Aimin Jiang^1,2, Haojiang Ding²

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.3, No.1, pp. 1-12, 2006, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2007.003.001

Abstract This paper presents a development of the boundary contour method (BCM) for magneto-electro-elastic media. Firstly, the divergence-free of the integrand of the magneto- electro-elastic boundary element is proved. Secondly, the boundary contour method formulations are obtained by introducing linear shape functions and Green's functions (Computers & Structures, 82(2004):1599-1607) for magneto-electro-elastic media and using the rigid body motion solution to regularize the BCM and avoid computation of the corner tensor. The BCM is applied to the problem of magneto-electro-elastic media. Finally, numerical solutions for illustrative examples are compared with exact ones and those of the conventional boundary element More >

J. Alonso Fernández¹, Irmeli Roine², Alicia Vasquez³, Marianella Cáneo²

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 81-90, 2005

Abstract The role of the immune response in the severity of RSV infection was examined by determining plasma concentrations of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-10 (IL-10), interleukin-2 receptor (sCD25) and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor II (sTNFR-II) in 196, previously healthy infants, during acute and convalescence phases of primary RSV infection. The results were analyzed separately for days 1-4 (early) and days 5-7 (late) of symptoms before sample collection and according to disease severity (105 hypoxic, 91 non-hypoxic). Significant associations between plasma levels and severity were found in early samples only. IL-10 and sCD25 concentrations were higher (p=0.01,… More >

Sara Pagani, Cristina Meazza, Paola Travaglino, Antonia Moretta, Mauro Bozzola

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 65-69, 2005

Abstract The aim of the present study was to establish whether growth hormone (GH) treatment in vivo affects pro-inflammatory cytokine production by resting or in vitro, activated, cultured, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from children with complete growth hormone deficiency (GHD). We evaluated 11, pre-pubertal children (6 males and 5 females) with GHD, aged between 6 and 14 years, and 9, age- and sex-matched healthy subjects were studied as controls (CTRLs). Freshly isolated PBMC were cultured for 4 or 24 h in X-VIVO medium in the presence or absence of 0.01 lg/mL lipopolysaccharide for the determination… More >

Michel Jourdan¹, Karène Mahtouk¹, Jean-luc Veyrune², Guilhem Couderc², Geneviève Fiol², Nicole Redal², Christophe Duperray¹, John De Vos^1,2, Bernard Klein^1,2

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 57-64, 2005

Abstract Primary myeloma cells rapidly apoptose as soon as they are removed from their bone-marrow environment. A likely explanation is that the tumor environment produces survival factors that may counteract a spontaneous activation of pro-apoptotic program. Additional factors may trigger cell cycling in surviving myeloma cells. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a well recognized myeloma cell growth factor produced mainly by the tumor environment. However, myeloma cells themselves may produce low levels of autocrine IL-6. The respective roles of paracrine versus autocrine IL-6 are a matter of debate. We investigated these roles using the XG-6 myeloma cell line… More >

Rafael Botella-Estrada¹, Marta Escudero², José E. O’Connor², Eduardo Nagore¹, Bernardo Fenollosa³, Onofre Sanmartín¹, Celia Requena¹, Carlos Guillén¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 47-55, 2005

Abstract Background. The differentiation of T cells towards a T helper 1 (Th1) or Th2 phenotype based on their profile of cytokine production, is of great relevance in the regulation of immune responses. We have determined by flow cytometry, the expression of selected Th1 and Th2 cytokines by activated T cells in whole blood samples (WB) from normal donors and from patients with different clinical stages of melanoma in different clinical stages. Methods. WB samples from 6 normal donors and 19 patients with melanoma were activated over 4 hours with PMA + ionomycin in presence or… More >

Joanna Gora-Tybor, Jerzy Z. Blonski, Tadeusz Robak

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 41-46, 2005

Abstract The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) transduction pathway may be very active in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells and contributes to their enhanced survival. Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (VEGFR-1) and receptor-2 (VEGFR-2), are the high-affinity VEGF receptors, which play an important role in de novo blood vessel formation and hematopoietic cell development. The aim of our study was to compare the concentration of VEGF, VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 in the serum of 83, never-treated B-CLL patients in different stage of disease according to Rai classification, and 20 healthy volunteers. Of all the cytokines only… More >

J. Alonso Fernández¹, Lorena Tapia¹, M. Angélica Palomino², Carmen Larrañaga¹, Mónica Peña¹, Héctor Jaramillo³

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 35-40, 2005

Abstract Adenovirus (ADV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are etiological agents of acute respiratory tract infection in infants. Long-term prognosis of ADV infection includes severe lung damage, bronchiectasis and hyperlucent lung, while RSV infection is associated with development of recurrent wheezing and subsequent asthma. These differences may be related to differences in the primary immune responses elicited by these viruses. In this paper, we investigated the type of cytokine responses and the magnitude of immune activation in ADV and RSV infections in infants. We examined plasma concentrations of interferon-c (IFN-c), interleukin-10 (IL-10), soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sCD25)… More >

Othmar Ludwiczek¹, Arthur Kaser¹, Daniela Novick², Charles A. Dinarello³, Menachem Rubinstein², Herbert Tilg^1,4

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 27-33, 2005

Abstract Objectives. Interleukin 18 (IL-18) is a proinflammatory cytokine and a member of the IL-1 family. Animal models and investigations in humans point to an important role for this cytokine in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). IL-18 binding protein (IL-18BP) is a naturally occurring antagonist of IL-18. Methods. In this study, we measured IL-18 and IL-18BP plasma concentrations and spontaneous release in cultures of colonic explants from healthy subjects (n = 41), patients with Crohn’s disease (CD, n = 135), and patients with ulcerative colitis (UC, n = 93). Results. Both CD and UC patients had higher… More >

Irena Fonda¹, Mojca Pernuš², Vladka Gaberc-Porekar¹, Maja Kenig², Anton Štalc², Anthony Meager³, Viktor Menart^1,2

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 17-26, 2005

Abstract Analysis of published data reveals that the introduction of more basic amino acid residues in the flexible N-terminal region of the human tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF) molecule indicates a weak but consistent trend towards increased in vitro cytotoxicity, especially when the effect of N-terminal length is taken into account. In our laboratory, a series of TNF analogues with a charge modification in the tip region of the molecule was prepared, and cytotoxicity measured. Similar trends in cytotoxicity with increasing basicity of the TNF analogue were found in this study for two mouse cell lines,… More >

Robin W. Freeburn, Lynne Armstrong, Ann B. Millar

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 5-16, 2005

Abstract Regulation of the pulmonary host defence mechanism is crucial for protection of the lung without pathological consequences. This is exemplified in the normal lung by the induction of both the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α, its receptors and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We have evaluated this mechanism in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Alveolar macrophages (AM) were obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage from 21 subjects with IPF and 12 healthy volunteers. Constitutive and LPS-stimulated AM production of TNF-α, TNF soluble receptors CD120a and CD120b, and IL-10 at the protein and mRNA level were… More >