In contrast to the defective responses to IL-6, the inhibitory effects of IL-10 on IL-17 production were similar in healthy volunteers or HIES patients, suggesting that STAT3 is redundant for IL-10 signalling leading to reduced IL-17 production. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that patients with HIES have differential defects in IL-17 responses to the two main pathogens associated with the disease, S. aureus and C. albicans, and this is comparable with the clinical features

of this syndrome. In addition, the extent of the Th17 defect is due to the location of the STAT3 mutation, and is associated with the clinical phenotype in these patients. Furthermore, defective Th17 responses are a more sensitive marker of the disease in HIES patients than STAT3 mutations. M. G. N. was supported by a Vidi Grant of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. These studies were supported by donations selleck chemical collected by one of the HIES patients. None declared. “
“The detection and identification of bacteria present in natural and industrial ecosystems is now entirely based on molecular systems that detect microbial RNA or DNA. Culture methods were abandoned, in the 1980s, because direct observations showed that <1% of the bacteria in these

systems grew on laboratory media. Culture methods comprise the backbone of the Food and Drug Administration-approved diagnostic systems used in hospital laboratories, with some molecular methods Selleck BIBW2992 being approved for the detection of specific pathogens that are difficult to grow in vitro. In several medical specialties, the reaction to negative cultures in cases in which overt signs of infection clearly exist has produced a spreading skepticism concerning the sensitivity and accuracy of traditional culture methods. We summarize evidence from the field of orthopedic surgery, and from other medical specialties, that support the contention that culture techniques are

especially insensitive and inaccurate in the detection of chronic biofilm infections. We examine the plethora of molecular techniques Benzatropine that could replace cultures in the diagnosis of bacterial diseases, and we identify the new Ibis technique that is based on base ratios (not base sequences), as the molecular system most likely to fulfill the requirements of routine diagnosis in orthopedic surgery. Biofilm infections were defined by Costertonet al. (1999), in a review in science, and were seen to encompass all device-related infections and a significant proportion of other chronic bacterial diseases. The characterization of an infection as being a biofilm infection is universally based on the unequivocal demonstration, by direct microscopy, of matrix-enclosed microbial communities within or upon the affected tissues or prostheses (Stoodleyet al., 2002).