IL-6 is a pleiotropic cytokine involved in the regulation of the immune response, inflammation, and hematopoeisis. Its elevated levels are found in a range of autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases. IL-6 is also involved in regulation of the balance between two T cell subsets: Tregs and Th17, which have contradictory functions in the control of inflammation. The present study provides a q...

Homeostasis is the body’s ability to self-regulate biological processes. There are several buffer systems in body that operate cooperatively maintain health. A system consists of two components, one acts on its counterpart. In acid-base homeostasis, almost all physiological processes occur as a result allows solution tolerate pH changes. Buffers can be used beyond concept hydrogen ion donors or...

Markedly decreased plasma cystine and cysteine concentrations have been found in HIV-infected patients at all stages of the disease and in SIV-infected rhesus macaques. The elevated glutamate levels found in the same patients aggravate the cysteine deficiency by inhibiting the membrane transport activity for cystine. The intact immune system appears to require a delicate balance between pro-oxi...

It is now clear that the outcome of an inflammatory process caused by infections depends on the balance of responses by several components of the immune system. Of particular relevance is the interplay between regulatory T cells (Tregs) and CD4+ T cells that produce IL-17 (Th17 cells) during immunoinflammatory events. In addition to discussing studies done in mice to highlight some unresolved i...

The lymphatic vasculature plays a key role throughout the body in regulating tissue fluid homeostasis, lipid transport, and immune surveillance. Whereas it has been appreciated that the heart relies on lymphatic vessels to maintain fluid balance and that such balance must be tightly maintained to allow for normal cardiac output, it has only recently come to light that the lymphatic vasculature ...

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For many years atherosclerosis was believed to be the passive accumulation of cholesterol in vessel walls. Today the picture is more complex, as immune processes occur in atherogenesis. Considerable attention is focused on the particular role of adaptive immune responses orchestrated by T cell subsets. Since the role of Th1/Th2 balance and Th1 cell domination in atherogenesis is already known, ...

Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species produced by metabolism and immune defenses can cause extensive damage to biomolecules. To counteract this damage, organisms rely on exogenous and endogenous antioxidants, although their relative importance in maintaining redox balance is unclear. We supplemented captive greenfinches with dietary antioxidants--carotenoids and vitamin E--and injected them with...

Enteric microflora profiles vary considerably between active inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and healthy conditions. Intestinal microflora may partake in the pathogenesis of IBD by one or some ways: specific pathogenic infection induces abnormal intestinal mucosal inflammation; aberrant microflora components trigger the onset of IBD; abnormal host immune response loses normal immune tolerance...