2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and dioxin-like compounds are widely encountered toxic substances suspected of interfering with the endocrine systems of humans and wildlife, and of contributing to the loss of fertility. In this study, we determined the changes in testicular gene expression caused by in utero exposure to TCDD along with the intra-testicular testosterone levels, epidid...

AIMS Neutrophils/platelet interactions are involved in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The intraluminal thrombus (ILT) is a human model of platelet/neutrophil interactions. The present study focused on mediators involved in neutrophil recruitment in AAA. METHODS AND RESULTS Conditioned media from luminal, intermediate, and abluminal layers of 29 human ILTs were analysed for neutrophil marker...

C-C chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) is the primary coreceptor for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. Native chemokines that bind to CCR5 inhibit HIV-1 infection, albeit weakly, but chemically modified chemokines inhibit infection more efficiently. We have investigated the inhibitory mechanism of three N-terminally modified RANTES variants (AOP-, NNY-, and PSC-RANTES) with the MT...

OBJECTIVES Chemokines favour leukocyte homing and participate actively in inflammation and accumulation of extracellular matrix. The aim of our work is to assess in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) the serum levels of CC chemokines: CCL2 monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1/CCL2), CCL5 'regulated upon activation, normal T expressed and secreted' (RANTES/CCL5) and CCL3 'macrophage inflamm...

BACKGROUND The response of asthmatics to exercise differs from that of healthy subjects, and the mechanisms responsible for exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) remain to be elucidated. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in RANTES levels in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) following intensive exercise in allergic asthmatics. METHODS The study was conducted in a gr...

Breastmilk chemokines have been associated with increased HIV-1 RNA levels in breastmilk and altered risk of mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission. To characterize CC and CXC chemokines in breastmilk postpartum, we collected breastmilk specimens at regular intervals for 6 months after delivery from women with and without HIV-1 infection and used commercial ELISA kits to measure breastmilk concentr...

BACKGROUND Successful implantation is followed by a local pro-inflammatory and Th1 response, subsequently controlled by Th2. Regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) promotes a Th1 response and is implicated as a physiologic tolerogenic factor; therefore, we studied its potential role in the trophoblast-maternal leukocyte dialog. METHODS We performed co-culture...

Regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) gene promoter is a regulatory region and a site of notable genetic diversity. In order to explore a possible interaction between RANTES promoter genetic diversity and susceptibility to coronary artery disease (CAD) and in stent restenosis (ISR), we initially sequenced a locus extending from -516 to 40 covering the entire reg...

Inflammation is a pathologic feature of a variety of chronic kidney diseases. Several lines of evidence suggest a potential anti-inflammatory role for vitamin D in chronic kidney disease, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Here, the effect of the synthetic vitamin D analogue paricalcitol on renal inflammation was investigated in a mouse model of obstructive nephropathy. Paricalcitol ...

Eosinophils are well known to play essential roles in the development and maintenance of allergic diseases. However, the influence of histamine H1 receptor antagonists on eosinophil functions, especially chemokine production, are not well-defined. Therefore, in the present study, we examined the influence of histamine H1 receptor antagonist on chemokine production by eosinophils through the use...