Search results for "Immune system"
showing 10 items of 2885 documents
Correlation between cell free DNA levels and medical evaluation of disease progression in systemic lupus erythematosus patients
2014
High levels of cell free DNA (cfDNA) in human blood plasma have been described in patients with autoimmune diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of cfDNA in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and to assess fluctuations of cfDNA concentrations compared to the course of disease progression under standard treatment. Therefore, nuclear cfDNA concentrations in plasma were measured in 59 SLE patients and 59 healthy controls. Follow-up blood plasma was collected from 27 of the 59 SLE patients. Patients were characterised by clinical parameters (antinuclear antibodies (ANA), anti-dsDNA-antibodies, C3, C4, and CRP), SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) and medical thera…
Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Following the Use of Hypomethylating Agents among Patients with Relapsed or Refractory AML: Findin…
2018
Patients with primary refractory or relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (RR-AML) have very poor prognosis. Due to limited treatment options, some patients are treated with hypomethylating agents (HMAs) due to their tolerability. Little is known about the role of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) following HMA therapy in this setting. We retrospectively analyzed an international cohort of 655 RR-AML patients who received HMA therapy to study patterns and outcomes with HSCT. Only 37 patients (5.6%) patients underwent HSCT after HMA therapy. The conditioning regimen was myeloablative in 57% and nonmyeloablative in 43%. Patients received matched unrelated donor, matched sibl…
Biomarker profile predicts clinical efficacy of extracorporeal photopheresis in steroid‐resistant acute and chronic graft‐vs‐host disease after allog…
2021
We conducted a multicenter interventional study to assess the efficacy of Therakos ECP to treat steroid-resistant graft-vs-host disease (SRes-GVHD) after allogeneic HSCT and to identify biomarkers of GVHD response. A total of 62 patients were treated for acute SRes-GVHD (n = 37) or chronic SRes-GVHD (n = 25). Median time to best response was 35 days (range, 28-85) and 90 days (range, 27-240) in acute and chronic SRes-GVHD, respectively. Overall, 27 patients (72.9%) with SRes-aGVHD responded to treatment (40.5% CR and 32.4% PR). The response rate was significantly higher in grade I-II than in grade III-IV aGVHD (100% vs 50.0%, respectively, P-value = .001). In chronic SRes-GVHD, 22 patients …
Circadian variations in antigen-specific proliferation of human T lymphocytes and correlation to cortisol production.
1995
Cortisol is a well-known immunosuppressant when used therapeutically. The present investigation was set out to study if diurnal variations in endogenous cortisol production are reflected by changes in proliferative responses of human lymphocytes to either a mitogen (phytohemagglutinin-A, PHA) or an antigen (tetanus toxoid, TT) stimulus. The study included eight healthy volunteers. Blood was withdrawn at 0200, 0600, 1000, and 1800h for preparation of lymphocytes and determination of cortisol in plasma. Isolated cells were incubated without (baseline activity) or with inclusion of either 1 micrograms PHA or 10 micrograms TT. Proliferation was measured by labelling with 3H-thymidine for 16 h o…
Levocetirizine for the treatment of itch in psoriasis patients: An open-label pilot study in a real-world setting.
2019
Itch is the most bothersome symptom in psoriasis, often leading to impaired quality of life. Treatment of psoriasis-induced itch is frequently unsatisfactory as the various therapies employed have a delayed onset of effect. Histamine-1 receptor (H1) antihistamines are not recommended in treatment guidelines as histamine is not considered a key mediator in psoriasis. However, patients using H1 antihistamines frequently report benefits in questionnaire-based studies. To address these contradictions, we examined the short-term effects of levocetirizine, a nonsedating H1 antihistamine, on psoriasis-related itch and itch-related quality of life. In this pilot study, patients with psoriasis-relat…
Glucocorticoid receptor expression on human B cells in response to acute heavy resistance exercise.
2011
<i>Objective:</i> To examine glucocorticoid receptor (GCR) expression on B lymphocytes in response to an acute bout of resistance exercise. <i>Methods:</i> Using a within-subject design, resistance-trained women (n = 7; age: 22.13 ± 3.09 years; height: 1.69 ± 0.084 m; body weight: 65.60 ± 10.01 kg; body mass index: 22.63 ± 2.03 kg/m<sup>2</sup>; means ± SD) and men (n = 8; age: 23.28 ± 4.26 years; height: 1.73 ± 0.086 m; body weight: 73.93 ± 12.71 kg; body mass index: 24.51 ± 2.61 kg/m<sup>2</sup>; means ± SD) performed an acute resistance exercise protocol (6 sets of 5 repetition maximum heavy squats) and a control test in a balanced, randomi…
A genetically determined high setting of TNF-alpha influences immunologic parameters of HLA-B8,DR3 positive subjects: implications for autoimmunity.
2001
The 8.1 ancestral haplotype (AH) is a common Caucasoid haplotype carried by most people who type for HLA-B8,DR3. It seems unique in its association with a wide range of immunopathologic diseases. Healthy subjects bearing this haplotype demonstrate several alterations of immune response. This article will focus on the identification of the mechanism(s) of disease susceptibility of 8.1 AH. In 13 carriers of 8.1 AH, and 43 negative patients, enzyme immune assays serum levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, soluble endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (sELAM-1), cortisol, and interleukin(IL)-10 were determined. In addition, quantification of cytokine produced in vitro after mitogen s…
The in vitro addition of methotrexate and/or methylprednisolone determines peripheral reduction in Th17 and expansion of conventional Treg and of IL-…
2014
The aim of our study was to evaluate methotrexate (MTX) and methylprednisolone (MP) effect on peripheral Th17 and Treg subsets in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We enrolled 15 patients (10 early RA and 5 long-standing disease) with active RA and 10 age-matched healthy donors as controls. Frequencies of Th17 and Treg were quantified using flow cytometry before and after in vitro addition of MTX, MP or both drugs. Our results showed a reduction in the overall Th17 population followed by an increase in Th17 IL-10+ and Treg, after in vitro treatment of PBMCs with the drugs in patients with early RA. Long-standing disease patients showed a less evident increase in Treg cells and less e…
Polymorphonuclear integrins, membrane fluidity, and cytosolic Ca(2+) content after activation in essential hypertension.
2000
Abstract —The purpose of this research was to obtain further information about the role of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in essential hypertension. These cells could be involved in the pathogenesis of organ injury. Thirty subjects (14 men and 16 women) with essential hypertension were enrolled. In these subjects we determined, at baseline and after in vitro activation with 4-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and N -formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, the polymorphonuclear leukocyte membrane fluidity, obtained by labeling the cells with 1-[4-(trimethylamino)phenyl]-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene, cytosolic Ca 2+ concentration, obtained by marking the cells with Fura 2-AM, and integrin pattern (C…
Polymorphonuclear leukocyte membrane fluidity, at baseline and after in vitro activation, in obesity with or without diabetes mellitus
2002
We studied a group of 28 obese subjects (mean age 38.2+/-13.5 years, body mass index 35.0+/-5.6 kg/m2) with insulin resistance demonstrated employing an euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp, subdivided into a subgroup with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and a subgroup with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). We examined the polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) membrane fluidity at baseline and after activation with 4-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) or N-formyl-methionyl-leucylphenylalanine (fMLP). At baseline, PMN membrane fluidity was significantly decreased in both subgroups compared to normals. In obese subjects with NGT no correlation was found between this PMN determinant and the parameters…