Jiri Hrdy

• Charles University in Prague

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition characterised by an overwhelming immune response and high fatality. While most research has focused on its acute phase, many sepsis survivors remain immunologically weakened leaving them susceptible to serious complications from even mild infections. The mechanisms underlying this prolonged immune dysregulatio...

Escherichia coli A0 34/86 (EcO83) is a probiotic strain used in newborns to prevent nosocomial infections and diarrhoea. This bacterium stimulates both pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory cytokine production and its intranasal administration reduces allergic airway inflammation in mice. Despite its benefits, there are concerns about the use of live probioti...

Bacteria and their metabolic products profoundly affect the immune system. Research has shown that early postnatal supplementation with specific probiotic strains, such as Escherichia coli O83:K24:H31 (EcO83), can provide health benefits. EcO83 is a facultative anaerobe capable of generating energy through multiple metabolic pathways, an adaptation...

Introduction The immune systems of both the mother and the newborn face significant challenges during birth. Proper immune regulation after birth is essential for the survival of neonates. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the neonatal immune system is relatively immature, particularly in its adaptive arm, placing the primary responsibility f...

Cancer is still one of the leading causes of death, with an estimated 19.3 million new cases every year. Our paper presents the tumor-suppressing effect of Taenia crassiceps and Mesocestoides corti on B16F10 melanoma, the intraperitoneal application of which followed the experimental infection with these tapeworms, resulting in varying degrees of e...

Background E. coli O83 (Colinfant Newborn) is a Gram-negative (G-) probiotic bacterium used in the clinic. When administered orally, it reduces allergic sensitisation but not allergic asthma. Intranasal administration offers a non-invasive and convenient delivery method. This route bypasses the gastrointestinal tract and provides direct access to t...

Since the beginning of the 21st century, a new discipline, microbiome science, has emerged as a key part of microbiology and related biomedical and ecological sciences. Microbiome science uses highly advanced molecular genetic and bioinformatic methods to study complex microbial communities. Unlike isolated microbes, microbial communities shaped by...

Background Rituximab (RTX) and ocrelizumab (OCR), B cell-depleting therapy targeting CD20 molecules, affect the humoral immune response after vaccination. How these therapies influence T-cell-mediated immune response against SARS-CoV-2 after immunization remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the humoral and cellular immune response to the COVID-19...

Background E. coli O83 (Colinfant Newborn) is a Gram-negative (G-) probiotic bacterium used in the clinic. When administered orally, it reduces allergic sensitisation but not allergic asthma. Intranasal administration offers a non-invasive and convenient delivery method. This route bypasses the gastrointestinal tract and provides direct access to t...

E. coli O83 (Colinfant Newborn) is a Gram-negative probiotic bacterium used in the clinic. When administered orally, it reduces allergic sensitisation but not allergic asthma. Intranasal administration may be more effective as it reaches the lungs directly. Gram-negative bacteria release outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) to communicate with the enviro...

Introduction Probiotic administration seems to be a rational approach to promote maturation of the neonatal immune system. Mutual interaction of the microbiota with the host immune system is critical for the setting of appropriate immune responses including a tolerogenic one and thevmaintenance of homeostasis. On the other hand, our knowledge on th...

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has led to a loss of human life in millions and devastating socio-economic consequences worldwide. So far, vaccination is the most effective long-term strategy to control and prevent severe COVID-19 disease. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the humoral immune responses raised against the BNT162b2 vaccine i...

Live biotherapeutic products constitute an emerging therapeutic approach to prevent or treat inflammatory bowel diseases. Lactobacillus acidophilus is a constituent of the human microbiota with probiotic potential, that is illustrated by improvement of intestinal inflammation and antimicrobial activity against several pathogens. In this study, we e...

Toxocara canis, a gastrointestinal parasite of canids, is also highly prevalent in many paratenic hosts, such as mice and humans. As with many other helminths, the infection is associated with immunomodulatory effects, which could affect other inflammatory conditions including autoimmune and allergic diseases. Here, we investigated the effect of To...

Early postnatal events are important for the development of the neonatal immune system. Harboring the pioneering microorganisms forming the microbiota of the neonatal gastrointestinal tract is important for priming the immune system, as well as inducing appropriate tolerance to the relatively innocuous environmental antigens and compounds of normal...

This article reviews the literature on SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and multiple sclerosis (MS). The first part of the paper focuses on the current data on immunopathology of SARS-CoV-2 and leading vaccines produced against COVID-19 infection. In the second part of the article, we discuss the effect of Disease Modifying Therapies (DMTs) on COVID-19 infectio...

Live biotherapeutic products constitute an emerging therapeutic approach to prevent or treat inflammatory bowel diseases. Lactobacillus acidophilus is a constituent of the human microbiota with probiotic potential, that are illustrated by direct and indirect antimicrobial activity against several pathogens and improvement of intestinal inflammation...

Understanding the early events involved in the induction of immune tolerance to harmless environmental antigens and microbiota compounds could reveal potential targets for allergic disease therapy or prevention. Regulatory T cells (Treg), particularly induced Treg (iTreg), are crucial for the induction and maintenance of tolerance against environme...

Streptomycetes, typical soil dwellers, can be detected as common colonizers of human bodies, especially the skin, the respiratory tract, the guts and the genital tract using molecular techniques. However, their clinical manifestations and isolations are rare. Recently they were discussed as possible “coaches” of the human immune system in connectio...

Alterations in the gut microbiota composition and diversity seem to play a role in the development of chronic diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), leading to gut barrier disruption and induction of proinflammatory immune responses. This opens the door for the use of novel health-promoting bacteria. We selected five Parabacteroides...

Current treatment of chronic diseases includes, among others, application of cytokines, monoclonal antibodies, cellular therapies, and immunostimulants. As all the underlying mechanisms of a particular diseases are not always fully clarified, treatment can be inefficient and associated with various, sometimes serious, side effects. Small secondary...

Crohn’s disease is linked to a decreased diversity in gut microbiota composition as a potential consequence of an impaired anti-microbial response and an altered polarization of T helper cells. Here, we evaluated the immunomodulatory properties of two potential probiotic strains, namely a Bifidobacterium animalis spp. lactis Bl 5764 and a Lactobaci...

Human milk is a unique and complex secretion differing from lacteal secretions of other species. Besides nutrition, it provides protection during the newborn's adaption to the extrauterine environment and reduces the morbidity and mortality caused by both infectious and noninfectious diseases. Its components act directly against infectious agents,...

Aims: Trichobilharzia regenti (Schistosomatidae) percutaneously infects birds and mammals and invades their central nervous system (CNS). Here we characterised the peripheral immune response of infected mice and showed how it was influenced by the parasite-induced inflammation in the skin and the CNS. Methods and results: As revealed by flow cyt...

Streptomycetes, typical soil dwellers, can be detected as common colonizers of human bodies, especially the skin, the respiratory tract, the guts and the genital tract using molecular techniques. However, their clinical manifestations and isolations are rare. Recently they were discussed as possible “coaches” of the human immune system in connectio...

Objective: Review of current knowledge about particular neutrophil subsets and their role in preeclampsia. Design: Review. Setting: Institute of Immunology and Microbiology, First Faculty of Medicine Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague. Introduction: Preeclampsia represents one of the major complications of pregnancy...

Allergic diseases represent some of the most common immunological disorders with high clinical and economic impact. Despite intensive research, there are still few universally accepted and reliable biomarkers capable of predicting their development at an early age. There is therefore a pressing need for identification of potential predictive facto...

Continuous increasing incidence of allergic diseases is calling for identifying early prognostic markers pointing to increased risk of allergy development and establishing protocols for preventive strategies limiting allergy development in predisposed individuals. It is important to better understand the critical events occurring in early postnatal...

Aim: To assess the systemic and local immunological response to subcutaneous implants of a vascular graft covered with collagen extracted from the European carp (freshwater fish) or with collagen of bovine origin. Methods: Pieces of a vascular graft covered by pure bovine (Bos taurus, BOV, n=14) or carp (Cyprinus carpio, CYP, n=14) collagen 5 mm...

Due to the increasing incidence of allergic diseases, there is a strong need to identify a prognostic marker pointing to increased risk of allergy development allowing introduction of early preventive measures. Cord blood seems to be a good source for searching for such marker. The capacity of cord blood cells to respond to common allergens could p...

Abstract Cercarial dermatitis (CD) is an allergic skin disease that rises in consequence of infection by invasive stages (cercariae) of trematodes of the family Schistosomatidae. CD has been considered a re-emerging disease, human cases have been reported from all continents, and tourism-threatening outbreaks occur even in frequented recreational a...

Allergic diseases represent a major issue in clinical and experimental immunology due to their high and increasing incidence worldwide. Allergy status of the mother remains the best predictor of an individual’s increased risk of allergy development. Dysregulation of the balance between different branches of immune response, chiefly excessive polari...

Suppression of proliferation of CFSE-stained non-Treg cells. CD4+CD25-CD127+ target cells were magnetically isolated from cord blood mononuclear cells (n = 19), stained with 5 μM CFSE and cocultured with CD4+CD25+CD127low Treg cells at 1:5 Treg:target cell ratio. After 72 hours, cells were harvested, stained for CD4 and analysed by flow cytometry....

Summary table of data from CFSE-based suppression assays. CD4+CD25-CD127+ target cells were magnetically isolated from cord blood mononuclear cells (n = 19), stained with 5 μM CFSE and cocultured with CD4+CD25+CD127low Treg cells at 1:5 Treg:target cell ratio. After 72 hours, cells were harvested, stained for CD4 and analysed by flow cytometry. Tab...

Gating strategy, FMO controls and representative dot plots of surface and intracellular markers. Cord blood samples were stained and analysed by flow cytometry. A-D: Gating strategy of CD4+CD25+CD127low cells.E-P: FMO controls and representative dot plots of CD4+CD25+CD127low cells stained for surface (E-J) and intracellular (K-P) markers. E, G, I:...

Representative histograms of staining for neuropilin-1. Several whole blood samples were stained for CD4, CD25, neuropilin-1, FoxP3 and Helios and analysed by flow cytometry. A: CD25highFoxP3+ cells were gated into Helios+ and Helios- populations. B: Expression of neuropilin-1 on Helios+ (blue) and Helios- (red) cells. FMO control for neuropilin-1...

Recently, numerous studies of human microbiome suggest that streptomycetes are common colonizers of human bodies - the respiratory tract, skin, uterus. Their function is unclear, however, some works show correlation of their incidence with chronic inflammatory diseases - psoriasis and chronic obstacle pulmonary disease. Generally, they are viewed a...

Human alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is caused by larval stages of the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis. In the Czech Republic, screening tests to detect the specific infectious agent have been performed since 1998. The first AE cases were diagnosed in 2007, and until 2014, a total of 21 diseases were recorded. In accordance with radiological, hi...

A series of well-defined methoxy-poly(ethylene glycol)-block-polylactic acid (mPEG-b-PLA) diblock copolymers were successfully synthesized, characterized and used for the construction of anticancer nanoparticle delivery system. Nanoparticles (NPs) based on these polymers were prepared by employing the nanoprecipitation method, and they were non-cov...

Allergic diseases belong to one of the most common diseases with steadily increasing incidence even among young children. There is an urgent need to identify a prognostic marker pointing to increased risk of allergy development enabling early preventive measures introduction. It has been shown that administration of selected probiotic strains or mi...

Gut microbiota dysbiosis plays a central role in the development and perpetuation of chronic inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and therefore is key target for interventions with high quality and functional probiotics. The local production of stable probiotic formulations at limited cost is considered an advantage as it reduces transp...

Objective: To summarize available data concerning the role of maternal imunity and woman's microbiome in the pathogenesis of preterm labor and their use in clinical practice. Setting: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology od the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, and General Teaching Hospital. Design: Review article. Methods...

Probiotics are believed to prevent or reduce allergy development but the mechanism of their beneficial effect is still poorly understood. Immune characteristics of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in peripheral blood of perinatally probiotic-supplemented children of allergic mothers (51 children), non-supplemented children of allergic mothers (42 childre...

Bird schistosomes parasitize mammals as non-specific hosts. Neurotropic Trichobilharzia regenti migrates extravasally via nervous tissue in experimentally infected mice. The majority of successfully penetrated larvae remain in the skin; the rest migrate through peripheral nerves to the spinal cord and brain. The potential of schistosomula to leave...

To the Editor: Human alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by larvae of Echinococcus multilocularis tapeworms that manifests most often in the host’s liver, although it can infect the lungs, brain, and other organs. Clinical symptoms usually develop after a long incubation period (5–15 years), causing considerable diag...

The incidence of allergic diseases is steadily increasing an urgent need to clarify the immunologic processes which occur early in life and signal an increased risk of possible future allergy development. The ratio and maturation state of DCs together with the cytokine environment are important in directing and modulating immune responses. The matu...

Taxane and platinum-based chemotherapy regimens are standard treatment for advanced ovarian carcinoma. Expression levels of putative markers of taxane resistance in carcinoma tissues and paired peritoneal samples (n=55) and in 16 samples of ovaries without signs of carcinoma were compared with clinical data and the patients´ time to progression. KI...

Allergy is one of the most common diseases with constantly increasing incidence. The identification of prognostic markers pointing to increased risk of allergy development is of importance. Cord blood represents a suitable source of cells for searching for such prognostic markers. In our previous work, we described the increased reactivity of cord...

There is no doubt about the beneficial effect of breastfeeding on the newborn's immune system. It is not fully elucidated what the differences are between the colostrum/milk of healthy and allergic mothers and how beneficial breastfeeding by an allergic mother is. The gene expression of selected cytokines was tested in cells isolated from colostra...

The study investigated possible mechanisms by which second-generation taxanes, established as significantly more effective than paclitaxel in vitro, suppress a rat lymphoma model in vivo. The studied mechanisms included taxane pharmacokinetics, expression of genes dominating their metabolism (Cyp3a1/2) and transport (Abcb1) and genes controlling tu...

The objective is to study the effect of after-birth oral colonization by a probiotic Escherichia coli strain in infants of allergic mothers to reduce occurrence of allergy later in life. In a controlled clinical trial, 158 infants were randomly divided into groups of (i) 56 colonized infants of allergic mothers, (ii) 57 control infants of allergic...

To determine some early signs connected with the increased risk of future allergy development, gene expression and production of selected cytokines were tested in children of allergic mothers and compared with newborns of healthy mothers. Expression of IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-8, IL-10, IL-13, IFN-γ, TNF-α, TGF-β and EGF was tested in cord blood cells...

s: AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics--Nov 15-19, 2009; Boston, MA Novel taxoids SB‐T‐1214, SB‐T‐12851, SB‐T‐12852, SB‐T‐12853, SB‐T‐12854 and IDN‐5109 proved to be more effective than paclitaxel in vitro in MDA‐MB‐435 cell line, but especially in NCI/ADR‐RES cell line, highly expressing ABCB1. Thus,...

Acyclic nucleoside phosphonates PMEDAP and PMEG modulate expression of selected proangiogenic genes in SD-lymphoma bearing rats. Antiangiogenic efficacy of PMEDAP is relatively weak and is manifested mainly by down-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor VEGFR detectable 24 hours after treatment. Compound PMEG (an a...

Maternal milk has beneficial effects on the development and function of the newborn's immune system. Whether the milk of allergic mother has the same effects as the milk of healthy mothers is not yet quite clear. To contribute to the characterization of its immunomodulatory action, we tested the effect of milk of healthy and allergic mothers on the...