Basophils are a rare population of granulocytes that have long been associated with IgE-mediated and Th2-associated allergic diseases. However, the role of basophils in Th17 and/or Th1 diseases has not been reported. In the present study, we report that basophils can be detected in the mucosa of Th17-associated lung and inflammatory bowel disease and accumulate in inflamed colons containing lar...

IL-23 induces the differentiation of naive CD4(+) T cells into highly pathogenic helper T cells (Th17/Th(IL-17)) that produce IL-17, IL-17F, IL-6, and TNF-alpha, but not IFN-gamma and IL-4. Two studies in this issue of the JCI demonstrate that blocking IL-23 or its downstream factors IL-17 and IL-6, but not the IL-12/IFN-gamma pathways, can significantly suppress disease development in animal m...

Fusarium and Aspergillus species of mold are major causes of corneal infections in the United States and worldwide, resulting in severe visual impairment and blindness. As there is evidence for T cell responses to these pathogenic fungi in infected individuals, we examined the role of IL-17A (IL-17) and IFN-γ in murine models of fungal keratitis. We found that C57BL/6 mice given intratracheal o...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common, non-traumatic cause of neurological disability in young adults. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of HLA class II alleles DRB1* and DQB1* on susceptibility to relapsing-remitting (RR) MS and response to interferon (IFN) β-1a treatment. A prospective observational study was conducted. Seventeen patients with clinically definite RRM...

IFN regulatory factor (IRF) 3 plays a key role in innate responses against viruses. Herein we assessed its contribution to T-cell activation. We observed that poly(I:C)-induced IRF3 activation in CD8 T cells represses IL-17 expression in a type I IFN-independent fashion. Even in the absence of poly(I:C), polyclonally activated naïve IRF3(-/-) CD8 T cells expressed high levels of IL-17 and IL-23...

BACKGROUND Based on previous meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the use of interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) in the adjuvant setting improves disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with high-risk cutaneous melanoma. However, RCTs have yielded conflicting data on the effect of IFN-alpha on overall survival (OS). METHODS We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to exami...

A subset of CD8(+) T cells can secrete interleukin 17 (IL-17). However, very little information is currently available about their antigen specificity, tissue distribution, and biological relevance in chronic human viral infection. To address these issues, we comprehensively analyzed peripheral and intrahepatic CD8(+) T-cell responses in a cohort of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV)...

IFN-β, IL-27, and IL-10 have been shown to exert a range of similar immunoregulatory effects in murine and human experimental systems, particularly in Th1- and Th17-mediated models of autoimmune inflammatory disease. In this study we sought to translate some of our previous findings in murine systems to human in vitro models and delineate the interdependence of these different cytokines in thei...

Seasonal epidemics of malaria occur in highland areas of western Kenya where transmission intensity varies according to rainfall. This study describes the seasonal changes in cytokine responses to Plasmodium falciparum liver-stage antigen 1 (LSA-1) by children (< or =17 years old) and adults (> or =18 years old) living in such a highland area. Fourteen- to 24-mer peptides corresponding to the N...

Diagnosis of ongoing or past infection with Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of Q fever, relies heavily on serology: the measurement of C. burnetii-specific antibodies, reflecting the host's humoral immune response. However, cell-mediated immune responses play an important, probably even more relevant, role in infections caused by the intracellular C. burnetii bacterium. Recent studies ha...