Mononuclear phagocytes represent a heterogeneous population of cells with individual subpopulations exerting different pro- or anti-inflammatory functions. CD163 is a monocyte/macrophage specific marker expressed predominantly on cells which possess strong anti-inflammatory potential. The expression of CD163 is strongly induced by anti-inflammatory mediators such as glucocorticoids and interleu...

There is a need for better markers for the diagnosis and prognosis of chronic inflammatory diseases. Proteomic strategies can be helpful to detect new biomarkers. Proteomic analyses are performed to characterize the behaviour of the system rather than the behaviour of any single component. Since the genome has been unravelled, the proteome received more attention. Aim of this review was to focu...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Procalcitonin and C-reactive protein are two acute-phase reactant proteins, although procalcitonin is a more specific marker for bacterial infections. Procalcitonin level might also be helpful to predict the disease activity of inflammatory bowel disease. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic value of serum procalcitonin and C-reactive protein as indicators of disease activ...

results the infusion group had a lower plasma pai-1 level compared to the subcutaneous group at day 7 (11.3 ± 1.6 vs. 16.5 ± 4.2; p = 0.003). the urinary ngal level was lower in the infusion group at day 2 (131.3 ± 11.9 vs. 151.2 ± 20.6; p = 0.014); however, at day 7 the ngal level was decreased in the subcutaneous group as much as the infusion group and there was no significant difference betw...