BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is a small vessel vasculitis. Soluble adhesion molecules play a very important role in the immuno-inflammatory reaction of damaged vascular tissues. This study investigated the prognostic and diagnostic potential of soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) in HSP. METHODS Serum lev...

An increasing death rate due to cardiovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been reported. Keishibukuryogan (KBG) is a traditional Chinese/Japanese (Kampo) formula that has been administered to patients with blood stagnation, e.g. thrombotic disease and atherosclerosis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of KBG on disease activity and endothelial ...

Infection of a susceptible host with the blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni results in the formation of periovular granulomas and subsequent fibrosis in the target organs. Granulomogenesis and fibrogenesis are mediated by immunological events which require cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. In this review, the role of adhesion and co-stimulatory molecules in the genesis of the schistosomal pa...

parkinson's disease (pd) is a very common neurodegenerative disease among the elderly population. current treatments for parkinson’s disease are based on symptom therapy but not the underlying cause of the disease. this disorder is caused neuronal death which triggers the activation of resident glial cells. this situation leads to neuroinflammation in the central nervous system. activated ...

BACKGROUND Inflammation plays a pathogenic role in the development of restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). CD40-CD40L interaction is involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis; however, its role in the pathophysiology of restenosis is still unclear. We tested the hypothesis that soluble CD40L (sCD40L) may be involved in the process of restenosis and that ...

Liposomes carrying both recombinant glycoprotein Ia/IIa (rGPIa/IIa) and Ib (rGPIb ) (rGPIa/IIa-Ib -liposomes) instantaneously and irreversibly adhered to the collagen surface in the presence of soluble von Willebrand factor (VWF) at high shear rates, in marked contrast with translocation of liposomes carrying rGPIb alone on the VWF surface. In the absence of soluble VWF, the adhesion of rGPIa/I...

Atherosclerosis is characterized by a low-grade systemic inflammatory response and endothelial dysfunction. The aim of the present study was to investigate a possible relationship between systemic markers of inflammation, serum markers of endothelial activation and endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in a group of high-risk patients, and to evaluate the effects of intervention with high doses ...

Immune dysfunction has been proposed as a mechanism for the pathophysiology of autistic-spectrum disorders. The selectin family of adhesion molecules plays a prominent role in immune/inflammatory responses. We determined the serum levels of three types of soluble-form selectin (sP, sL and sE) in 15 men with high-functioning autism and 22 age-matched healthy controls by enzyme-linked immunosorbe...

In the present study, variation among different bacterial strains was observed in the plaques of tobacco chewers (TC) as compared to those from normal persons (non tobacco chewers) (NTC). Bacterial strain J1 (dominant in the plaques of NTC) did not initiate the process of adhesion (biofilm formation) until it appeared to have reached a required population density necessary for the production of...