Passive transfer of antibody may be useful for preexposure prophylaxis against biological agents used as weapons of terror, such as Bacillus anthracis. Studies were performed to evaluate the ability of anthrax antiprotective antigen (anti-PA) and antilethal factor (anti-LF) neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to protect against an anthrax lethal toxin (LeTx) challenge in a mouse model and...

Mycobacterium avium (M. avium) causes significant pulmonary infection, especially in immunocompromised hosts. Alveolar macrophages (AMs) represent the first line of host defense against infection in the lung. Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) activation of AMs enhances in vitro killing of pathogens such as M. avium We hypothesized that airway delivery of AMs into the lungs of immunodeficient mice infect...

Peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) the highly reactive coupling product of nitric oxide and superoxide, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of an increasing number of (inflammatory) diseases. At present, however, selective peroxynitrite antagonizing agents with therapeutic potential are not available. Therefore, the NADPH-oxidase inhibitor apocynin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-acetophenone) was tested for its...

Because the obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii lacks the ability to synthesize cholesterol, T. gondii needs to obtain cholesterol from host cells. Am80 is known to reduce the cellular cholesterol and lipid bodies in macrophages. In this study, we demonstrated that inhibition of acquisition and synthesis of cholesterol in macrophage cell line J774A.1 by a synthetic retinoid Am80 s...

Adenylate cyclase toxin (ACT) is the key virulence factor of Bordetella pertussis that facilitates its invasion into the mammalian body. 9-[2-(Phosphonomethoxy)ethyl]adenine diphosphate (PMEApp), the active metabolite of the antiviral drug bis(POM)PMEA (adefovir dipivoxil), has been shown to inhibit ACT. The objective of this study was to evaluate six novel amidate prodrugs of PMEA, both phenyl...

Immune cells respond to chemotactic signals by means of G protein-coupled receptors. Attempts to elucidate the function of specific G protein family members in these responses is complicated by redundancy among the different G protein isoforms. We have used lentiviral-based RNA interference to eliminate expression of specific G protein subunits selectively in J774A.1 mouse macrophages. The chem...

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is the major source of lipid within atherosclerotic lesions. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is present in lesions and forms the reactive oxidants hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hypothiocyanous acid (HOSCN). These oxidants modify LDL and have been strongly linked with the development of atherosclerosis. In this study, we examined the effect of HOCl, HOSCN and LDL pre-treated w...

OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of a nano form of amphotericin B deoxycholate with that of conventional amphotericin B deoxycholate for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. METHODS We have formulated nanoparticles (10-20 nM) from amphotericin B deoxycholate (1-2 microM) by applying high-pressure (150 argon) milling homogenization and have tested their e...

BACKGROUND/AIMS To analyze the effects of pomegranate juice (PJ) and punicalagin on macrophage triglyceride metabolism. METHODS Triglyceride metabolism was analyzed in PJ- or punicalagin-treated J774A.1 macrophages or in mouse peritoneal macrophages (MPM) harvested from C57BL/6 mice or from paraoxonase 2 (PON2)-deficient mice. RESULTS PJ (0-50 μM) significantly and dose-dependently decrease...