BACKGROUND Biological activity of interleukin-1 (IL-1) depends on the number and type of IL-1 receptors on target cells and on the amounts of its naturally occurring inhibitor, the IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra). METHODS Expression of IL-1 receptor was studied on the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 20 end-stage renal-disease patients maintained by chronic haemodialysis by means of ei...

BACKGROUND Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a powerful and important cytokine in myocarditis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect and possible mechanism of hydrodynamics-based delivery of the IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA)-immunoglobulin (Ig) gene for treatment of rat experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM). METHODS AND RESULTS On the day after immunization, rats were transfected...

The naturally occurring antagonist of interleukin-1, IL-1RA, is highly neuroprotective experimentally, shows few adverse effects, and inhibits the systemic acute phase response to stroke. A single regime pilot study showed slow penetration into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) at experimentally therapeutic concentrations. Twenty-five patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and external ventricular...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the serum expressions of chemokines CCL2 and CCL3 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who were treated with recombinant human interleukin 1 (IL-1) receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra). MATERIAL AND METHODS Serum CCL2 and CCL3 were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 54 active RA patients before and after treatment with IL-1Ra or a placebo, as well ...

BACKGROUND Interleukin 1 (IL-1) is a pluripotent cytokine that promotes angiogenesis, tumor growth, and metastasis in experimental models; its presence in some human cancers is associated with aggressive tumor biology. The purpose of these studies was to characterize the role of IL-1 in human cancers and determine if inhibition of IL-1 via its receptor antagonist, IL-1Ra, alters tumor growth an...

In a recent study from our group, the combination of methotrexate and sulphasalazine (MTX + SASP) seemed superior to MTX alone in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To assess the impact of these therapies on the cytokine cascade, the in vitro production and circulating concentrations of several cytokines and endogenous cytokine antagonists were measured in 30 healthy controls and longi...

Interleukin (IL)-1 is a proinflammatory cytokine that plays important roles in inflammation, host defense, and the neuro-immuno-endocrine network. IL-1 receptor antagonist (ra) is an endogenous inhibitor of IL-1 and is supposed to regulate IL-1 activity. However, its pathophysiological roles in a body remain largely unknown. To elucidate the roles of IL-1ra, IL-1ra-deficient mice were produced ...

The objective was to study the relationship between the levels of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) and disease activity and the acute-phase response in SLE patients with and without renal involvement. Twenty SLE patients who had distinct active clinical manifestations (eight glomerulonephritis, four systemic vasculitis without kidney involvement, nine skin rash, 12 arthritis, five ser...

This study was undertaken to determine whether acute phase proteins (APP) induce the synthesis of interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta) and its specific antagonist, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). PBMC from healthy volunteers were incubated with C-reactive protein (CRP), alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT), or alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), and the...

Dendritic cell (DC) maturation at the site of inflammation and migration into draining lymph nodes is fundamental to initiate Ag-specific immune responses. Although several proinflammatory cytokines, including IL-1, are known to promote DC maturation in vitro, their contributions to DC activation and migration within peripheral inflamed tissue compartments are not yet fully understood. We show ...