The concept of an enteromammary link in secretory IgA (SIgA) antibody production was tested by hypothesising that specific SIgA antibody profiles in human milk might be an epidemiological marker for enteropathogens in a community. Milk from three subject groups was studied: 64 Sri Lankan women living in poor suburbs of Colombo, 20 Asian immigrant women domiciled in Birmingham, for a median peri...

The taeniid tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus is the causative agent of the echinococcal disease, an important zoonosis with worldwide distribution. Accurate immunodiagnosis of the infection requires highly specific and sensitive antigens to be used in immunodiagnostic assays. The choice of an appropriate source of antigenic material is a crucial point in the improvement of the diagnostic featur...

Large granular lymphocytes that strongly express CD56 (CD56++ LGL) constitute a major population of leukocytes in the secretory endometrium and pregnancy decidua and are considered to be involved in reproductive immunity and in maintaining the pregnancy. The present study aimed to reveal the relationship between the characteristic changes of CD56++ LGL and altered hormonal environment and/or tr...

• SLPI prevents tissue destruction and regulates inflammation at barrier tissues. production function is deregulated in several inflammatory diseases. Excessive expression of cancer cells may promote their metastatic potential. The immune system continuously challenged with large quantities exogenous antigens the barriers between external environment internal human Antimicrobial activity essent...

Without adaptive immunity, invertebrates have evolved innate immune systems that react to antigens on the surfaces of pathogens. These defense mechanisms are included in horseshoe crab hemocytes’ cellular responses Secretory granules, large (L) and small (S), found hemocytes. Once invasion pathogens is present, these granules release their contents through exocytosis. Recent data biochemistry i...

OBJECTIVES The carbohydrate chains represented by mucins (MUCs) are expressed by a variety of normal and malignant secretory epithelial cells and induce a variety of immunoreactions. Tn and sialyl Tn antigens are tumour-associated carbohydrate antigens which are borne on the core proteins of mucins. The purpose of this study is to investigate the existence of tumour-associated carbohydrate anti...

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) antigens encoded by the 6 kDa early secretory antigenic target (esat-6) and antigen 85A (ag85a) genes are known to exert protective effects against tuberculosis in animal models. In addition, these antigens represent vaccine components that were tested in early human clinical trials. In the present study, a chimeric DNA vaccine was constructed that contain...