BACKGROUND & AIMS We tested whether the attenuation of experimental colitis by live probiotic bacteria is due to their immunostimulatory DNA, whether toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling is required, and whether nonviable probiotics are effective. METHODS Methylated and unmethylated genomic DNA isolated from probiotics (VSL-3), DNAse-treated probiotics and Escherichia coli (DH5 alpha) genomic D...

Bacterial and synthetic DNA containing unmethylated 2'-deoxyribo(cytidine-phosphate-guanosine) (CpG) dinucleotides in specific sequence contexts activate the vertebrate innate immune system. A molecular pattern recognition receptor, Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), recognizes CpG DNA and initiates the signalling cascade, although a direct interaction between CpG DNA and TLR9 has not been demonstrat...

OBJECTIVE Bacterial DNA (CpG DNA) persists in tissues and blood under pathological conditions that are associated with enhanced intravascular coagulation. Toll-like receptor 9 recognizes CpG DNA and elicits innate and adoptive immunity, yet the impact of CpG DNA on coagulation has not been studied. In this study, we investigated the effects of CpG DNA on the expression and activity of tissue fa...

AIM To analyze the effect of TLR-9 (-1486 T>C) and TLR-9 (C>T) gene polymorphisms both at TLR-9 levels and together with their sepsis parameters. In this regard, the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique was used in order to detect TLR-9 gene polymorphisms, whereas the ELISA technique was used to analyze TLR-9 serum levels in 80 sepsis patients ...