PURPOSE Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) is characterized by the infiltration of immune cells into the orbit, a process in which cytokines play a central role. Orbital fibroblasts are potent producers of cytokines on different stimuli. Recently, the authors showed increased expression of the PDGF-B chain in GO orbital tissue. The dimeric PDGF-BB molecule has been described to activate the NF-kappaB ...

Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is a life-threatening infection in HIV-infected patients, especially in resource-limited settings. Cytokine patterns in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and sera may be related to clinical outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate cytokine patterns in the CSF and sera of HIV-infected patients with CM as well as the cytokines produced by peripheral blood mononuclear cells ...

PURPOSE To investigate changes in cytokine levels in tears of type 2 diabetics with or without retinopathy. METHODS Tears were collected from 15 type 2 diabetics without retinopathy (DNR), 15 patients with retinopathy (DR), and 15 age and gender matched non-diabetic controls. Tear concentrations of 27 cytokines were measured by multiplex bead immunoassay. Cytokine differences between groups, ...

shiga toxins (stxs) are bacterial virulence factors produced by shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 and escherichia coli strains. stxs are critical factors for the development of diseases such as severe bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome. additionally, stxs trigger the secretion of pro- inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, particularly in monocytes or macrophages. the inflammatory cyto...

objective(s): yu-ping-feng-san (ypfs) is a classical traditional chinese medicine that is widely used for treatment of the diseases in respiratory systems, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (copd) recognized as chronic inflammatory disease. however, the molecular mechanism remains unclear. here we detected the factors involved in transforming growth factor beta 1 (tgf-β1)/smad2 si...

results the administration of quercetin hydrate significantly reduced the concentration of il-13, pdgf-β, and tnf-α and increased the concentrations of inf-γ in balf. conclusions according to the experimental results, quercetin hydrate reduced the concentration of inflammatory fibrotic factors, such as il-13, pdgf-β, and tnf-α, and increased the level of the antifibrotic factor inf-γ, and the e...

The effects of the immunosuppressants cyclosporin A (CsA) and tacrolimus (FK506) on the IL-1beta-induced matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were investigated. Impairment of the protease-antiprotease balance contributes to renal fibrosis, which is observed collectively under long-term treatment with either immunosuppressant. It is demonstrated that CsA, in contrast to FK506, reduced the IL-1beta...

Osteopontin (OPN) is a proinflammatory cytokine and adhesion molecule implicated in the chemoattraction of monocytes and in cell-mediated immunity. We have recently reported that genetic OPN-deficiency attenuates the development of atherosclerosis in apoE-/- mice identifying OPN as potential target for pharmacological intervention in atherosclerosis. Synthetic agonists for the Liver X Receptor ...