expressing the CD4CTL phenotype predominate among CD4+ T cells infiltrating the infected cardiac tissue, are increased in the circulation of Chagas patients and their frequency correlates with severe cardiomyopathy. Our findings describe CD4CTLs as a major player in immune response to a relevant human pathogen and disclose T-cell intrinsic IL-18R/MyD88 signaling as a key pathway controlling the magnitude of the CD4CTL response.