To study the role of Kupffer cells in the aggravation of liver injury, effects of zymosan on acute liver damage were explored using perfused livers of rats 24 h after intraperitoneal injection ofd-galactosamine (800 mg/kg). The leakage of lactate dehydrogenase and aspartate aminotransferase into the effluent was used to indicate acute liver damage. Infusion of zymosan (30 μg/ml) into the portal...

Resident mouse peritoneal macrophages have three phospholipase activities: a phospholipase A2 active at pH 4.5, a Ca2+-dependent phospholipase A2 active at pH 8.5 and a phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C activity. When macrophages are exposed to zymosan in culture, the cellular activity of pH-4.5 phospholipase A2 is diminished in a manner dependent on zymosan concentration and time o...

The reaction of human, bovine, and pig properdin with excess zymosan exhibits an induction period followed by a rapidly accelerating formation of the properdin-zymosan (PZ) complex. Two methods for determining the quantity of PZ complex are given, one using human serum lacking properdin, the other using a fraction of pig serum containing complement components, C'1, C'3 and C'4.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by pain and hypersensitivity in the relative absence of colon inflammation or structural changes. To assess the role of P2X receptors expressed in colorectal dorsal root ganglion (c-DRG) neurons and colon hypersensitivity, we studied excitability and purinergic signaling of retrogradely labeled mouse thoracol...

Dendritic cells (DC) isolated from lymphoid tissues are generally thought to be nonphagocytic in culture. It has therefore been unclear how these cells could acquire particulate antigens such as microorganisms for initiation of primary immune responses. Lymphoid DC derive in part from cells that have migrated from nonlymphoid tissues, such as Langerhans cells (LC) of skin. The ability of LC to ...

Cot/tpl2 (also known as MAP3K8) has emerged as a new and potentially interesting therapeutic anti-inflammatory target. Here, we report the first study of Cot/tpl2 involvement in acute peripheral inflammation in vivo. Six hours after an intraplantar injection of zymosan, Cot/tpl2(-/-) mice showed a 47% reduction in myeloperoxidase activity, concomitant with a 46% lower neutrophil recruitment and...

Fungal Keratitis (FK) is the main corneal infection that is resistant to antifugi drugs. Exploring new agent will be important for the drug resistance and new infectious diseases. All-Trans-Retinoic Acid (ATRA), a bioactive derivative of vitamin A, is immunoregulatary and anti-inflammation agent by decreasing the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines and increasing the expression of anti...

Murine peritoneal macrophages cultured in minimal essential medium (alpha-MEM; 118 mM Na+, 5 mM K+) released arachidonic acid (20:4) from phospholipids on encountering a phagocytic stimulus of unopsonized zymosan. In high concentrations of extracellular K+ (118 mM), 3H release from cells prelabeled with [3H]20:4 was inhibited 80% with minimal reduction (18%) in phagocytosis. The inhibitory effe...

Corneal ulceration after severe alkali burns of the eye is thought to result principally from collagen breakdown as a consequence of local polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) activities. The favorable effect of topical citrate on such burns suggested a direct effect on these inflammatory cells. These in vitro studies show that the stimulation of human PMN by opsonized zymosan can be inhibited by ...

Chemerin is a chemotactic protein that binds to the G protein-coupled receptor, ChemR23. We demonstrate that murine chemerin possesses potent antiinflammatory properties that are absolutely dependent on proteolytic processing. A series of peptides was designed, and only those identical to specific C-terminal chemerin sequences exerted antiinflammatory effects at picomolar concentrations in vitr...