The macrophage mannose receptor (MR) along with complement receptors mediates phagocytosis of the M. tuberculosis virulent strains Erdman and H37Rv. We have determined that the terminal mannosyl units of the M. tuberculosis surface lipoglycan, lipoarabinomannan (LAM), from the Erdman strain serve as ligands for the MR. The biology of the MR (receptor binding and trafficking) in response to phag...

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare disease that affects young women of child-bearing age. It is characterized by the presence of cystic changes in the pulmonary parenchyma, repeated pneumothorax, chylothorax and renal angiomyolipomas, and in the majority of cases it is accompanied by a progressive loss in lung function.1 In the last two decades, there has been an increase in the understan...

PURPOSE To study the changes in serum ferritin levels in lamivudine (LAM)-treated patients with chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis type B and determine whether successful treatment with LAM results in a reduction of serum ferritin levels. METHODS Thirty patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection were followed prospectively during their treatment with LAM for 12 months. Serum H...

Lamellarin D (Lam-D) is a hexacyclic pyrole alkaloid isolated from marine invertebrates, whose biologic properties have been attributed to mitochondrial targeting. Mitochondria contain their own DNA (mtDNA), and the only specific mitochondrial topoisomerase in vertebrates is mitochondrial topoisomerase I (Top1mt). Here, we show that Top1mt is a direct mitochondrial target of Lam-D. In vitro Lam...

L ymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a slowly progressive disease affecting mostly young and middle-aged females [1], is one of the few orphan lung diseases that has attracted major attention in recent years from both clinicians and researchers [2], with rapidly evolving progress. With an estimated prevalence of one in 400,000 adult females aged 20–69 yrs for the sporadic form [3] and ,30% of patie...

We sought to determine if urine lipoarabinomannan (LAM) would improve diagnosis of pulmonary TB. We enrolled consecutive adults presenting with ≥2 TB-related symptoms, obtained one induced sputum sample for smear microscopy (AFB) and mycobacterial culture, and performed urine LAM testing (Determine(TM) TB LAM, Alere). We used culture-confirmed pulmonary TB as the gold standard, and compared acc...

BACKGROUND Lamivudine (LAM) and adefovir (ADV) are widely used in most Asian countries, though monotherapy is associated with the occurrence of resistance. AIM To evaluate the efficiency of LAM and ADV combined treatment of chronic hepatitis B patients with compensated cirrhosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS 206 eligible Chinese patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either LAM o...

CD14 is a pattern recognition receptor involved in the interaction with multiple ligands, including LPS from gram-negative bacteria and lipoarabinomannan (LAM) from mycobacteria. While the interactions between LPS and soluble CD14 (sCD14) have been analyzed in detail, LAM/CD14 interactions remain uncharacterized due to the lack of suitable functional assays. We describe herein a novel bioassay ...

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a progressive cystic lung disease affecting some women with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). Sporadic LAM can develop in women without TSC, owing to somatic mutations in the TSC2 gene. Accumulating evidence supports the view of LAM as a low-grade, destructive, metastasizing neoplasm. The mechanisms underlying the metastatic capability of LAM cells remain poorl...

Point-of-care tests for tuberculous meningitis (TBM) are needed. We studied the diagnostic accuracy of the lipoarabinomannan (LAM) lateral flow assay (LFA), LAM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and Xpert MTB/RIF in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in an autopsy cohort of Ugandan HIV-infected adults. We obtained written informed consent postmortem from the next of kin. A complete autopsy was ...