TNF-alpha and lymphotoxin-alpha (LT) are members of the TNF family, and these cytokines play crucial roles in the defense against infection with Candida albicans. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of endogenous TNF and LT during disseminated candidiasis in TNF-/-LT-/- knockout mice. The TNF- and LT-deficient animals had a significantly increased mortality following C. alb...

BACKGROUND The search for a strategy to provide temporary liver support and salvage the patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) remains an important issue. This study was designed to evaluate the experience in artificial liver support system (ALSS) combined with liver transplantation (LT) in the treatment of ACLF. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS One hundred and seventy one patients...

The lymphotoxin (LT)/tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family has been implicated in the neurologic inflammatory diseases multiple sclerosis (MS) and experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). To determine the role of individual family members in EAE, C57BL/6 mice, LT-alpha-deficient (LT-alpha-/- mice), or LT-beta-deficient (LT-beta-/- mice), and their wild-type (WT) littermates were immunized wi...

For more than a decade, the biological roles and the apparent redundancy of the cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and lymphotoxin (LT) have been debated. LT alpha exists in its soluble form as a homotrimer, which like TNF only binds the TNF receptors, TNF-R55 or TNF-R75. The cell surface form of LT exists as a heteromer of LT alpha and LT beta subunits and this complex specifically binds th...

The aim of this study was to analyze the acute responses of bradykinin, insulin, and glycemia to exercise performed above and below lactate threshold (LT) in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). Eleven participants with a diagnosis of T2D randomly underwent three experimental sessions 72 h apart: 1) 20 min of exercise performed at 120% of LT (120%LT), 2) 20 min of exercise performed...

Two bacterial products that have been demonstrated to function as mucosal adjuvants are cholera toxin (CT), produced by various strains of Vibrio cholerae, and the heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) produced by some enterotoxigenic strains of Escherichia coli. Although LT and CT have many features in common, they are clearly distinct molecules with biochemical and immunologic differences which make t...

Much interest has been directed at understanding the adjuvant properties of the heat-labile enterotoxin of Escherichia coli (LT). In this study, we have assessed how LT compared with the nonenzymatic mutant LT (E112K) affect the level of B7-1 and B7-2 expression on APCs, and we determined how these costimulatory molecules influence their adjuvant properties. Analysis of B7-1 and B7-2 expression...

The primary aim of this study is to determine whether treatment with lamivudine improved pre-liver transplantation (pre-LT) and LT-free survival of patients awaiting LT for hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related cirrhosis. Data from 162 lamivudine-treated and 147 untreated transplant candidates managed at 20 North American transplant centers between 1996 and 1998 were collected and compared. Lamivudin...