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Due to the role of macrophages in glomerular inflammation, macrophage surface molecules such as CD163 and CD11b represent attractive biomarkers for monitoring Lupus Nephritis (LN). We hypothesize that their urinary levels may reflect kidney disease activity. Here, we first analyzed the levels of urinary soluble CD163 (U-sCD163) and CD11b (U-sCD11b) in a cohort of 40 patients with LN including 23 with active disease. U-sCD163 levels were significantly elevated in active LN and correlated with the renal activity score, in contrast to U-sCD11b. Then, we developed the pristane induced LN mouse model to analyze, in a longitudinal way, the evolution of U-sCD163 levels according to the glomerular inflammation progression and response to treatment. We showed an increase of U-sCD163 levels associated with glomerular immune-complex deposits on mouse kidney biopsies at an early stage of the disease and a correlation with inflammatory markers including interferon-α, C-reactive protein and tumor necrosis factor-α. In addition, we showed that U-sCD163 levels decreased following efficient hydroxychloroquine treatment. Altogether our results led us to conclude that U-sCD163 represent a non-invasive biomarker for LN reflecting glomerular inflammation. Although prospective study in patients with LN, active or not, are necessary, U-sCD163 could be proposed to monitor response to treatment.

Coniochaeta is a teleomorphic genus belonging to the Ascomycota class and Coniochaetaceae family. Some of the Coniochaeta species are plant and animal pathogens, while others are known to be primarily involved in human disease. In the last decades, case reports of human infections with Coniochaeta have increased, mainly in immunocompromised hosts. We have described and characterised a new species in the Coniochaeta genus, here named Coniochaeta massiliensis (PMML0158) that was isolated from a clinical sample. Species identification and thorough description were based on apposite and reliable phylogenetic and phenotypic approaches. The phylogenetic methods included a multilocus nucleotide analysis of four genomic regions: ITS (rRNA internal transcribed spacers 1 and 2), TEF-1α (translation elongation factor-1alpha), TUB2 (β-tubulin2), and D1/D2 domains (28S LSU rRNA). The phenotypic characterisation first consisted of a physiological analysis using both EDX (Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy) and Biolog™ advanced phenotypic technology for fixing the chemical mapping and carbon source oxidation/assimilation profiles. Afterwards, morphological characteristics were highlighted by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The in vitro antifungal susceptibility profile was characterised using the E-test™ exponential gradient method. The molecular analysis revealed the genetic distance between the novel species Coniochaeta massiliensis (PMML0158) and other known taxa, and the phenotypic analysis confirmed its unique chemical and physiological profile when compared to all other species of this genus.

Mycobacterium ulcerans is a non-tuberculous environmental mycobacterium responsible for extensive cutaneous and subcutaneous ulcers in mammals, known as Buruli ulcer in humans. M. ulcerans has seldom been detected in the faeces of mammals and has not been detected in human faeces. Nevertheless, the detection and isolation of M. ulcerans in animal faeces does not fit with the current epidemiological schemes for the disease. Here, using an experimental model in which rats were fed with 109 colony-forming units of M. ulcerans, we detected M. ulcerans DNA in the faeces of challenged rats for two weeks and along their digestive tract for 10 days. M. ulcerans DNA was further detected in the lymphatic system including in the cervical and axillary lymph nodes and the spleen, but not in any other tissue including healthy and broken skin, 10 days post-challenge. These observations indicate that in some herbivorous mammals, M. ulcerans contamination by the digestive route may precede translocation and limited contamination of the lymphatic tissues without systemic infection. These herbivorous mammals may be sources of M. ulcerans for exposed populations but are unlikely to be reservoirs for the pathogen.