Erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) is characterized by a deficiency of ferrochelatase the final enzyme of the heme biosynthetic pathway. Patients with EPP may overproduce protoporphyrin IX, chiefly in developing erythrocytes. In some, protoporphyrin accumulates and causes toxicity, particularly to the skin and liver. Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) treats the severe liver disease that sometimes occurs in EPP; however, it does not correct the underlying metabolic disorder. We recently reported a patient with EPP who was improved with plasmapheresis and i.v. heme-albumin before OLT. Subsequently he developed histological and biochemical evidence of recurrent hepatotoxicity from protoporphyrin in the graft liver. We now report successful treatment of the patient with additional plasmapheresis and heme-albumin with improvement of hepatic histological and biochemical abnormalities. We conclude that plasmapheresis and heme-albumin are of benefit in EPP complicated by hepatotoxicity before and after liver transplantation.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is one of the most economically important swine pathogens because it is highly infectious and causes economic losses due to decreased pig productivity. In this study, the 603 bp complete major envelope protein encoding gene (ORF5) of 32 field PRRSV isolates from Vietnam collected during 2008-2012 were sequenced and analyzed. Multiple nucleotide (nt) and deduced amino acid (aa) alignments of ORF5 were performed on the 32 isolates: the representative strains (European and North American genotypes), Chinese strains available in GenBank and vaccine strains licensed for use in Vietnam. The results showed 94.8-100.0% nt identity and 94.0-100% aa similarity among the 32 isolates. These isolates shared similarities with the prototype of the North American PRRSV strain (VR-2332; nt 87.8-89.3%, aa 87.5-90.0%), and Lelystat virus, the prototype of the European PRRSV strain (LV; nt 61.1-61.9%, aa 55.1-57.0%). There was greater similarity with QN07 (nt 96.5-98.5%, aa 96.0-99.0%) from the 2007 PRRS outbreak in QuangNam Province, CH-1a (nt 93.2-95.1%, 91.5-93.5%) isolated in China in 1995 and JXA1 (nt 96.5-98.6%, aa 95.0-98.0%), the highly pathogenic strain from China isolated in 2006. The Vietnamese isolates were more similar to JXA1-R (nt 96.5-98.6%, aa 95.0-98.0%), the strain used in Chinese vaccines, than to Ingelvac MLV/BSL-PS (nt 87.2-89.0%, aa 86.0-89.0%). Phylogenetic analysis showed that the 32 isolates were of the North American genotype and classified into sub-lineage 8.7. This sub-lineage contains highly pathogenic Chinese PRRSV strains. This study documents genetic variation in circulating PRRSV strains and could assist more effective use of PRRS vaccines in Vietnam.

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BackgroundThe complement system is an evolutionary ancient mechanism that plays an essential role in innate immunity and contributes to the acquired immune response. Three modes of activation, known as classical, alternative and lectin pathway, lead to the initiation of a common terminal lytic pathway. The terminal complement components (TCCs: C6, C7, C8A, C8B, and C9) are encoded by the genes C6, C7, C8A, C8B, C8G, and C9. We aimed at experimentally testing the porcine genes encoding TCCs as candidate genes for immune competence and disease resistance by addressing the three-way relationship of genotype, health related phenotype, and mRNA expression.ResultsComparative sequencing of cDNAs of animals of the breeds German Landrace, Piétrain, Hampshire, Duroc, Vietnamese Potbelly Pig, and Berlin Miniature Pig (BMP) revealed 30 SNPs (21 in protein domains, 12 with AA exchange). The promoter regions (each ~1.5 kb upstream the transcription start sites) of C6, C7, C8A, C8G, and C9 exhibited 29 SNPs. Significant effects of the TCC encoding genes on hemolytic complement activity were shown in a cross of Duroc and BMP after vaccination against Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, Aujeszky disease virus and PRRSV by analysis of variance using repeated measures mixed models. Family based association tests (FBAT) confirmed the associations. The promoter SNPs were associated with the relative abundance of TCC transcripts obtained by real time RT-PCR of 311 liver samples of commercial slaughter pigs. Complement gene expression showed significant relationship with the prevalence of acute and chronic lung lesions.ConclusionsThe analyses point to considerable variation of the porcine TCC genes and promote the genes as candidate genes for disease resistance.