Search results for " Autoimmunity"
showing 10 items of 48 documents
Increased expression of interleukin-22 in patients with giant cell arteritis
2017
Objectives GCA is characterized by arterial remodelling driven by inflammation. IL-22 is an attractive cytokine which acts at the crosstalk between immune and stromal cells. We hypothesized that IL-22 might be induced in GCA and might be involved in disease pathogenesis. Methods Patients subjected to temporal artery biopsies (TABs) naive from therapy were enrolled: 27 biopsy-proven GCA, 8 biopsy-negative GCA, 21 biopsy-negative non-GCA patients. Expression of IL-22 was determined in TABs by immunohystochemistry, in plasma by ELISA, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells by real-time PCR and flow cytometry. Effects of IL-22 on viability and gene expression of primary cultures obtained from TA…
Immunohistochemistry of Human Hsp60 in Health and Disease: From Autoimmunity to Cancer
2017
Hsp60 (also called Cpn60) is a chaperonin with essential functions for cell physiology and survival. Additionally, its involvement in the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases (e.g., some autoimmune disorders and cancer) is becoming evident with new research. For example, the distribution and levels of Hsp60 in cells and tissues have been found altered in many pathologic conditions, and the significance of these alterations is being investigated in a number of laboratories. The aim of this ongoing research is to determine the meaning of these Hsp60 alterations with regard to pathogenetic mechanisms, diagnosis, classification of lesions, and assessing prognosis and response to treatment. Hsp…
Mortality in COVID-19 disease patients: Correlating Association of Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) with severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (S…
2020
Highlights • In addition to ethnicity, socio-economic factors, prior vaccinations and exposure to other coronaviruses, other factors need to be considered to explain geographical and regional variations in susceptibility, severity of clinical expression of COVID-19 disease and outcomes. • Differences in peptide binding of SARS-CoV-2 variants to MHC class II, but not to MHC class I alleles frequent in individuals with African, Asian or Caucasian descent could be identified. • Single mutations in the wildtype of SARS-CoV-2, the so called B strain or L strain impact on MHC presentation • Most likely there is selective pressure from MHC class II alleles in regard to binding of the ORF8 (L84S) v…
Evidence That Graves' Ophthalmopathy Immunoglobulins Do Not Directly Activate IGF-1 Receptors
2018
Background: Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) pathogenesis involves thyrotropin (TSH) receptor (TSHR)-stimulating autoantibodies. Whether there are autoantibodies that directly stimulate insulin-like growth factor 1 receptors (IGF-1Rs), stimulating insulin-like growth factor receptor antibodies (IGFRAbs), remains controversial. This study attempted to determine whether there are stimulating IGFRAbs in patients with GO. Methods: Immunoglobulins (Igs) were purified from normal volunteers (NV-Igs) and patients with GO (GO-Igs). The effects of TSH, IGF-1, NV-Igs, and GO-Igs on pAKT and pERK1/2, members of pathways used by IGF-1R and TSHR, were compared in orbital fibroblasts from GO patients (GOFs) a…
The janus face of NKT cell function in autoimmunity and infectious diseases
2018
Natural killer T cells (NKT) are a subset of T lymphocytes bridging innate and adaptive immunity. These cells recognize self and microbial glycolipids bound to non-polymorphic and highly conserved CD1d molecules. Three NKT cell subsets, type I, II and NKT-like expressing different antigen receptors (TCR) were described and TCR activation promotes intracellular events leading to specific functional activities. NKT can exhibit different functions depending on the secretion of soluble molecules and the interaction with other cell types. NKT cells act as regulatory cells in the defence against infections but, on the other hand, their effector functions can be involved in the pathogenesis of sev…
Association between hypovitaminosis D and systemic sclerosis: True or fake?
2016
Abstract Background Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency is considered a major factor triggering and enhancing several autoimmune disorders; hypovitaminosis D has been reported to be common in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc). Previous studies assessing vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency in SSc have been reviewed, and the relation with pathogenesis and clinical features has been examined. Content Eligibility criteria were: reporting measurement of Vitamin D serum levels in all participants and evaluating adult onset-SSc individuals as patients group. Results: The association between clinical features and low hormone levels is controversial. Manifold data have shown vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency …
Graves' Autoantibodies Exhibit Different Stimulating Activities in Cultures of Thyrocytes and Orbital Fibroblasts Not Reflected by Clinical Assays
2021
Background: The pathogenesis of Graves' hyperthyroidism (GH) and associated Graves' orbitopathy (GO) appears to involve stimulatory autoantibodies (thyrotropin receptor [TSHR]-stimulating antibodies [TSAbs]) that bind to and activate TSHRs on thyrocytes and orbital fibroblasts. In general, measurement of circulating TSHR antibodies by clinical assays correlates with the status of GH and GO. However, most clinical measurements of TSHR antibodies use competitive binding assays that do not distinguish between TSAbs and antibodies that bind to but do not activate TSHRs. Moreover, clinical assays for TSAbs measure stimulation of only one signaling pathway, the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAM…
Antigen-Specific Immunotherapy with Thyrotropin Receptor Peptides in Graves' Hyperthyroidism: A Phase I Study
2019
Background: Graves' disease is one of the most common autoimmune conditions, but treatment remains imperfect. This study explores the first-in-human use of antigen-specific immunotherapy with a combination of two thyrotropin receptor (TSHR) peptides (termed ATX-GD-59) in Graves' hyperthyroidism. Methods: Twelve participants (11 female) with previously untreated mild to moderate Graves' hyperthyroidism were enrolled in a Phase I open label trial to receive 10 doses of ATX-GD-59 administered intradermally over an 18-week period. Adverse events, tolerability, changes in serum free thyroid hormones, and TSHR autoantibodies were measured. Results: Ten subjects received all 10 doses of ATX-GD-59,…
Possible link between Hashimoto's thyroiditis and oral lichen planus: a novel association found
2013
Objectives: Hashimoto's thyroiditis as well as lichen planus has been associated to a number of disorders, generally of auto-immune origin. A novel possible association between oral lichen planus (OLP) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is here proposed on the basis of a cross-sectional survey. Materials and methods: One hundred and five unrelated OLP patients were considered. Diagnosis of HT was based on positive serum anti-TPO, anti-Tg, TSH levels and the typical ultrasound pattern of the thyroid gland. Results: In the present survey, the prevalence of HT in the OLP group was 14. 3 % whereas the prevalence of HT-related hypothyroidism in the general population was reported to be equal to 1 …
The CO-releasing molecule CORM-3 protects against articular degradation in the K/BxN serum transfer arthritis model.
2010
Contains fulltext : 89015.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Carbon monoxide-releasing molecules can counteract inflammatory responses. The aim of this study was to investigate whether tricarbonylchloro(glycinate)ruthenium (II) (CORM-3) is able to control the effector phase of experimental arthritis. Arthritis was induced in C57Black-6 mice by an intraperitoneal injection of serum from arthritic K/BxN mice. CORM-3 was administered intraperitoneally at 10 mg/kg/day (5 mg/kg twice a day) from days 0 to 10 and animals were sacrificed on day 11. Serum levels of osteocalcin and prostanoids were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and radioimmunoassay. Gene expression was determ…