Search results for "Immune system"

Quality attracts parasites: host condition‐dependent chemo‐orientation of trematode larvae

2015

Summary Environmental factors impairing physiological condition of organisms are assumed to predispose them to parasite infections. This is because host immune function is typically condition-dependent. However, poor physiological condition has been reported to reduce host susceptibility to parasites in various systems. We examined whether such an effect can be due to altered exposure of hosts to active parasite transmission stages by investigating chemo-orientation of free-swimming cercariae larvae of a parasite Echinoparyphium aconiatum towards its snail host Lymnaea stagnalis. We used both long-term and short-term feeding treatments to manipulate the body condition and physiological trai…

Recurrent angioedema and the threat of asphyxiation.

2009

Angioedema (also known as Quincke disease) is the name given to edema lasting 1–7 days that recurs at irregular intervals. Target organs are the skin, tongue, glottis and larynx, gastrointestinal tract, and sometimes other soft organs. The clinical symptom referred to as angioedema forms part of a variety of disease entities (Box 1, Figure 1). In Germany, according to the present author’s estimate, several thousand patients suffer from one of the forms of recurrent angioedema. Cases of sudden asphyxiation are rare, but do occur every now and again (1). This review aims to draw attention to the various clinical features of recurrent angioedema and the practical steps for dealing with it, and…

Routes in Innate Immunity Evolution: Galectins and Rhamnose-binding Lectins in Ascidians

2013

Characterizing the Invasive Tumor Front of Aggressive Uterine Adenocarcinoma and Leiomyosarcoma

2021

The invasive tumor front (the tumor–host interface) is vitally important in malignant cell progression and metastasis. Tumor cell interactions with resident and infiltrating host cells and with the surrounding extracellular matrix and secreted factors ultimately determine the fate of the tumor. Herein we focus on the invasive tumor front, making an in-depth characterization of reticular fiber scaffolding, infiltrating immune cells, gene expression, and epigenetic profiles of classified aggressive primary uterine adenocarcinomas (24 patients) and leiomyosarcomas (11 patients). Sections of formalin-fixed samples before and after microdissection were scanned and studied. Reticular fiber archit…

Immunological priming in the wood tiger moth (Parasemia plantaginis)

2014

Hyönteisiin lukeutuu monia merkittäviä tuholaisia, taudinvälittäjiä ja hyödyllisiä lajeja, minkä takia hyönteisten taudit, taudinaiheuttajat ja immuunipuolustus ovat ekologisesta, ekonomisesta ja lääketieteellisestä näkökulmasta tärkeitä tutkimuskohteita. Viimeaikaiset tutkimukset paljastavat hyönteisten ja muiden selkärangattomien immuunijärjestelmien pystyvän erikoistumaan ja luomaan pitkäkestoista immuniteettia. Jälkimmäinen ilmiö tunnetaan tieteellisissä artikkeleissa nimellä ”immunological priming”, jonka voisi kääntää suomeksi esimerkiksi ”immuunipohjustukseksi”. Immuunipohjustus on muistinkaltaista vastustuskykyä, joka auttaa elimistöä puolustautumaan tehokkaammin toistuvia tartuntoj…

Serum leptin and interleukin-6 levels in pediatric patients with HIV.

2003

Recent therapeutic approaches have improved the prognosis of children with HIV. Many new efforts could be involved in their quality of life and therefore could need additional diagnostic strategies. Leptin regulates pubertal development; furthermore a continuous immune stimulus, as in chronic infectious diseases, can enhance leptin's secretion by the action of cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6. To clarify this role in patients infected with HIV, we assayed leptin and IL-6 and evaluated the influence of HIV severity on its secretion. IL-6 (380.5 +/- 257.6 pg/ml; range: 22-900 pg/ml) showed a significant correlation with leptinemia, HIV-1 RNA, and viremia related to the stage of HIV diseas…

Role of adipokines signaling in the modulation of T cells function

2013

The field that links immunity and metabolism is rapidly expanding. Apparently non-immunological disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes have been linked to immune dysregulation, suggesting that metabolic alterations can be induced by or be consequence of an altered self-immune tolerance. In this context, adipose tissue produces and releases a variety of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory factors, termed "adipokines," which can be considered as the bridge between obesity-related exogenous factors, such as nutrition and lifestyle, and the molecular events leading to metabolic syndrome, inflammatory, and/or autoimmune conditions. In obesity, increased production of most adipokines im…

Alpha-1-antitrypsin-induced inhibition of complement-dependent phagocytosis.

1981

Abstract In a previous investigation, inhibition of complement-dependent rosette formation by alpha1-antitrypsin (α1-AT) was observed, and it was demonstrated that α1-AT interacts through its carbohydrate portion with C3 and its fragments. In the present study, the effect of α1-AT on the complement-receptor-mediated phagocytosis by human peripheral blood monocytes was examined. Purified α1-AT inhibited in a dose-dependent manner phagocytosis of C3-carrying yeast particles. Inhibition was selective, concerned only C3-receptor-mediated phagocytosis, neither Fc-receptor-mediated phagocytosis nor uptake of untreated yeast particles was blocked by α1-AT. It was demonstrated that α1-AT exerted it…

B8, DR3 antigens and production of human leucocyte migration inhibitory factor (LIF) by mononuclear cells stimulated with concanavalin A (Con A)

2008

LIF release by Con A stimulated mononuclear cells was evaluated in 67 randomly selected healthy Sicilians typed for HLA antigens. The results show that B8 and/or DR3 positive subjects release less LIF than negative ones, suggesting that this immunological response might be controlled by HLA-linked immune response (Ir) gene(s).

Lipid A-Induced Responses In Vivo

2009

The lipid A analogs used in preclinical studies and clinical trials are not naturally-occurring forms of lipid A; they are synthetic molecules produced to be less toxic than lipid A itself and they do not reproduce the effects of natural lipid A molecules especially in vivo. The responses induced by lipid A analogs are summarized in this chapter: their fate in the blood stream and their toxicity as well as the lipid A tolerance and the tumor immune responses they induce. Lipid A is not found in the mammalian organism under normal circumstances so its use in cancer therapy raises important questions as to its different effects in vivo and its toxicity, particularly in cancer patients. Lipid …