Search results for "Immunologic"
showing 10 items of 1115 documents
A mild form of rituximab-associated lung injury in two adolescents treated for nephrotic syndrome
2015
Rituximab is used as a steroid/calcineurin inhibitor-saving agent in patients with nephrotic syndrome. Safety is a crucial issue for justifying widespread use of the drug in this clinical setting. Rituximab-associated lung injury (RALI) is a severe and potentially life-threatening complication in oncohaematological and rheumatological patients, while it has only been anecdotally reported in association with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (2 cases described, 1 with fatal outcome). We describe a benign form of RALI occurring in two adolescents treated with rituximab (single pulse of 375 mg/m(2)) for nephrotic syndrome. Before treatment, the patients were in good clinical condition while receiv…
Reciprocal stimulation of gammadelta T cells and dendritic cells during the anti-mycobacterial immune response.
2004
Gammadelta T cells and dendritic cells (DC) are two distinct cell types of innate immunity that participate in early phases of immune response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Here we show that a close functional relationship exists between these cell populations. Using an in vitro coculture system, Vgamma1 T cells from Tcrb(-/- )mice were found to be activated by DC infected in vitro with BCG, as indicated by the elevated CD69 expression, IFN-gamma secretion and cytotoxic activity. This activation process was due to a non-cognate mechanism since it required neither cell to cell contact nor interaction between the TCR and a specific antigen, but was mediated by DC-derived IL-12…
A multicentRE observational analysiS of PErsistenCe to Treatment in the new multiple sclerosis era: the RESPECT study.
2018
In this independent, multicenter, retrospective study, we investigated the short-term persistence to treatment with first-line self-injectable or oral disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis. Data of patients regularly attending 21 Italian MS Centres who started a self-injectable or an oral DMT in 2015 were collected to: (1) estimate the proportion of patients discontinuing the treatment; (3) explore reasons for discontinuation; (3) identify baseline predictors of treatment discontinuation over a follow-up period of 12 months. We analyzed data of 1832 consecutive patients (1289 women, 543 men); 374 (20.4%) of them discontinued the prescrib…
Protective role of nuclear factor of activated T cells 2 in CD8+ long-lived memory T cells in an allergy model
2007
Background The transcriptional regulation of cytokines released and controlled by memory T cells is not well understood. Defective IFN-γ production in allergic asthma correlates in human beings with the risk of wheezing in childhood. Objective To understand the role of the transcription factor nuclear factor of activated T cells 2 (NFATc2) in memory and effector T cells in the airways in experimental allergic asthma. Methods We used murine models of allergic asthma and adoptive cell transfer of fluorescence-activated sorted cells in a disease model. Results Mice lacking NFATc2 developed an increase in airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), remodeling, and serum IgE levels on ovalbumin sensitizat…
Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor genes in Latvian patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus and healthy controls.
2004
T1DM is very common in Sweden and is positively associated with HLA class II genes. Approximately 89% of the newly diagnosed patients carry the high-risk HLA DR4-DQ8 and DR3-DQ2. The remaining 11% develop T1DM without them. This can be due to involvement of other genes and environmental factors. Natural killer (NK) cells of the innate immune system are important in antiviral and antitumor immunity. They are implicated in the etiology of autoimmune T1DM. Human NK cells express killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) that belong to the polymorphic multigene family in chromosome 19q3.4. They modulate NK cell response by interacting with HLA class I. In addition, polymorphic MICA in HLA…
Therapeutic vaccines for cancer: an overview of clinical trials
2014
The therapeutic potential of host-specific and tumour-specific immune responses is well recognized and, after many years, active immunotherapies directed at inducing or augmenting these responses are entering clinical practice. Antitumour immunization is a complex, multi-component task, and the optimal combinations of antigens, adjuvants, delivery vehicles and routes of administration are not yet identified. Active immunotherapy must also address the immunosuppressive and tolerogenic mechanisms deployed by tumours. This Review provides an overview of new results from clinical studies of therapeutic cancer vaccines directed against tumour-associated antigens and discusses their implications …
The Genome of the Sea Urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus
2006
We report the sequence and analysis of the 814-megabase genome of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus , a model for developmental and systems biology. The sequencing strategy combined whole-genome shotgun and bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) sequences. This use of BAC clones, aided by a pooling strategy, overcame difficulties associated with high heterozygosity of the genome. The genome encodes about 23,300 genes, including many previously thought to be vertebrate innovations or known only outside the deuterostomes. This echinoderm genome provides an evolutionary outgroup for the chordates and yields insights into the evolution of deuterostomes.
Human CD8+ T-cells Recognizing Peptides from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) Presented by HLA-E Have an Unorthodox Th2-like, Multifunctional, Mtb In…
2015
Mycobacterial antigens are not exclusively presented to T-cells by classical HLA-class Ia and HLA-class II molecules, but also through alternative antigen presentation molecules such as CD1a/b/c, MR1 and HLA-E. We recently described mycobacterial peptides that are presented in HLA-E and recognized by CD8+ T-cells. Using T-cell cloning, phenotyping, microbiological, functional and RNA-expression analyses, we report here that these T-cells can exert cytolytic or suppressive functions, inhibit mycobacterial growth, yet express GATA3, produce Th2 cytokines (IL-4,-5,-10,-13) and activate B-cells via IL-4. In TB patients, Mtb specific cells were detectable by peptide-HLA-E tetramers, and IL-4 and…
GM-CSF Programs Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells During Candida albicans Vaccination for Protection Against Reinfection
2021
More mechanistic studies are needed to reveal the hidden details of in vivo-induced trained immunity. Here, using a Candida albicans live vaccine mouse model we show that vaccination protects mice against a secondary infection and increases the number of bone marrow, and especially, splenic trained monocytes. Moreover, vaccination expands and reprograms hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) early during infection and mobilize them transiently to the spleen to produce trained macrophages. Trained HSPCs are not only primed for myeloid cell production but also reprogramed to produce a greater amount of proinflammatory cytokines in response to a second challenge. Additionally, their a…
Brain met-enkephalin immunostaining after subacute and subchronic exposure to benzene
1994
Benzene is used in a wide variety of domestic and occupational activities, and due to its lipophilic nature, it accumulates in lipid-rich tissues like the brain. In this sense, neurotoxic action has long been associated with organic solvent exposure and it has been shown that benzene, injected in a single dose or during a prolongued administration, modifies the content of dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin and its main metabolite 5-hydroxy indolacetic acid, in several brain regions of the rat, then revealing a stimulating action on brain monoamine synthesis and turnover. However, information concerning neurotoxic action of benzene exposure in vivo on peptidergic neuromodulatory systems is s…