Obesity is a risk factor for the development of hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Obesity causes subclinical inflammation in white adipose tissue (WAT), characterized by macrophages surrounding dead or dying adipocytes forming crown-like structures (CLS). Estrogen synthesis is catalyzed by aromatase. Previously, we demonstrated CLS and elevated levels of proi...

Specific functional properties of dendritic cells (DCs) have been suspected as being responsible for the impaired specific immune responses observed in human neonates. To analyze stimulatory requirements for the critical transition from immature, antigen-processing DCs to mature, antigen-presenting DCs, we investigated the effect of different proinflammatory mediators and antigens on phenotype ...

BACKGROUND Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF; vascular permeability factor) is one of the most potent proangiogenic cytokines, and it plays a central role in mediating the process of angiogenesis or new blood vessel formation. Neutrophils (PMNs) recently have been shown to produce VEGF. HYPOTHESIS The acute inflammatory response is a potent stimulus for PMN-directed angiogenesis. MET...

multiple sclerosis (ms) is an autoimmune disease characterized by recurrent episodes of demyelination and axonal lesion mediated by cd4+ t cells with a proinflammatory t helper (th)1 and th17 phenotypes, macrophages, and soluble inflammatory mediators. the overactive  pro-inflammatory  th1  cells  and  clonal  expansion  of  b  cells  initiate  an inflammatory cascade with several cellular and ...

Synovial injury and healing are complex processes including catabolic effects by proinflammatory cytokines and anabolic processes by anti-inflammatory mediators. Here we examined the expression of pro- versus anti-inflammatory mediators in synovium of patients with diagnostic arthroscopy (control), joint trauma (JT), osteoarthritis (OA), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Synovial samples from thes...