Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is caused mainly by complement dysregulation. Although various defects in the complement system explaining pathophysiology have been described in recent years, the etiology still remains unclear in about thirty percent of cases. In exploring other causes, similar to anti- complement factor H (anti-CFH) antibody associated HUS, we hypothesized that anti-complement

The ability of monocytes to release or sequester iron affects their role in cancer and inflammation. Previous work has shown that while IL-6 upregulates hepcidin synthesis and enhances iron sequestration, E2 reduces hepcidin synthesis and increases iron release. Given that E2 upregulates IL-6 production in monocytes, it is likely that the exact effect of E2 on iron metabolism in monocytes is shaped

Research Question Infections and/or inflammation processes of male genital tract are highly prevalent and often associated with risk of infertility. These conditions represent a possible cause of leukocytospermia, which is still under debate. Leukocytes are key-factors to reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and the increase of ROS in semen fluid is associated with the worsening of semen parameters

In COVID-19, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and thrombotic events are frequent, life-threatening complications. Autopsies commonly show arterial thrombosis and severe endothelial damage. Endothelial damage, which can play an early and central pathogenic role in ARDS and thrombosis, activates the lectin pathway of complement. Mannan-binding lectin-associated serine protease-2 (MASP-2), the

Background Although mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are regarded as immune-elusive and even immunosuppressive, recent evidence suggests that allogeneic immune response might is inevitable in the case of some lineages differentiated from MSCs. Regarding the importance of allogeneic IPCs and MSCs in pre-clinical and clinical studies, the present study aimed to investigate the possible changes in the immunogenicity

Diabetic patients have an increased risk of invasive aspergillosis (IA), but the mechanism is still unclear. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by neutrophils play a key role in defense against Aspergillus infection. Since diabetes mellitus affects the production of ROS from neutrophils, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether this effect is related to the susceptibility of diabetic

Adipokines (APN) are mainly secreted by adipocytes, macrophages and various other cells, along with their role in the regulation and mediation of inflammatory responses. APN is almost exclusively synthesized by adipocytes and regulated by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) that is involved in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, linked lung fibrosis. Leptin is involved in acute

The role of regulatory T cells (Tregs) on protective immunity in fungal infections, is controversial. Sporotrichosis is an emerging and worldwide-distributed subcutaneous mycosis caused by various related thermodimorphic fungi of the genus Sporothrix. Previously, we showed an elevated percent of Tregs around 21 days post-infection (dpi) in C57BL/6 mice infected with either Sporothrix schenckii or Sporothrix

There is evidence that major components of the fungi cell wall not only define fungal properties and survival but also are responsible for their biological activities. Some data indicate that structural components of the fungal cell wall exert stimulatory/modulatory effects on immunocompetent cells acting as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). Fungal components can influence the activity

In the present research, a lipophilic methotrexate (MTX) prodrug was developed by covalent conjugating of MTX to stearic acid (SA) as a lipid moiety via amid bond. The structure of synthesized conjugate, MTX-SA, was confirmed by IR and NMR spectra. To evaluate inflammatory response of MTX-SA conjugate and MTX, human PBMCs were isolated and exposed to 50, 500 and 5000 nM of MTX-SA conjugate and free

Kawasaki disease (KD) has been declared a rare idiopathic condition for a long time. The children age less than five years, as the most susceptible group, are at risk of this disease. Since the cause of the disease is unknown, this study was designed to investigate the cause of KD. We applied metaDE and WGCNA packages in order to perform a meta-analysis and identify network modules of co-expressed

Dysregulated activation of inflammatory signaling by the immature neonatal immune system could lead to the development of many pediatric diseases including necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). While the mechanism(s) of pathogenesis is unknown, NEC is believed to have multifactorial causes. Microbial dysbiosis and intestinal immaturity have been implicated as potential triggers for this disease. We hypothesized

Studies that show an overview of the peripheral immune response in a model of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (Pb) infection in females are scarce in the literature. We sought to characterize the innate and adaptive immune responses in female C57BL/6 mice infected with Pb through two distinct routes of administration, intranasal and intravenous. In addition to the lung, P. brasiliensis yeast cells were

The presence of anti-Ascaris (anti-Asc) immunoglobin isotypes alters the risk of allergic asthma. In this study, we analyzed the relationships between serum levels of anti-Asc IgE, IgG1, and IgG4, without concurrent infection by the parasite, and the presence of asthma. We measured cytokine levels from Th1, Th2, and Th17 profiles. Children aged 2–14 years old, asthmatics (n = 64), and non-asthmatics

Sensitivity to allergenic fungi (Alternaria alternata) is associated with acute, severe asthma attacks. Antigen presenting cells (APCs) in the lung sense environmental perturbations that induce cellular stress and metabolic changes and are critical for allergic airway inflammation. However, the mechanisms underlying such environmental sensing by APCs in the lung remains unclear. Here we show that acute

Surfactant treatment for neonatal respiratory distress syndrome has dramatically improved survival of preterm infants. However, this has resulted in a markedly increased incidence of sequelae such as neonatal chronic inflammatory lung disease. The current surfactant preparations in clinical use lack the natural lung defence proteins surfactant proteins (SP)-A and D. These are known to have anti-inflammatory

Background ST6GAL1 has been identified as a novel susceptibility gene for IgA nephropathy (IgAN) in a previous genome-wide association study. The present study is aimed at exploring whether the genetic polymorphisms of ST6GAL1 gene correlate with IgAN susceptibility, clinical phenotypes and progression in a Chinese Han population. Methods Twenty-six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ST6GAL1

Neutrophils are an essential cellular component of the innate immune system, responsible for multiple effector mechanisms and aspects of inflammation. Neutrophil priming results in a rapid elevation in antimicrobial activities and can be measured by reactive oxygen species production, bacterial endocytosis, and de-novo synthesis of components such as interleukins. Mannose binding lectin (MBL), a C-type

Numerous studies have shown that over-activation of microglia could cause neuroinflammation and release pro-inflammatory mediators, which could result in neurodegenerative diseases, like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease etc. Beta-naphthoflavone (BNF) has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in borderline tissues, but BNF has not been reported the effect associated with neuroinflammation

Objective The objective of the present study was to evaluate the serum levels of soluble oncostatin M (OSM), OSM receptor (sOSMR) and glycoprotein130 (sgp130) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), and the possible associations and correlations with clinical parameters. Methods Serum levels of OSM, sOSMR and sgp130 were evaluated by ELISA in eighty-four SSc patients and eighty-four healthy volunteers

Objective Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), one of Gram-positive pathogen, is frequently associated with acute lung inflammation. The central feature of S. aureus acute lung inflammation are pulmonary dysfunctioning and impeded host defence response, which cause failure in inflammatory cytokines homeostasis and leads to serious tissue damage. However, the role of the Mer receptor tyrosine kinase (MerTK)

By modulating specific immune responses against antigens, adjuvants are used in many vaccine preparations to enhance protective immunity. The C-terminal domain of the protein P97 (P97c) of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, which is the etiologic agent of porcine enzootic pneumonia, has been shown to increase the specific humoral response against an antigen when this antigen is merged with P97c and delivered

Background and objective Severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID) is a rare inherited severe immunodeficiency, in which functions of T cells and B cells are impaired. SCID is inherited either in X-linked recessive, or autosomal recessive forms, and is either radiosensitive or radioresistant. Artemis (DCLRE1C gene), DNA ligase IV, DNA-PKC, and Cernunnos/XLF proteins are regarded as NHEJ (Non-Homologous

Aims Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) are aquaporin-4 antibody-mediated diseases of the central nervous system. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is an inflammatory cytokine released by vascular endothelial cells and activated astrocytes. Previous studies have reported the aberrant expressions of cytokines/chemokines in patients diagnosed with NMOSD. However, the serum levels of ET-1 in NMOSD patients

Non-classical human monocytes are characterized by high-level expression of cytokines like TNF, but the mechanisms involved are elusive. We have identified miRNAs and CpG-methylation sites that are unique to non-classical monocytes, defined via CD14 and CD16 expression levels. For down-regulated miRNAs that are linked to up-regulated mRNAs the dominant gene ontology term was intracellular signal transduction

SARS Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has become a global issue which has raised the concern of scientific community to design and discover a counter-measure against this deadly virus. So far, the pandemic has caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people upon infection and spreading. To date, no effective vaccine is available which can combat the infection caused by this virus. Therefore

Asthma is characterized by inflammation, pulmonary remodeling and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. We have previously shown that treatment with angiotensin-(1-7) [Ang-(1-7)] promotes resolution of eosinophilic inflammation and prevents chronic allergic lung inflammation. Here, we evaluated the effect of treatment with the inclusion compound of Ang-(1-7) in hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) given by

Helminths, as complex pathogens, possess a large number of different epitopes, some of which may be similar to the epitopes of the host. Besides being the cause for the activation of self-reactive immune cells, molecular mimicry may also be the cause for the expansion of regulatory T cells, crucial for the host tolerance of self-antigens. Amelioration of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)

Ebola virus is a highly pathogenic RNA virus that causes the Ebola haemorrhagic fever in human. This virus is considered as one of the dangerous viruses in the world with very high mortality rate. To date, no epitope-based subunit vaccine has yet been discovered to fight against Ebola although the outbreaks of this deadly virus took many lives in the past. In this study, approaches of reverse vaccinology

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung inflammatory disease characterized by progressive airflow limitation, chronic respiratory symptoms and frequent exacerbations. There is an unmet need to identify novel therapeutic alternatives beside bronchodilators that prevent disease progression. Levels of both Nitric Oxide (NO) and IL-6 were significantly increased in the plasma of patients

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection, remains a major global health emergency. It is estimated that one third of global population are affected, predominantly with latent granuloma form of the disease. Mtb co-evolved with humans, for its obligatory intra-macrophage phagosome habitat and slow replication, balanced against unique mycobacterial innate immunity, which

Increased concentration of ferrous iron in the gastrointestinal tract increases the number of various pathogens and induces inflammation. LPS and/or high-fat diet-associated metaflammation is mediated through a quaternary receptor signaling complex containing iron-regulated pathway, IL-6/STAT inflammatory signaling pathway, hepcidin regulatory pathway, and common TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway. We, therefore

The etiology of classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is largely unknown. High serum CD30-levels are associated with increased risk of cHL. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is detectable in the tumor cells in 1/3 of cHL cases in the Western world. The PD-1 pathway (T-cell inflamed immune response) might contribute to the pathogenesis by enabling pre-malignant CD30+ or EBV + cells to evade immune surveillance. We

Senescence is an inevitable and complicated phenomenon. Age-associated thymic involution increases the risk of infectious diseases, which results in the immunosenescence and leads to a poor immune function. d-galactose (d-gal) can cause damages that resemble accelerated aging in mice. Gallic acid (GA), as one of the natural phenolic compounds, has been demonstrated to act in antioxidant and anti-tumor

PURPOSE Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is determined by a combination of multiple genetic and environmental factors, but its etiology and pathogenesis are not well understood. We aim to determine whether variations in FCRL3 and MTMR3 correlate with IgAN risk indices in Chinese Han people. METHODS Eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of FCRL3 and MTMR3 were genotyped, and association analysis

The HLA-B*15:02 allele is associated with an increased risk of developing carbamazepine (CBZ)-induced Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). Many studies, however, have demonstrated that a large majority of HLA-B*15:02 individuals are unlikely to develop the adverse drug reaction while on CBZ. This phenomenon suggests that other factors that modulate the allergic immune

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are formed by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) and contribute to the innate host defense by binding and killing bacterial and fungal pathogens. Because NET formation depends on histone hypercitrullination by peptidylarginine deiminase 4 (PAD4), we used PAD4 gene deficient (Pad4-/-) mice in a mouse model of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) to address the

Serological tests for subclinical Mycobacterium leprae infection based on antibodies to phenolic glycolipid-1 (PGL-1) and leprosy IDRI diagnostic-1 (LID-1) have not been compared in HIV-infected and uninfected individuals. PGL-1 seropositivity by ELISA was 6.0 % (21/350) in HIV-infected compared with 29.1 % (102/350) in HIV-uninfected individuals (p < 0.001); LID-1 seropositivity was 45.4 % (159/350)

PURPOSE Autoimmune diseases are a group of complex diseases localized in multiple organ systems, with a wide spectrum of symptoms and still unclear causes. The aim of the present study was to analyse a possible association of three autoimmune disabilities - Multiple sclerosis (MS), LADA diabetes and Graves' disease (GD) with single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; rs1990760) in the IF IH1 gene (also known

Microbes have developed mechanisms to resist the host immune defenses and some elicit antitumor immune responses. About 6 million people are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan agent of Chagas' disease, the sixth neglected tropical disease worldwide. Eighty years ago, G. Roskin and N. Klyuyeva proposed that T. cruzi infection mediates an anti-cancer activity. This observation has been reproduced

Large tissue damage or wounds cause serious comorbidities and represent a major burden for patients, families, and health systems. Due to the pivotal role of immune cells in the proper resolution of inflammation and tissue repair, we focus our current study on the interaction of macrophages with skin cells, and specifically on the effects of CD163 gene induction in macrophages in wound healing. We

Immunotherapy for cancer cells induced by interfering with PD-1/PD-L1 engagement via check-point blockades was initiated by tumour-specific PD-1+ CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) within a tumour mass and eliminate the tumour. Here, we used C57BL/6 (B6) mice implanted with the syngeneic hepatoma cell line Hepa1-6-1, and confirmed that the dendritic cells (DCs) within Hepa1-6-1 tumour mass were tolerogenic

Over the years research has found an association between B lymphocytes and pathogenesis during Leishmania sp. infections. Recently we demonstrated that B-2 lymphocytes are the main producers of IL-10 during L. amazonensis infection, and that the disease severity in BALB/c mice was attributed to these IL-10-producing B-2 lymphocytes. Here, we aim to understand the role of peritoneal B-1 lymphocytes

Sepsis is characterized by an early pro-inflammatory phase followed by compensatory anti-inflammatory mechanisms that lead to a late generalized immunosuppression, period where most deaths occur. Immunotherapy approaches to recover the immunocompetence in sepsis are similar to those used in cancer. Meta-tyrosine (m-Tyr) is a product of oxidative stress present in circulation during the sepsis and cancer-associated

There is virtually no information on the role of NLRC4 inflammasome on bone resorption and inflammation associated with periodontitis. Bacterial-associated experimental periodontitis was induced in wild-type (WT) and Nlrc4-KO C57BL/6 mice. 3 μL of a 1 × 109 UFC/mL PBS suspension of heat-killed Gram-negative bacteria were injected (3x/week for 4 weeks) directly into the gingival tissues of WT and Nlrc4-KO

Dendritic cells (DCs) are immune cells that surveil the organism for infections or malignancies and activate specific T lymphocytes initiating specific immune responses. Contrariwise, DCs have been show to participate in the development of diseases, among them some types of cancer by inducing angiogenesis or immunosuppression. The ultimate fate of DC functions regarding their role in disease or health

Glypican-3 (GPC3) is an attractive target for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy, as it is overexpressed in most hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues but shows restricted expression in healthy adult tissues. Herein, we generated GPC3-specific CAR-T cells for HCC therapy by electroporation with plasmid DNA encoding the piggyBac (PB) transposon and the hyperactive piggyBac transposase simultaneously

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Laser capture microdissection (LCM) is a powerful tool for the isolation of specific tissue compartments. We aimed to investigate the mucosal immune response that takes place in different intestinal compartments of IBD patients, dissected by LCM, analyzing cytokines expression profile and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress markers. METHODS Frozen sections of gut were obtained from

OBJECTIVE Lung cancer (LC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide with low five-year survival rate due to lack of effective diagnosis. This study aims to find an optimal combination of autoantibodies for detecting of early-stage LC. METHODS Nine relatively novel autoantibodies against tumor-associated (TAAs) (PSIP1, TOP2A, ACTR3, RPS6KA5, HMGB3, MMP12, GREM1, ZWINT and NUSAP1) were detected

Bloodstream infections remain a leading cause of death worldwide, despite advances in critical care and understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment strategies. No specific biomarkers or therapy are available for these conditions. Neutrophils play a critical role in controlling infection and it is suggested that their migration and antimicrobial activity are impaired during sepsis which contribute

Neutrophils are the first line of defense in the innate immune system, helping to maintain tissue homeostasis as well as eliminating pathogens and self-components. The traditional view of neutrophils as simple phagocytes has been revised over the last decade as new research reveals their unappreciated complexity. Neutrophils are phenotypically and functionally heterogeneous, allowing them to act as

Glioma is the most common primary brain cancer, and half of patients present a diagnosis of glioblastoma (GBM), its most aggressive and lethal form. Conventional therapies, including surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, have not resulted in major ameliorations in GBM survival outcome, which remains extremely poor. Recent immunotherapy improvements for other tumors, coupled with growing knowledge