疾病及处理

Shiga toxin, produced by Shigella dysenteriae and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, is a bacterial protein toxin composed of two subunits, A and B (1). The A-subunit is the actual toxin whose ribosomal RNA N-glycosidase activity leads to the inhibition of protein biosynthesis in targ ...

The Shiga toxin receptor glycolipid Gb3 (globotriaosylceramide) is also known as the pk blood group antigen (1) and as CD77, a germinal center B-cell differentiation antigen (2). Tissue localization of Gb3 is associated with sites of Stx-induced pathology in animal models (3–5) and in humans (6) ...

Our understanding of pH regulation has been studied in-depth in the endocytotic pathway of the cell because of fluid phase and membrane-bound pH-sensitive markers that could be delivered and taken up exogenously by the cell (1,2). Very little is understood, however, about the ionic compositi ...

Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), also referred to as Verocytotoxin-producing E. coli (VTEC) (1), are causes of a major, potentially fatal, zoonotic food-borne illness whose clinical spectrum includes nonspecific diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and the hemoly ...

Cells die by one of two morphologically distinct processes: necrosis or apoptosis. In general, necrosis is considered to be a pathologic process usually following a severe insult to the cell (1). During necrosis, the plasma membrane loses selective permeability and the cell begins to swell. T ...

The vascular endothelium was initially viewed as a “semipermeable” barrier between circulating blood and the interstitium and organ parenchyma. It is now evident that the endothelium plays a much more complex and active physiological and pathophysiological role. For example, endo ...

Many different types of Escherichia coli are known to cause gastrointestinal disease, including enteroaggregative, enteropathogenic, enterotoxigenic, and enteroinvasive E. coli. However, none cause the severe morbidity that is sometimes seen in patients infected with Shi ...

Endothelial cells are regarded as the main targets of the Shiga toxins (Stxs) during infections caused by Stx-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). However, several investigations also confirmed an effect of these toxins on immune cell functions in species naturally infected with STEC. H ...

Over the last few decades, the use of swine as an animal model for human diseases in biomedical research has been steadily increasing because of similarities between the two species. The gnotobiotechnique, on the other hand, has been developed further since the beginning of the 20th century (1–3), ...

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is the most common infectious cause of bloody diarrhea or hemorrhagic colitis (HC) in the United States (1). The potentially serious nature of infection with E. coli O157:H7 is illustrated by the fact that about 6% of those infected individuals (particularly children) ...

Cattle are a major source of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 and other STEC that cause serious food-borne diseases in humans. Most STEC-infected cattle are asymptomatic carriers of STEC. We have developed bovine STEC-infection models to identify the bacterial and ...

Timely and accurate diagnosis of Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) disease in humans is extremely important from both a public health and a clinical management perspective. In the outbreak setting, rapid diagnosis of cases and immediate notification of health authorities is es ...

“Current regimens (interferon) to treat hepatitis D patients have only transient but no lasting effects (1).”

Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major health problem, with 350 million people chronically infected worldwide. Chronic HBV infection is characterized by severe hepatic disease sequelae, including chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, and hepatocellular carcinoma ...

The duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) is a species-specific virus that causes either transient (acute) or persistent infections, primarily in hepatocytes in the liver, with release of high titers of infectious virions and noninfectious “empty” surface antigen particles into the bloodstr ...

The woodchuck model has become a well-accepted animal system for the study of host immune responses to hepadnavirus infection. Recently, a series of woodchuck cytokines was characterized by molecular cloning (1–5). The availability of the sequence information and the essential reage ...

Cellular and humoral immune responses to different hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigens are believed to play an essential role in the elimination of virus by the host. It is well established that the humoral immune response to HBV envelope antigens leads to protection against infection. By contra ...

Under normal circumstances, hepatocyte infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is noncytopathic. Hepatocellular damage is mediated by the cellular and humoral arms of the host’s immune system (1). The final clinical outcome of either clearance or persistence reflects a three-way in ...

The measurement of the precursor frequency of cells present in a population that are participating in a given immune function has been widely done by limiting dilution assays (LDAs). These have been used for measuring proliferative and cytotoxic responses and cytokine production by lymp ...

The cellular, in particular the CD8+ T-lymphocyte, response is thought to contribute to both viral clearance and liver cell injury in hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (1).