Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Case Of A Male With Fever And Fatigue, Steve Ting

The Medicine Forum

This is a case of a 78 year old Caucasian gentleman who presented to the hospital in the early summer with complaints of high fevers and progressive fatigue. The patient lives near Philadelphia and enjoys doing yard work. He reported finding a tick attached to the skin near his groin approximately 3 weeks prior to admission. The tick was removed; however the patient was unsure of the duration of the tick attachment. He also denied developing any significant rash in that area. He had no recent sick contacts and no recent history of travel. He began developing fever spikes up …

Human Cytomegalovirus Induces Tlr4 Signaling Components In Monocytes Altering Tirap, Tram And Downstream Interferon-Beta And Tnf-Alpha Expression., Kok-Hooi Yew, Cory Carpenter, R Scott Duncan, Christopher J. Harrison

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Using TLR pathways, primary human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) induces innate responses including the production of inflammatory cytokines. Mounting evidence suggests that LPS recognition by TLR4/MD2/CD14 results in differential utilization of TIRAP-TRAF6 and TRAM-TRIF signaling, thereby leading to transcriptional activation of various cytokine genes. However, relative roles of the TLR4/MD2/CD14 complex and its adaptor proteins TIRAP and TRAM involved in regulating monocyte responses to HCMV are incomplete. Here, we provided evidence supporting the notion that the TLR4/MD2/CD14 complex contributes notably to HCMV-induced signaling and subsequent cytokine production in monocytes. In particular, induction of both IL-6 and IL-8 is associated with elevated TIRAP …

Epoxide-Mediated Cifr Repression Of Cif Gene Expression Utilizes Two Binding Sites In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Alicia E. Ballok, Christopher D. Bahl, Emily L. Dolben, Allia K. Lindsay, Jessica D. St. Laurent, Deborah Hogan, Dean Madden, George A. O'Toole

Dartmouth Scholarship

Pseudomonas aeruginosa secretes an epoxide hydrolase virulence factor that reduces the apical membrane expression of ABC transporters such as the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). This virulence factor, named CFTR inhibitory factor (Cif), is regulated by a TetR-family, epoxide-responsive repressor known as CifR via direct binding and repression. We identified two sites of CifR binding in the intergenic space between cifR and morB, the first gene in the operon containing the cif gene. We have mapped these binding sites and found they are 27 bp in length, and they overlap the -10 and +1 sites of both the cifR …

Selective Impact Of Hiv Disease Progression On The Innate Immune System In The Human Female Reproductive Tract, Timothy Lahey, Mimi Ghosh, John V. Fahey, Zheng Shen, Lucy R. Mukura, Yan Song, Susan Cu-Uvin, Kenneth H. Mayer, Peter F. Wright, John C. Kappes, Christina Ochsenbauer, Charles R. Wira

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: We have previously demonstrated intrinsic anti-HIV activity in cervicovaginal lavage (CVL) from HIV-infected women with high CD4 counts and not on antiretroviral therapy. However, the impact of HIV disease progression on CVL innate immune responses has not been delineated.

Methods: CVL from 57 HIV-infected women not on antiretroviral therapy were collected by washing the cervicovaginal area with 10 ml of sterile normal saline. We characterized subject HIV disease progression by CD4 count strata: >500 cells/µl, 200-500 cells/µl, or <200 cells/µl of blood. To assess CVL anti-HIV activity, we incubated TZM-bl cells with HIV plus or minus CVL. Antimicrobials, cytokines, chemokines and anti-gp160 HIV IgG antibodies were measured by ELISA and Luminex.