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.

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.

SummaryObjective: To describe the prevalence of cardiac abnormalities in the echocardiogram of children with AIDS followed up in a reference service at 18± months of AIDS confirmed diagnosis.Methods: A cross-section study with a cohort after 18± months of AIDS diagnosis. The study included a total of 93 children with a confirmed diagnosis of AIDS with vertical transmission, with no malignancies and who underwent echocardiogram (echo) during cardiologic evaluation. Cardiac abnormalities were assessed in patients who were not treated (G1) and patients who were treated (G2) with combination antiretroviral therapy.Results: When diagnosed with AIDS, the children were on average 3.07 years old and 50.50% were female. The combination regimen with antiretroviral agents was used by 47 patients (G2).