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Herbert Tilg, Alexander R. Moschen, Arthur Kaser
European Cytokine Network, Vol.20, No.1, pp. 1-6, 2009, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2009.0141
Abstract Type I interferons (IFNs) are the first line of defence after various infections, and, as immuno-modulatory cytokines, bridge innate and adaptive immunity. IL-17, mainly secreted by specific T cells, has recently been identified regulating neutrophil-mediated inflammation, and has been implicated in the pathogen-esis of many acute and chronic inflammatory disorders. This cytokine is considered of critical importance for an effective anti-bacterial and anti-fungal immune response as needed subsequent to many viral infections. Recent studies have demonstrated that type I IFNs potently suppress IL-17 expression and Th17 differentiation in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, suppression of More >

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Zoran Ivanovic
European Cytokine Network, Vol.20, No.1, pp. 7-9, 2009, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2009.0144
Abstract This article has no abstract. More >

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ARTICLE

Aleksandra Krstić¹, Marija Vlaski^2,3, Mohammad Hammoud², Jean Chevaleyre², Pascale Duchez², Gordana Jovčić¹, Diana Bugarski¹, Pavle Milenković¹, Philippe Bourin⁴, Jean-Michel Boiron^2,3, Vincent Praloran^3,5, Zoran Ivanović²
European Cytokine Network, Vol.20, No.1, pp. 10-16, 2009, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2009.0145
Abstract Co-culture of haematopoietic cells with a stromal cell layer does not mimic the physiological, micro-environmental niche, whose major feature is a low oxygen (O₂) concentration. Thus, in order to study the effects of IL-17 in a context which better approximates the physiological state, we investigated its effects on cell expansion, colony-forming ability, and the phenotypical profile of normal, human blood CD34⁺ cells co-cultured for five days with MSC layers at various O₂ concentrations (20%, 12.5% and 3% O₂). We demon-strated that IL-17 enhances CD34⁺ and total CFC production during the five days of MSC/CD34⁺ co-culture. This effect depends More >

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Mohammad Hossein Nicknam¹, Mahdi Mahmoudi¹, Ali Akbar Amirzargar¹, Ahmad Reza Jamshidi², Nima Rezaei³, Behrouz Nikbin¹
European Cytokine Network, Vol.20, No.1, pp. 17-20, 2009, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2009.0143
Abstract Background. HLA-B27 is an MHC class I molecule that is strongly associated with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). TNF-α, as an important cytokine in inflammatory joint disease, might have a role in the pro-cess of AS. This study was performed to determine HLA-B27 subtypes among Iranian patients with AS, and to investigate TNF-α gene polymorphisms in the patient groups. Methods. Ninety seven AS patients (74 HLA-B27-positive and 23 HLA-B27-negative) and 137 healthy normal subjects (2 HLA-B27-positive) were enrolled in this study. HLA-B27 positive patients were screened using the polymerase chain reaction, with sequence spe-cific primers (PCR-SSP), for… More >

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Faina Linkov¹, Yian Gu⁴, Alan A. Arslan^2,3,4, Mengling Liu⁴, Roy E. Shore^2,5, Lyudmila Velikokhatnaya¹, Karen L. Koenig^2,4, Paolo Toniolo³, Adele Marrangoni¹, Zoya Yurkovetsky¹, Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte^2,4, Anna E. Lokshin^1,6,7
European Cytokine Network, Vol.20, No.1, pp. 21-26, 2009, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2009.0146
Abstract There is a growing interest in the role that cancer biomarkers, metastasis-related molecules, and chemokines may play in the development and progression of various cancers. However, few studies have addressed the reliability of such biomarkers in healthy individuals over time. The objective of this study was to investigate the temporal reliability of multiple proteins in serum samples from healthy women who donated blood over successive years. Thirty five, postmenopausal women with two, repeated annual visits, and thirty, premenopausal women with three, repeated annual visits were randomly selected among eligible subjects from an existing, prospective cohort.… More >

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Feyzullah Guclu¹, Bilgin Ozmen¹, Cengiz Kirmaz², Sabriye Ozkaya Kafesciler¹, Papatya Bayrak Degirmenci², Fatma Taneli³, Zeliha Hekimsoy¹
European Cytokine Network, Vol.20, No.1, pp. 27-32, 2009, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2009.0147
Abstract Background. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is a chronic, organ-specific autoimmune disease. It is the most common cause of primary hypothyroidism during the adolescent period, via autoimmune thyroid tissue destruction, affecting 2% of the population. The pathogenesis of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis involves a complex interaction between predisposing genetic and environmental factors. Objective. In this study, we wanted to inves-tigate the role of cytokines such as IL-2, IL-4, IL-12 and IFN-γ in the pathogenesis of the disease, and the changes to cytokine levels brought about by treatment with L-thyroxine. Methods. Sixty five female patients, aged 18-73 years with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis,… More >

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Caroll J. Beltrán^1,2*, Enzo Candia^1*, Benjamín Erranz¹, Carolina Figueroa³, Maria J. Gonzalez⁴, Rodrigo Quera^3,5, Marcela A. Hermoso¹
European Cytokine Network, Vol.20, No.1, pp. 33-38, 2009, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2009.0142
Abstract Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) belong to the group of inflammatory bowel dis-eases (IBD), with complex ethiopathogenic factors that include an unbalanced immune and inflammatory response to commensal and food antigens. The differential diagnosis between CD and UC is performed using clinical, endoscopic, histopathological, serological and radiological methods; however between 10-15% of IBD patients are diagnosed as “unclassified colitis”. Further research into IBD is necessary in order to develop addi-tional diagnostic tools. The aim of this work was to see if the Th1, Th17 or Th2 immune pattern, represented by CD4+ lymphocytes producing… More >

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