BackgroundDuchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. The immune inflammatory response also contributes to disease progression in DMD patients. In a previous study, we demonstrated higher levels of circulating CD49dhi and CD49ehi T cells in DMD patients compared to healthy control. DMD patients are clinically heterogeneous and the functional defect cannot be correlated with genotype. Therefore, it is important to be able to define reliable noninvasive biomarkers to better define the disease progression at the beginning of clinical trials.ResultsWe studied 75 DMD patients at different stages of their disease and observed that increased percentages of circulating CD4+CD49dhi and CD8+CD49dhi T lymphocytes were correlated with both severity and a more rapid progression of the disease. Moreover, T+CD49d+ cells were also found in muscular inflammatory infiltrates. Functionally, T cells from severely affected patients exhibited higher transendothelial and fibronectin-driven migratory responses and increased adhesion to myotubes, when compared to control individuals. These responses could be blocked with an anti-CD49d monoclonal antibody.ConclusionCD49d can be used as a novel biomarker to stratify DMD patients by predicting disease progression for clinical trials. Moreover, anti-CD49d peptides or antibodies can be used as a therapeutic approach to decrease inflammation-mediated tissue damage in DMD.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13395-015-0066-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Strict and facultative culturable anaerobic bacteria from the digestive tract of six American black vultures (Coragyps atratus Bechstein 1793) were isolated and identified. After capture, the birds received a noncontaminated diet for one week to eliminate possible allochthonous microorganisms. Then, specimens collected from tongue, stomach and intestines were weighed, submitted to decimal dilution in an anaerobic chamber, inoculated into culture media and incubated aerobically and anaerobically at 37ºC for enumeration, isolation and identification. Isolated bacteria were submitted to tests to detect possible antagonisms between them. The total bacterial population along the digestive tract ranged from 3.46 ± 0.39 log CFU/g in the stomach to 10.75 ± 0.37 log CFU/g in the distal intestine. Some bacteria were isolated for the first time from the digestive tract of C. atratus: Actinomyces bovis, Lactobacillus cellobiosus, Micrococcus luteus, Neisseria sicca, Clostridium bifermentans, Enterobacter agglomerans, Peptostreptococcus sp., Sarcina sp., Serratia odorifera, and Shigella flexneri. Associations between microorganisms were observed during isolation on two occasions, one involving A. bovis and N. sicca, and the other involving A. bovis and a Gram-negative rod. Hetero-, iso-and autoantagonisms were observed, suggesting the ecological role of these indigenous microorganisms in terms of population auto-control and environmental barrier in the digestive tract of carrionfeeding birds.

The expression and function of integrin-type extracellular matrix receptors, VLA-4 and VLA-5, and laminin receptor VLA-6 on the surface of CD3(+)CD4(+) and CD3(+)CD8(+) defined T cell populations was evaluated in the blood of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients and healthy individuals. Both the number of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell subsets expressing VLA-4 or VLA-5 and the fibronectin-driven T cell migration was significantly higher in DMD patients. These data indicate that interactions of VLA-4 and/or VLA-5 with fibronectin may drive T lymphocytes to specific niches within muscle, contributing to tissue damage and fibrosis in DMD patients.

The detection of water contamination with Legionella pneumophila is of critical importance to manufacturers of water processing equipment and public health entities dealing with water networks and distribution systems. Detection methods based on polymerase chain reaction or biosensor technologies require preconcentration steps to achieve attractive sensitivity levels. Preconcentration must also be included in protocols of automated collection of water samples by systems designed for quasi-continuous monitoring of remotely located water reservoirs for the presence of L. pneumophila. We designed and characterized a water sampling module for filtration and backwashing intended for analysis of low-to-medium contaminated water, typically with L. pneumophila bacteria not exceeding 50 colony-forming units per milliliter. The concentration factors of 10× and 21× were achieved with 0.22 and 0.45 µm filters, respectively, for samples of bacteria prepared in clean saline solutions. However, a 5× concentration factor was achieved with 0.45 µm filters for a heavily contaminated or turbid water typical of some industrial water samples.

Heteroantagonismo entre estirpes de Enterobacter agglomerans isoladas de urubu (Coragyps atratus) como produtoras e Pseudomonas aeruginosa como reveladoras