Low numbers of circulating endothelial progenitor cells appear to be associated with an enhanced likelihood of disease relapse, but are not predictive of progression of renal disease, number of organs involved or death from any cause [35]. In summary, advances in understanding the pathogenesis of ANCA vasculitis on all fronts has progressed apace in the past 2 years. Translating this knowledge into better therapies for patients will be the next challenge. The author is currently employed by GlaxoSmithKline. “
“Helicobacter heilmannii induces gastric lymphoid follicles in mice. However, the pathogenic mechanisms behind the

induction of gastric lymphoid follicles by H. heilmannii infection have not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the roles of Peyer’s patches (PP) in H. heilmannii-induced immune responses CTLA-4 antibody and the development of gastric lymphoid follicles. C57BL/6J and PP deficient mice were infected with H. heilmannii, and in addition to

histological and immunohistological examinations, the expression levels of cytokines and chemokines in gastric mucosa were investigated. Gastric lymphoid follicle formation and the infiltration of dendritic cells, B cells, and helper T cells were milder in the PP-deficient mice 1 month after infection, but they were similar in both types of mice after 3 months. The mRNA expression levels of tumor necrosis factor α and CC chemokine ligand 2 were significantly high in the H. heilmannii-infected groups, and CXC chemokine ligand check details 13 expression was significantly increased in the infected C57BL/6J wild-type mice 1 month after infection. These results suggest that PP are not

essential for the formation and development of gastric lymphoid follicles induced by H. heilmannii infection, although they are involved in the speed of gastric lymphoid follicle formation. Helicobacter heilmannii, a Gram-negative rod bacterium that belongs to the Helicobacter family, which includes Helicobacter pylori, is characterized by a relatively large size (5–9 μm) and a corkscrew ID-8 appearance. Helicobacter heilmannii is located in the stomachs of primates, cats, pigs, and humans (Singhal & Sepulveda, 2005), and causes gastritis, peptic ulcer, acute gastric mucosal lesion, gastric carcinoma, and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma in humans (Okiyama et al., 2005). Previously, rRNA and urease gene sequence analysis revealed that ‘H. heilmannii’ is not a single species, but includes H. heilmannii type-1 and H. heilmannii type-2 strains (O’Rourke et al., 2004). The former strain can be especially classified as Helicobacter suis, which is found in pigs and humans. The latter strain was found in humans and a variety of feline species. Although there are no reliable diagnostic measures of H. heilmannii infection, it was reported that the infection rate of H. heilmannii is 0.1% in Japanese (mean age: 60.8 years) (Okiyama et al., 2005).