Clinical and experimental immunology
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Clin. Exp. Immunol. · Dec 2005
Correlations among measles virus-specific antibody, lymphoproliferation and Th1/Th2 cytokine responses following measles-mumps-rubella-II (MMR-II) vaccination.
Immunity to measles is conferred by the interplay of humoral and cellular immune responses, the latter being critical in maintaining long-term recall response. Therefore, it is important to evaluate measles-specific humoral and cellular immunity in populations several years after vaccination and understand the correlations among these measures of immunity. We examined measles-specific antibodies, lymphoproliferation and the Th1/Th2 signature cytokines, interferon (IFN)-gamma and interleukin (IL)-4, in a population-based cohort of healthy children from Olmsted County, Minnesota after two doses of measles-mumps-rubella-II (MMR-II) vaccine. ⋯ Further, a positive correlation between lymphoproliferation and IL-4 and IFN-gamma suggests that immunity to measles may be maintained by both Th1 and Th2 cells. We speculate that the Th2 biased response observed in a subset of our subjects may be insufficient to provide long-term immunity against measles. Further examination of the determinants of Th1 versus Th2 skewing of the immune response and long-term follow-up is needed.
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Clin. Exp. Immunol. · Dec 2005
Comparative StudyAnisakis simplex allergy: a murine model of anaphylaxis induced by parasitic proteins displays a mixed Th1/Th2 pattern.
The study of the singular hypersensitivity reactions to Anisakis simplex (A.s) proteins, may help us to undestand many of the unknown immune interactions between helmiths infections and allergy. We have developed a murine model of allergy to A. simplex, that mimics human A. simplex allergy to study the specific aspects of anaphylaxis induced by parasites. Male C3H/HeJ mice were intraperitoneally sensitized to A. simplex. ⋯ Different responses to i.v. or oral A. simplex challenges emerged, which did not reflect a window tolerization period. The cytokine profile developed (mixed Th(1)/Th(2) pattern) differed from the observed in classical models of anaphylaxis or allergy to food antigens. This model may permit to investigate the peculiar allergic reactions to parasitic proteins.
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Clin. Exp. Immunol. · Oct 2005
Does soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 play any role in the pathogenesis of septic shock?
In order to define the significance of soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) upon progression from sepsis or severe sepsis to septic shock a prospective study was designed with 90 enrolled patients with septic syndrome due to ventilator-associated pneumonia. Blood was sampled on seven consecutive days upon initiation of symptoms and concentrations of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8 and sTREM-1 were estimated in serum by an enzymeimmunoassay. No differences in concentrations of TNFalpha, IL-6 and IL-8 were found between patients with sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock on the first day of presentation of symptoms. ⋯ It is concluded that sTREM-1 is particularly increased upon evolution from sepsis or severe sepsis to septic shock. Its sustained increase is an indication of poor outcome. The underlined pathophysiological role of sTREM-1 for the transition from sepsis or severe sepsis to septic shock might constitute a novel target for immunomodulatory therapy.
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Clin. Exp. Immunol. · Sep 2005
CXCL12 and CXCR4 expression by human gingival fibroblasts in periodontal disease.
CXCL12 is a CXC chemokine that is related to lymphocyte infiltration and angiogenesis in inflammatory sites such as arthritis. However, the expression and roles of CXCL12 in periodontal disease are uncertain. The aim of this study was to assess the expression of CXCL12 and its receptor, CXCR4, in periodontal tissue and to investigate the properties of CXCL12 and CXCR4 expression by human gingival fibroblasts (HGF). ⋯ Our results demonstrated that CXCL12 might be related to CXCR4+ cells infiltration and angiogenesis both in normal periodontal tissues and periodontal diseased tissue. P. gingivalis, a known periodontal pathogen, inhibits the production of CXCL12 and the expression of CXCR4 by HGF. This fact means that P. gingivalis may inhibit CXCR4+ cells infiltration and neovascularization in periodontal tissue and escape from the immune response.
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Clin. Exp. Immunol. · Aug 2005
High levels of glucocorticoid receptors in patients with active Crohn's disease may predict steroid resistance.
Up to 20% of Crohn's disease (CD) patients respond poorly to glucocorticoids (GC). A product of an alternative splicing of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) premRNA, GRbeta, may play a role as a dominant inhibitor of the glucocorticoid response. Increasing evidence suggests that inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-18 alternate the splicing of the primary transcript between the two isoforms GRbeta and GRalpha in hGR gene of CD patients. ⋯ High levels of hGRbeta might be connected to GC resistance. IL-18 might participate in the alternative splicing of the hGR preliminary mRNA of CD patients. The results support the theory that augmented hGRbeta mRNA expression level in PBMC is connected with GC-resistance of CD patients.