OBJECTIVE Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 is overexpressed in diabetes as a consequence of hyperglycemia and the creation of early glycated end products and may be responsible for the characteristic structural renal changes associated with diabetes. We sought to examine the role of both urinary and circulating TGF-beta1 and its promoter Amadori albumin in the vascular complications of ty...

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of losartan on transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) plasma levels and urinary albumin excretion (UAE) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, mild hypertension and microalbuminuria. METHODS Fourteen patients (eight males, aged 55+/-6 years) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, mild arterial hypertension and microalbuminu...

The "response-to-retention" hypothesis of atherogenesis states that atherogenic lipoproteins, such as low density lipoprotein (LDL), are retained in vessels by proteoglycans and undergo proatherosclerotic modifications. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 has been identified in atherosclerotic vessels and has been shown to stimulate the synthesis of chondroitin sulfate- and dermatan sulfate-...

BACKGROUND Gluteal muscle contracture (GMC) is a multi-factor human chronic fibrotic disease of the gluteal muscle. Fibrotic tissue is characterized by excessive accumulation of collagen in the muscle's extracellular matrix. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 and -beta2 are thought to play an important role in fibrogenesis, while TGF-beta3 is believed to have an anti-fibrotic function. We h...

CD69 is induced after activation of leukocytes at inflammatory sites, but its physiological role during inflammation remains unknown. We explored the role of CD69 in autoimmune reactivity by analyzing a model of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in WT and CD69-deficient mice. CD69-/- mice showed higher incidence and severity of CIA, with exacerbated T and B cell immune responses to type II colla...

With >10,000,000 cancer survivors in the U.S. alone, the late effects of cancer treatment are a significant public health issue. Over the past 15 years, much work has been done that has led to an improvement in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of normal tissue injury after cancer therapy. In many cases, these injuries are characterized at the histologic l...

Prolonged exposure of the peritoneal mesothelium to high dialysate glucose concentrations reduces anionic sites that are critical to its selective permeability, thereby impairing the peritoneal transport properties in patients on long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD). Perlecan, an anionic heparan sulfate proteoglycan, is pivotal to the selective permeability of basement membranes, and high glucose...

BACKGROUND The role of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is still controversial, but it has been proposed that it may protect from mucus hypersecretion since it is able to downregulate mucin production. A study was undertaken to investigate the expression of TGF-beta1 and its type II receptor (TGF-beta RII) in the bronchial glands of smokers w...