Search results for "COMPOUND"

Lovastatin stimulates p75 TNF receptor (TNFR2) expression in primary human endothelial cells

2005

HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) exert pleiotropic physiological effects. Among others they attenuate cellular responses to genotoxic and inflammatory stress. We investigated the effect of lovastatin on the expression level of TNF receptors (TNFR) in primary human endothelial cells (HUVEC). ELISA, FACS and immunocytochemical analyses show that lovastatin selectively increases the cell surface expression of TNFR2 without affecting the expression level of TNFR1. This effect of lovastatin is independent from inhibition of cell-cycle progression since cells both in G1- and G2-phase showed elevated levels of TNFR2 after lovastatin treatment. To analyze the physiological relevance of lovast…

Stability of Cannabinoids in Hair Samples Exposed to Sunlight

2000

It has been well recognized that hashish and marihuana lose potency during storage because of a decrease in the content of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the major psychoactive constituent of cannabis (1). The effect of oxygen on stored plant and resin materials or solutions of pure cannabinoids seems much less significant than that of higher temperatures (≥37 °C) or light (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7). A few data are available on the stability of THC and major metabolites in blood (8)(9)(10)(11). However, the stability of cannabinoids in the hair shaft has not been addressed, although scalp hair represents one of the most exposed parts of the body. Therefore, a study was performed to elucidate …

Erythritol-enriched powder and oral biofilm regrowth on dental implants: an in vitro study.

2021

Background Peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis are the main biological complications associated with dental implants. Since most authors agree that bacteria play a major etiological role, the main aims of this study were to determine if a formulation of erythritol and chlorhexidine applied with an air polishing system inhibits biofilm regrowth over dental implants and to compare the decontamination capacity of this therapy with that of mechanical removal by saline and gauze. Material and Methods A multispecies biofilm (P. gingivalis, A. actinomycetemcomitans, F. nucleatum, A. naeslundii, V. parvula and S. oralis) was grown for 14 days on 52 dental implants in an artificial mouth. Th…

The Potential Use of Resveratrol for Cancer Prevention.

2019

In addition to the traditional treatments of cancer and cancer prevention, the use of natural compounds, especially those found in food, should be considered. To clarify if resveratrol has the potential for cancer prevention and the possibility of use in therapy, the following must be taken into account: data from epidemiology, clinical protocol (case and control), preclinical studies (lab animals), use of established cell lines as models of cancer cells, test tube assays (enzymes activities), and requirements of nanotechnologies in order to discover new drugs to fight cancer. From this perspective and future expected advances, more information is needed such as improved efficacy, methods o…

POLYPHENOLS FROM RED WINE MODULATE IMMUNE RESPONSIVENESS: BIOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE.

2008

Many studies have been conducted on the effects of red wine polyphenols on certain diseases, primarily, coronary heart disease (CHD) and, in this respect, evidence has been demonstrated that intake of red wine is associated with a reduction of CHD symptomatology. In this framework, the purpose of this review is to illustrate the effects of polyphenols on immune cells from human healthy peripheral blood. Data will show that polyphenols are able to stimulate both innate and adaptive immune responses. In particular, the release of cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-12, interferon (IFN)-gamma, and IL-10 as well as immunoglobulins may be important for host protection in different immune related …

Murine bone marrow-derived mast cells as potent producers of IL-9: costimulatory function of IL-10 and kit ligand in the presence of IL-1.

2000

Abstract Recently, the Th2-type cytokine IL-9 was identified by genetic mapping analyses as a key mediator that determines the susceptibility to asthma. This has been further supported by data from IL-9-transgenic mice in which the overexpression of IL-9 in the lung causes airway inflammation, mast cell hyperplasia, and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. In an accompanying paper, we demonstrate that murine bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMC) after stimulation with either ionomycin, a combination of ionomycin and IL-1, or via IgE-Ag complexes and IL-1 are very potent producers of IL-9. Herein we show that a dramatic increase of IL-9 production is observed when BMMC activated with ionomycin/IL-…

Nitric oxide and sensory afferent neurones modulate the protective effects of low-dose endotoxin on rat gastric mucosal damage

1995

Pretreatment (1 h) with low doses (5-40 micrograms/kg i.p.) of Escherichia coli endotoxin dose dependently reduced the gastric mucosal damage induced by a 10 min challenge with 1 ml ethanol (50% and 100%) in conscious rats. Treatment with the nitric oxide synthesis inhibitor, NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 5 and 10 mg/kg i.p.), significantly inhibited the protective effects of endotoxin (40 micrograms/kg i.p.). The actions of L-NAME were reversed by the prior administration of L-arginine (100 mg/kg i.p.). The protective effects of endotoxin were not influenced by pretreatment with dexamethasone (5 mg/kg s.c. twice) or indomethacin (5 mg/kg s.c.). However, ablation of sensory affe…

The effect of dietary phosphorus deficiency on the immune responses of European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus L.)

2003

Low phosphorous (P) feeds in aquaculture are recommended to reduce eutrophication of water systems. However, the feed should be adequate for normal growth and intact immune defence. Influence of low dietary P supply on non-specific and specific immune defence of European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) was studied in two trials. For Trial 1, a semi-purified, low-P diet was formulated and supplied with 0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, or 10.0 g P kg(-1)to obtain a P gradient of 4.4-14.9 g kg(-1)diet. Diets were fed to four replicate groups of fingerling whitefish for 42 days in a flow-through, freshwater system maintained at 15 degrees C. Fish fed with the P-unsupplemented diet had significantly lower plas…

Synthetic multivalent glycopeptide-lipopeptide antitumor vaccines: impact of the cluster effect on the killing of tumor cells.

2014

Multivalent synthetic vaccines were obtained by solid-phase synthesis of tumor-associated MUC1 glycopeptide antigens and their coupling to a Pam3 Cys lipopeptide through click reactions. These vaccines elicited immune responses in mice without the use of any external adjuvant. The vaccine containing four copies of a MUC1 sialyl-TN antigen showed a significant cluster effect. It induced in mice prevailing IgG2a antibodies, which bind to MCF-7 breast tumor cells and initiate the killing of these tumor cells by activation of the complement-dependent cytotoxicity complex.

2021

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent for the COVID-19 pandemic, which generated more than 1.82 million deaths in 2020 alone, in addition to 83.8 million infections. Currently, there is no antiviral medication to treat COVID-19. In the search for drug leads, marine-derived metabolites are reported here as prospective SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors. Two hundred and twenty-seven terpene natural products isolated from the biodiverse Red-Sea ecosystem were screened for inhibitor activity against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) using molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations combined with molecular mechanics/generalized Born surface area b…