Recent lines of evidence have demonstrated that IL-27, a newly identified IL-12-related cytokine, has two apparently conflicting roles in immune responses: one as an initiator of Th1 responses and the other as an attenuator of inflammatory cytokine production. Although the IL-27-mediated Th1 initiation mechanism has been elucidated, little is known about the molecular basis for the suppression ...

Background—Ghrelin is a novel growth hormone–releasing peptide that has been shown to improve cachexia in heart failure and cancer and to ameliorate the hemodynamic and metabolic disturbances in septic shock. Because cytokine-induced inflammation is critical in these pathological states and because the growth hormone secretagogue receptor has been identified in blood vessels, we examined whethe...

Mast cells secrete multiple cytokines and play an important role in allergic inflammation. Although it is widely accepted that bacteria infection occasionally worsens allergic airway inflammation, the mechanism has not been defined. In this study, we show that LPS induced Th2-associated cytokine production such as IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13 from mast cells and also synergistically enhanced producti...

Recent studies suggest that chronic inflammation plays a role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. Cytokines released from jeopardized tissues stimulate the liver to synthesize acute phase proteins, including C-reactive protein (CRP). Baseline levels of CRP in apparently healthy persons or in persons with unstable angina constitute an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events....

The ability of carnitine congeners to modulate cytokine production by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was investigated. Modulation of cytokine production by PBMC of young (30 years of age or younger) and old (70 years of age or older) normal donors was first compared. The PBMC were collected over Ficoll-Hypaque and incubated in the presence of various concentrations of acetyl L-...

Virus infections induce a proinflammatory response including expression of cytokines and chemokines. The subsequent leukocyte recruitment and antiviral effector functions contribute to the first line of defense against viruses. The molecular virus-cell interactions initiating these events have been studied intensively, and it appears that viral surface glycoproteins, double-stranded RNA, and in...