Inflammation plays an important role in the development and progression of a variety of cardiovascular conditions, most notably coronary atherosclerosis and congestive heart failure.1,2 A number of inflammatory molecules have been implicated in these processes, including interleukin-1 (IL-1). The IL-1 gene family consists of 3 proteins, IL-1 , IL-1 , and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra). IL-1 ...

Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) is a natural IL-1 inhibitor possessing anti-inflammatory properties. IL-1Ra is produced as different isoforms, one secreted (sIL-1Ra) and three intracellular (icIL-1Ra1, icIL-1Ra2 and icIL-1Ra3), derived from the same gene. We examined the production of IL-1Ra species by cultured human articular chondrocytes in response to various cytokines. The levels...

Inter leukinla and interleukin-ip are two polypeptides which share a significant number of inflammatory, immunological and pathological properties (for a review see [1]). Importantly, these dissimilar 17 kDa proteins bind to two classes of interleukin-1 receptors, resulting in the mediation of several immune and inflammatory responses and in the induction of a variety of biological changes in n...

Recent studies have described the spontaneous development of arthritis or vasculitis in IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) knockout mice bred on specific and different genetic backgrounds. The levels of both secreted and intracellular isoforms of IL-1Ra produced in the rheumatoid joint or in the arterial wall may not be adequate to effectively inhibit the excess amounts of locally produced IL-1....

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of intra-articular injections of autologous conditioned serum on human hip osteoarthritis and to test whether a potential treatment effect might be increased by additional injections of steroids and the recombinant interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein anakinra. We compared the effects of autologous conditioned serum 46 hip oste...

macrophages and t-lymphocytes are involved in immune response to mycobacterium tuberculosis. macrophage produces interleukin (il)-1 as an inflammatory mediator. il-1 receptor antagonist (il1-ra) is a natural antagonist of il-1 receptors. in this study we aimed to examine the possible association between the variable number of tandem repeats (vntr) of the il-1 receptor antagonist (il1rn) gene an...