In postmenopausal women, obesity is a risk factor for the development of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer driven by estrogen. After menopause, aromatization of androgen precursors in adipose tissue is a major synthetic source of estrogen. Recently, in mouse models and women, we identified an obesity-inflammation-aromatase axis. This obesity-induced inflammation is characterized by crown-...

Sepsis, a systemic inflammatory syndrome, is a response to infection and when associated with multiple organ dysfunction is termed, severe sepsis. It remains a leading cause of mortality in the critically ill. The response to the invading bacteria may be considered as a balance between proinflammatory and antiinflammatory reaction. While an inadequate proinflammatory reaction and a strong antii...

Cell therapy with endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) is an emerging therapeutic option to promote angiogenesis or endothelial repair. Although the release of angiogenic paracrine factors is known to contribute to their therapeutic effect, little is known about their release of proinflammatory factors and expression of proinflammatory adhesion molecules. "Early" EPCs and "late" EPCs were isolat...

BACKGROUND Sepsis-induced diaphragmatic force loss and failure are associated with an increased exposure of the muscle to proinflammatory mediators. OBJECTIVES Our objectives were to test the hypothesis that force-inhibiting mediators may arise in large part from the diaphragm itself and to evaluate the roles of mechanical stress, free radicals, and the nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB transcriptio...

Despite extensive investigation, the precise contribution of the ultraviolet radiation (UVR) component of sunlight to melanoma etiology remains unclear. UVR induces keratinocytes to secrete proinflammatory and immunomodulatory mediators that promote inflammation and skin tumor development; expression of the slug transcription factor in keratinocytes is required for maximal production of these m...

Chronic inflammation contributes to cancer development via multiple mechanisms. One potential mechanism is that chronic inflammation can generate an immunosuppressive microenvironment that allows advantages for tumor formation and progression. The immunosuppressive environment in certain chronic inflammatory diseases and solid cancers is characterized by accumulation of proinflammatory mediator...

Arthritis is one of the most common complications of human brucellosis, but its pathogenic mechanisms have not been elucidated. Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) are known to be central mediators of joint damage in inflammatory arthritides through the production of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) that degrade collagen and of cytokines and chemokines that mediate the recruitment and activation...