Background: Sex bias in immune function has been contributed in part to a preponderance of immune system-related genes (ISRG) on the X-chromosome. We verified whether ISRG are more abundant on the X chromosome as compared to autosomal chromosomes and reflected on the impact of our findings.Methods: Consulting freely accessible databases, we performed a comparative study consisting of three complementary strategies. First, among coding X/Y-linked genes, the abundance of ISRG was compared to the abundance of genes dedicated to other systems. Genes were assigned considering three criteria: disease, tissue expression, and function (DEF approach). In addition, we carried out two genome-wide approaches to compare the contribution of sex and autosomal chromosomes to immune genes defined by an elevated expression in lymphatic tissues (LTEEG approach) or annotation to an immune system process, GO:0002376 (GO approach).Results: The X chromosome had less immune genes than the median of the autosomal chromosomes. Among X-linked genes, ISRG ranked fourth after the reproductive and nervous systems and genes dedicated to development, proliferation and apoptosis. On the Y chromosome, ISRG ranked second, and at the pseudoautosomal region (PAR) first. According to studies on the expression of X-linked genes in a variety of (mostly non-lymphatic) tissues, almost two-thirds of ISRG are expressed without sex bias, and the remaining ISRG presented female and male bias with similar frequency. Various epigenetic controllers, X-linkedMSL3and Y-linkedKDM5DandUTY,were preferentially expressed in leukocytes and deserve further attention for a possible role in sex biased expression or its neutralisation.Conclusions: The X chromosome is not enriched for ISRG, though particular X-linked genes may be responsible for sex differences in certain immune responses. So far, there is insufficient information on sex-biased expression of X/Y-linked ISRG in leukocytes to draw general conclusions on the impact of X/Y-linked ISRG in immune function. More research on the regulation of the expression X-linked genes is required with attention to 1) femaleandmale mechanisms that may either augment or diminish sex biased expression and 2) tissue-specific expression studies.
14 May 2020 in Clinical and Experimental Dermatology
Strongyloidiasis is a parasitosis representing a significant public health problem in tropical countries. It is often asymptomatic in immunocompetent individuals but its mortality rate increases to approximately 87% in severe forms of the disease. We conducted a systematic review, including case reports and case series, of Strongyloides hyperinfection and dissemination from 1998 to 2020 searching PubMed, EBSCO and SciELO. Cases that met the inclusion criteria of the Preferred Reported Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist were analysed. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher’s exact test and Student's t-test and a Bonferroni correction for all the significant values. A total of 339 cases were included in this review. The mortality rate was 44.83%. The presence of infectious complications, septic shock and a lack of treatment were risk factors for a fatal outcome. Eosinophilia and ivermectin treatment were associated with an improved outcome.
Introduction: Hematohidrosis and hemolacria are 2 conditions surrounded in religiousness, mysticism, and supernatural superstitions. While the mechanism is still unclear, these cases have amazed physicians for centuries. Methods: We performed a systematic review in PubMed from 2000 to mid-2021 accounting for 75 studies from which we included 60 cases in 53 articles which were described. Results: The median age of apparition was 24 years with the youngest case being 12 and the oldest 81. Some of the diseases were secondary to other causes such as hemangiomas and other neoplasias or epistaxis episodes. Most of the cases have been reported in India and the USA; most of them correspond to hemolacria alone (51.6%). Discussion: We have stated the basics of the substances involved in the coagulation process that have been described as genetically altered in some patients such as mucins, metalloproteinases, and fibrinogen, as well as propose a mechanism that can explain the signs of this particular entity and approach to its treatment as well as provide the first trichoscopy image of a patient with hemolacria.
Introduction. Candida auris is a relatively novel pathogen first described in 2009 in Japan. It has increased its presence worldwide, becoming a public health concern due to its innate resistance to antifungals and outbreak potential. Methods. We performed a query using the word “Candida auris” from the Scopus database, further performing a bibliometric analysis with the open‐source R package Bibliometrix. Results. 907 original articles were retrieved, allowing us to map the principal authors, papers, journals, and countries involved in this yeast research, as well as analyze current and future trends and the number of published articles. Conclusion. C. auris will continue to be a pivotal point in fungal resistance research, either for a better understanding of its resistance and pathogenic mechanisms or for developing novel drugs.