We have previously shown that tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, a cytokine involved in asthma, enhances Ca2+ responsiveness to bronchoconstrictor agents in cultured human airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells. In the present study, we investigated the potential mechanism(s) by which TNF-α modulates ASM cell responsiveness to such agents. In human ASM cells loaded with fura 2, TNF-α and interleukin (IL)...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the possible role of baseline plasma tumour necrosis factor alpha levels (baseline-TNF) on the clinical response to infliximab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Patients with RA refractory to methotrexate received 3, 6, or 10 mg/kg of infliximab every 8 weeks, in a randomised, double-blind manner: the RISING study. Clinical response (disease activit...

Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) causes acute central nervous system disease. Here, we investigated the roles of the TNF-α, IL-10 and other cytokines in appropriate KO mice following infection with Oshima and Sofjin strains of TBEV. Following infection with the Oshima strain, mortality rates were significantly increased in TNF-α KO and IL-10 KO mice compared with wild type (WT) mice. These ...

The effects of graded doses of pentoxifylline (PTX) on endotoxin-induced production of inflammatory cytokines and activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) were studied in vivo in rat intestine. Sepsis was induced in rats by ip injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 5 mg/kg). PTX was injected via the tail vein at dosages of 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, or 100 mg/kg at 1 min after LPS challenge. NF...

Objective: Behcet's disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by recurrent oral and genital aphthous ulcers, uveitis and skin lesions. Oxidative stress and inflammation have important role in the pathogenesis of BD. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of Nigella sativa (NS) oil administration on malondialdehyde (MDA), total anti-oxidant c...

BACKGROUND Enhanced expression of MAdCAM-1 (mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule-1) is associated with the onset and progression of inflammatory bowel disease. The clinical significance of elevated MAdCAM-1 expression is supported by studies showing that immunoneutralization of MAdCAM-1, or its ligands reduce inflammation and mucosal damage in models of colitis. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an...

Tumor necrosis factor(TNF ) is a crucial neuromodulator in the brain. TNF is involved in many physiological events including pain response and sleep. However, the interactions between TNF and anesthetics have not been elucidated yet. In the present study, we investigated the effects of four intracerebroventricular (ICV) doses (1, 10, and 100 pg, and 1 ng) and two intraperitoneal (IP) doses (10 ...

We present a double-antibody radioimmunoassay for determination of the concentration of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inserum.TNF inserumcompetes with a fixedamountof 1251.. labeled TNF for the binding sites of specific rabbit antibodies. The bound TNF is precipitated with Sepharose-bound antirabbit IgG, then centrifuged, and the radioactivity of the pellets is counted. The detection limit of the...