Clostridium difficile toxin A (Tx-A) mediates secretion and inflammation in experimental enterocolitis. Intravital video microscopy was used to define the mechanisms that underlie the inflammatory reactions elicited by direct exposure of the microvasculature to Tx-A. Leukocyte adherence and emigration, leukocyte-platelet aggregation, and extravasation of FITC-albumin were monitored in rat mesen...

BACKGROUND Depression after acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) has been identified as an independent risk factor for subsequent cardiac death. Enhanced platelet activation has been hypothesized to represent 1 of the mechanisms underlying this association. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are known to inhibit platelet activity. Whether treatment of depressed post-ACS patients with SS...

Although several adhesion molecules expressed on leukocytes (beta1 and beta2 integrins, platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 [PECAM-1], and CD47) and on endothelium (intercellular adhesion molecule 1, PECAM-1) have been implicated in leukocyte transendothelial migration, less is known about the role of endothelial lateral junctions during this process. We have shown previously (Read, M...

Endothelial cells line the lumen of all blood vessels and play a critical role in maintaining the barrier function of the vasculature. Sealing of the vessel wall between adjacent endothelial cells is facilitated by interactions involving junctionally expressed transmembrane proteins, including tight junctional molecules, such as members of the junctional adhesion molecule family, components of ...

Platelets roll and adhere in venules exposed to ischemia-reperfusion (I/R). This platelet-endothelial adhesion may influence leukocyte trafficking because platelet depletion decreases I/R-induced leukocyte emigration. The objectives of this study were 1) to assess the time course of platelet adhesion in the small bowel after I/R and 2) to determine the roles of endothelial and/or platelet P-sel...

Focal recruitment of monocytes and lymphocytes is one of the earliest detectable cellular responses in the formation of lesions of atherosclerosis. This localized accumulation of leukocytes is a multistep process in which the endothelium remains intact and may regulate leukocyte recruitment by expressing specific adhesion molecules. To examine the relationship of adhesion molecule expression to...

Platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1; CD31) is a 130-kDa member of the Ig superfamily that is expressed on platelets and leukocytes and is highly enriched at endothelial cell-cell junctions. Previous studies showed that this vascular cell adhesion and signaling receptor functions to regulate platelet activation and thrombosis, to suppress apoptotic cell death, to mediate trans...

Mayer, Konstantin, Martina Merfels, Marion MuhlyReinholz, Stephanie Gokorsch, Simone Rosseau, Jürgen Lohmeyer, Nicole Schwarzer, Matthias Krüll, Norbert Suttorp, Friedrich Grimminger, and Werner Seeger. -3 Fatty acids suppress monocyte adhesion to human endothelial cells: role of endothelial PAF generation. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 283: H811–H818, 2002; 10.1152/ajpheart.00235.2002.—Monoc...

Stroke-induced inflammatory reaction leads to the accumulation of leukocytes in the brain ischaemic region, where they exert a detrimental effect--promotion and extension of cerebral damage. Intracerebral infiltration of peripheral blood leukocytes requires prior endothelial-leukocyte interactions that are mediated by such cell surface proteins as adhesion molecules. Among adhesion molecules, i...

Objective(s): Fluvoxamine is a well-known selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI); Despite its anti-inflammatory effect, little is known about the precise mechanisms involved. In our previous work, we found that IP administration of fluvoxamine produced a noticeable anti-inflammatory effect in carrageenan-induced paw edema in rats. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of fluvoxa...