BACKGROUND: The chemokine CXCL13 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is used as a diagnostic marker of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB). However, the elevated levels in other non-borrelial CNS infections and the lack of a clearly defined cut-off value are limitations of the test. METHODS: In our prospective study, we evaluated CSF CXCL13 levels in patients with LNB (47 patients), tick-borne encephalitis (TBE; 46 patients), enteroviral CNS infections (EV; 45 patients), herpetic CNS infections (HV; 23 patients), neurosyphilis (NS; 11 patients) and controls (46 patients). The correlation of CXCL13 with CSF mononuclears was determined in all groups. RESULTS: Median CXCL13 was significantly higher in LNB group; however, the cut-off value of 162 pg/mL was also exceeded in 22% of TBE patients, 2% EV patients, 44% HV patients and in 55% patients with NS. Sensitivity and specificity were 0.83 and 0.78, respectively, with a Youden index of 0.62. CXCL13 was significantly correlated with CSF mononuclears (p = .0024), but the type of infectious agent had a greater influence on CXCL13 levels. CONCLUSIONS: Increased CXCL13 levels are useful for LNB diagnostics, but other non-purulent CNS infections causes should be considered if intrathecal synthesis of borrelia specific antibodies is not confirmed or clinical manifestations are atypical.
This publication presents the preparation of a certi-fied methodology for in vitrotransdermal absorption test-ing of chemicals and highlights the various pitfalls in their implementation. Vertical diffusion cells (Franz cells) were used to test the dermal absorption of caffeine, benzoic acid, and testosterone across a penetration membrane (porcine ear skin), while the receptor fluid samples were evaluated by HPLC. The designed methodology was certi-fied in 2022 in the Good Laboratory Practice system and will be used at the VUOS Rybitví and at the Medical Faculty of the Charles University in Hradec Králové to assess the dermal absorption of various substances in the environment and occupational surroundings.
Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.
- MeSH
- biodiverzita MeSH
- ekologie MeSH
- ekosystém * MeSH
- přístup k informacím * MeSH
- rostliny MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Chemokine CXCL13 is a strong chemoattractant for leukocytes in the CSF. It has been proven that CSF CXCL13 concentration is substantially elevated in the early stage of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB). Its level is increased even before the specific antibodies are synthesized in this compartment. CXCL13 was proven to have high positive and negative diagnostic significance and this diagnostic attitude has not yet been included in a routine clinical diagnostic algorithm of LNB. Two methods of chemokineCXCL13 detection in CSF were tested in two groups of patients with clinical manifestations of LNB and other aseptic neuroinfections: 1. semiquantitative immunochromatic method ReaScan CXCL13 rapid test and 2. quantitative method CXCL13/ BLC/ BCA-1 Quantikine ELISA. A high concordance of the results of these tests was verifi ed using Cohen coefficient kappa (P < 0.001). The ReaScan CXCL13 rapid test is easy to use and time-saving (20 min), therefore, it is suitable as an additional examination forroutine early diagnostics of LNB. Proving CSF CXCL13 elevation enables quick antibiotic treatment, especially in cases where the local antibody synthesis has not been proven yet, which can be seen in the proposed diagnostic algorithm.
Chemokin CXCL13 působí v mozkomíšním moku jako silný atraktant pro leukocyty. Bylo prokázáno, že u pacientů v raném stádiu lymeské neuroboreliózy (LNB) je koncentrace chemokinu CXCL13 v mozkomíšním moku výrazně zvýšena dokonce ještě předtím, než jsou v tomto kompartmentu syntetizovány specifické protilátky. Průkaz CXCL13 má u LNB vysokou negativní i pozitivní diagnostickou prediktivní hodnotu a nebyl do rutinního diagnostického algoritmu dosud zařazen. Proto byly na klinickém souboru pacientů s LNB a dalšími serózními neuroinfekcemi porovnány dvě metody na stanovení koncentrace chemokinu CXCL13 v mozkomíšním moku: 1. semikvantitativní imunochromatický ReaScan CXCL13 rapid test a 2. kvantitativní test CXCL13/ BLC/ BCA-1 Quantikine ELISA. Pomocí Cohenova koeficientu kappa bylo ověřeno, že shoda mezi oběma testy je vysoká (p < 0,001). ReaScan CXCL13 rapid test je snadno proveditelný a časově nenáročný (20 min), proto se hodí jako doplňující vyšetření pro časnou rutinní diagnostiku LNB. Průkaz zvýšené hladiny CXCL13 umožňuje rychlé nasazení antibio tické léčby zejména tam, kde dosud není prokázána lokální syntéza protilátek, jak je patrné z navrženého di gnostického algoritmu.
- MeSH
- biologické markery MeSH
- chemokin CXCL13 * analýza MeSH
- dospělí MeSH
- klinická studie jako téma MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- lymská neuroborelióza * diagnóza MeSH
- mladý dospělý MeSH
- Check Tag
- dospělí MeSH
- lidé středního věku MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- mladý dospělý MeSH
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
The study compares diagnostic parameters of different commercial serological kits based on three different antigen types and correlates test results with the status of the patient's Borrelia infection. In total, 8 IgM and 8 IgG kits were tested, as follows: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (Euroimmun) based on whole-cell antigen, 3 species-specific enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) (TestLine), Liaison chemiluminescence (DiaSorin), ELISA-Viditest (Vidia), EIA, and Blot-Line (TestLine) using recombinant antigens. All tests were performed on a panel of 90 samples from patients with clinically characterized borreliosis (53 with neuroborreliosis, 32 with erythema migrans, and 5 with arthritis) plus 70 controls from blood donors and syphilis patients. ELISA based on whole-cell antigens has superior sensitivity and superior negative predictive value and serves as an excellent screening test, although its specificity and positive predictive values are low. Species-specific tests have volatile parameters. Their low sensitivity and low negative predictive value handicap them in routine diagnostics. Tests with recombinant antigens are characterized by high specificity and high positive predictive value and have a wide range of use in diagnostic practice. Diagnostic parameters of individual tests depend on the composition of the sample panel. Only a small proportion of contradictory samples giving both negative and positive results is responsible for discrepancies between test results. Correlation of test results with the patient's clinical state is limited, especially in the erythema migrans group with high proportions of negative and contradictory results. In contrast, IgG test results in the neuroborreliosis group, which are more concordant, show acceptable agreement with Borrelia status.
- MeSH
- antigeny bakteriální imunologie MeSH
- Borrelia burgdorferi imunologie izolace a purifikace MeSH
- Borrelia imunologie izolace a purifikace MeSH
- imunoanalýza metody MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- lymeská nemoc krev klasifikace diagnóza MeSH
- protilátky bakteriální krev MeSH
- reagenční diagnostické soupravy MeSH
- senzitivita a specificita MeSH
- sérologické testy metody MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- srovnávací studie MeSH
The literature suggests that small genomes promote invasion in plants, but little is known about the interaction of genome size with other traits or about the role of genome size during different phases of the invasion process. By intercontinental comparison of native and invasive populations of the common reed Phragmites australis, we revealed a distinct relationship between genome size and invasiveness at the intraspecific level. Monoploid genome size was the only significant variable that clearly separated the North American native plants from those of European origin. The mean Cx value (the amount of DNA in one chromosome set) for source European native populations was 0.490 ± 0.007 (mean ± SD), for North American invasive 0.506 ± 0.020, and for North American native 0.543 ± 0.021. Relative to native populations, the European populations that successfully invaded North America had a smaller genome that was associated with plant traits favoring invasiveness (long rhizomes, early emerging abundant shoots, resistance to aphid attack, and low C:N ratio). The knowledge that invasive populations within species can be identified based on genome size can be applied to screen potentially invasive populations of Phragmites in other parts of the world where they could grow in mixed stands with native plants, as well as to other plant species with intraspecific variation in invasion potential. Moreover, as small genomes are better equipped to respond to extreme environmental conditions such as drought, the mechanism reported here may represent an emerging driver for future invasions and range expansions.
- MeSH
- fenotyp MeSH
- lipnicovité genetika MeSH
- mšice * MeSH
- rostliny MeSH
- zavlečené druhy MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Severní Amerika MeSH
The majority of life on Earth depends directly or indirectly on the sun as a source of energy. The initial step of photosynthesis is facilitated by light-harvesting complexes, which capture and transfer light energy into the reaction centers (RCs). Here, we analyzed the organization of photosynthetic (PS) complexes in the bacterium G. phototrophica, which so far is the only phototrophic representative of the bacterial phylum Gemmatimonadetes. The isolated complex has a molecular weight of about 800 ± 100 kDa, which is approximately 2 times larger than the core complex of Rhodospirillum rubrum. The complex contains 62.4 ± 4.7 bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) a molecules absorbing in 2 distinct infrared absorption bands with maxima at 816 and 868 nm. Using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, we determined the energy transfer time between these spectral bands as 2 ps. Single particle analyses of the purified complexes showed that they were circular structures with an outer diameter of approximately 18 nm and a thickness of 7 nm. Based on the obtained, we propose that the light-harvesting complexes in G. phototrophica form 2 concentric rings surrounding the type 2 RC. The inner ring (corresponding to the B868 absorption band) is composed of 15 subunits and is analogous to the inner light-harvesting complex 1 (LH1) in purple bacteria. The outer ring is composed of 15 more distant BChl dimers with no or slow energy transfer between them, resulting in the B816 absorption band. This completely unique and elegant organization offers good structural stability, as well as high efficiency of light harvesting. Our results reveal that while the PS apparatus of Gemmatimonadetes was acquired via horizontal gene transfer from purple bacteria, it later evolved along its own pathway, devising a new arrangement of its light harvesting complexes.
In oxygenic photosynthesis the initial photochemical processes are carried out by photosystem I (PSI) and II (PSII). Although subunit composition varies between cyanobacterial and plastid photosystems, the core structures of PSI and PSII are conserved throughout photosynthetic eukaryotes. So far, the photosynthetic complexes have been characterised in only a small number of organisms. We performed in silico and biochemical studies to explore the organization and evolution of the photosynthetic apparatus in the chromerids Chromera velia and Vitrella brassicaformis, autotrophic relatives of apicomplexans. We catalogued the presence and location of genes coding for conserved subunits of the photosystems as well as cytochrome b6f and ATP synthase in chromerids and other phototrophs and performed a phylogenetic analysis. We then characterised the photosynthetic complexes of Chromera and Vitrella using 2D gels combined with mass-spectrometry and further analysed the purified Chromera PSI. Our data suggest that the photosynthetic apparatus of chromerids underwent unique structural changes. Both photosystems (as well as cytochrome b6f and ATP synthase) lost several canonical subunits, while PSI gained one superoxide dismutase (Vitrella) or two superoxide dismutases and several unknown proteins (Chromera) as new regular subunits. We discuss these results in light of the extraordinarily efficient photosynthetic processes described in Chromera.
- MeSH
- Alveolata genetika fyziologie MeSH
- delece genu MeSH
- fotosyntéza genetika fyziologie MeSH
- fotosystém I - proteinový komplex genetika izolace a purifikace fyziologie MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- hmotnostní spektrometrie MeSH
- molekulární evoluce MeSH
- superoxiddismutasa metabolismus MeSH
- tylakoidy metabolismus MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
Cíl práce: Studie byla zaměřena na ověření klinického významu stanovení chemokinu CXCL13 (chemoatraktant pro B lymfocyty) a protilátek proti C6 peptidu (syntetického antigenu odvozeného z VlsE proteinu B. burgdorferi) u pacientů s neuroborreliózou (NB). Materiál a metody: Ve studii bylo hodnoceno 129 pacientů. Z toho 80 pacientů s NB (pozitivní antiborreliové protilátky v krvi i moku) bylo dále rozděleno do čtyř skupin (A1–A4) na základě pozitivity/negativity protilátkového indexu (AI) a pleocytózy. Kontrolní skupinu (B) tvořilo 49 pacientů s negativními antiborreliovýmí protilátkami i negativním cytologickým nálezem. Chemokin CXCL13 a anti C6 protilátky byly vyšetřovány komerčními soupravami (Human CXCL13/BLC/BCA-1 Immunoassay ,R&D Systems, INC, USA; C6 B. burgdorferi (Lyme) ELISA, Immunetics INC. USA). Cut-off hranice CXCL13 pro mozkomíšní mok byla stanovena na ≥ 130 pg/ml a pro sérum na ≥ 62 pg/ml. Výsledky: Nejvyšší koncentrace CXCL13 chemokinu v moku byly nalezeny ve skupině A1 (pleocytóza, pozitivní AI) a byly signifikantně vyšší v porovnání s ostatními skupinami (p < 0,001), kromě skupiny A3 (pleocytóza, negativní AI, (p = 0,04). Skupina A3 měla také signifikantně vyšší koncentrace CXCL13 oproti skupinám A2 (bez pleocytózy, pozitivní AI; p = 0,005), A4 (bez pleocytózy, AI negativní) a B (p < 0,001). Rozdíly v koncentraci CXCL13 v krvi mezi jednotlivými skupinami nebyly statisticky významné. Anti C6 protilátky v séru byly prokázány ve všech skupinách pacientů s NB a jejich výsledky se prakticky nelišily (92 % pozitivních), kromě skupiny A3, kde bylo pozitivních 55 % pacientů. V moku byla nejvyšší senzitivita zachycena u pacientů s pozitivním AI (A1 88,6 %; A2 76,9 %), u pacientů s negativním AI byla senzitivita nízká (A3 25 %; A4 0 %). V kontrolní skupině nebyly anti C6 protilátky prokázány. Závěr: Nejvyšší koncentrace chemokinu CXCL13 v moku byly nalezeny v časném stadiu NB. Zvýšená koncentrace chemokinu CXCL13 koreluje lépe s pleocytózou než pozitivitou AI, existuje část pacientů s pozitivním AI, kteří mají nízkou koncentraci CXCL13. Zde se jedná nejspíše o pacienty v subakutním stadiu onemocnění. Vyšetření CXCL13 by mohlo být využito zejména u pacientů v akutní fázi NB s dosud negativním AI. Klinická senzitivita C6 ELISA testu se jeví v našich podmínkách zejména pro mozkomíšní mok jako nedostačující. Naopak specifita použité metody byla vysoká, protože ani jeden pozitivní pacient nebyl zjištěn v kontrolní skupině.
Aim of the study: The study was focused on testing the diagnostic value of detection of the chemokine CXCL13 (B lymphocyte chemoattractant) and anti-C6 peptide (synthetic peptide derived from B. burdorferi VlsE protein) antibodies in patients with neuroborreliosis (NB). Material and methods: One hundred and twenty-nine patients with clinical suspicion of neuroinfection were included in the study. Eighty patients with NB (positive for antibodies in serum and CSF) were subdivided into four groups (A1–A4) based on positivity/negativity of the antibody index (AI) and pleocytosis. The control group was composed of 49 patients with a negative AI and absence of CSF pleocytosis. Chemokine CXCL13 and anti-C6 antibodies were examined by commercial kits (Human CXCL13/BLC/BCA-1 Immunoassay, R&D Systems, INC, USA and C6 B. burgdorferi (Lyme) ELISA, Immunetics Inc. USA). The CXCL13 cut-off values were set to ≥ 130 pg/ml for the CSF and ≥ 62 pg/ml for the serum. Results: The highest CSF levels of CXCL13 chemokine were found in group A1 (pleocytosis, AI positive), and they were significantly higher (p < 0.001) comparing with other groups except A3 (pleocytosis, AI negative; p = 0.04). Group A3 also showed significantly higher levels of CXCL13 than groups A2 (without pleocytosis, AI positive; p = 0.005), A4 (without pleocytosis, AI negative), and B (p < 0.001). The differences in the serum CXCL13 levels between groups were non-significant. The serum anti-C6 antibodies were detected in all NB groups and the positivity rates did not differ between groups (92%) except for A3 where 55% of the patients were positive. In the CSF, the highest anti-C6 sensitivity was found in the patients with a positive AI (A1 88.6%; A2 76.9%) while in the groups with a negative AI, it was low (A3 25%; A4 0%). In group B, anti-C6 antibodies were not detected. Conclusion: The highest CSF CXCL13 levels were found in early stage NB. Elevated CXCL13 concentrations correlate better with pleocytosis than with AI positivity; however, there exist some patients with a positive AI who have low CXCL13 levels. These patients are most probably those in the late – subacute stage of neuroinfection. The CXCL13 testing seems to be the most diagnostically helpful in the acute stage of NB where AI is still negative. The clinical sensitivity of the C6 ELISA test appears to be insufficient for CSF examination under our conditions. On the contrary, the specificity of this test was proven high, because none of the controls tested positive.
