Psoriasis is a chronic, recurrent, immuno-inflammatory disease of the skin and joints associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Psoriasis affects approximately 2-4% of the Caucasian population worldwide. The precise immuno-inflammatory mechanisms leading to skin psoriasis are still to be fully defined. There is emerging evidence supporting the existence of a relationship between chan...

Stress is known to suppress or dysregulate immune function and increase susceptibility to disease. Paradoxically, the short-term fight-or-flight stress response is one of nature's fundamental defense mechanisms that galvanizes the neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal systems into action to enable survival. Therefore, it is unlikely that short-term stress would suppress immune fun...

Abbreviations used are: ~, about; α, anti-; ∆, delta (deletion); Ab or Abs, antibody or antibodies; Cav-1, caveolin-1; CS, cigarette smoke; EDAC, 1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride; EGF, epidermal growth factor; EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor; H2O2, hydrogen peroxide; HAE, human airway epithelial; HRP, horseradish peroxidase; IB, or IBed, immuno-blotting or imm...

  Background and Objective: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors (VEGF-R1 and R2) are major regulators of angiogenesis. This study was designed to assess serum levels of VEGF and VEGF-R1 and their prognostic significance in newly diagnosed childhood acute leukemia. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, VEGF and VEGF-R1 were determined using enzyme linked immuno-sorba...

Codon optimization enhances the efficiency of DNA expression vectors used in DNA vaccination and gene therapy by increasing protein expression. Additionally, certain nucleotide motifs have experimentally been shown to be immuno-stimulatory while certain others immuno-suppressive. In this paper, we present algorithms to locate a given set of immuno-modulatory motifs in the DNA expression vectors...

The most cpmmon parameters in the specific protein field, namely the immunoglobulins G, A and M were investigated on the recently developed Immuno Video Nephelometer System (IVNS). This System consists of the nephelometer, a microprocessor controlled program and a monitor screen, where instructions, Standard curve and results are displayed. Scattered light of immuno-complexes is measured at equ...

We investigated the effects of estradiol on bioactive luteinizing hormone (LH) release in normal men using two complementary strategies: (i) steady state intravenous infusions of estradiol at its endogenous production rate, and (ii) oral administration of the antiestrogen, tamoxifen HCl. Immunoreactive and biologically active LH were monitored by radioimmunoassay and the rat interstitial cell t...

1. Abstract The discovery of the CART transcript and peptides implicated peptide (CARTp) as a neurotransmitter involved in action psychostimulants several other physiological processes, buttressing importance CARTp system. While there is evidence that receptor(s) for exists, has/have not been cloned. To understand how functions, it important to identify its receptor(s). Given receptor GPCR, rea...

Exposure to pesticides could be one of the contributing cause to the falling sperm counts and rising levels of male infertility. Adverse effects of pesticides in the environment first received widespread attention in the 1960s. However, only recently it has been postulated that long term, low exposure of these chemicals are increasingly linked to human health effects such as immuno-suppression,...