Francesca Bagnato¹, Alessandro Clemenzi¹, Carolina Scagnolari², Luigi Strizzi³, Antonella Di Pasquale¹, Francesca Bellomi², Paola Di Marco², Guido Antonelli², Giovanni Antonini¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.1, pp. 24-29, 2004

Abstract Anti-cytokine antibodies (Abs) play an important role in the regulation of the immune response, both under normal conditions and in several autoimmune and neoplastic disorders. In the present study, we have investigated the occurrence and the clinical significance of natural neutralizing Abs (NAbs) against interferons (IFNs) alpha (α), beta (β) and gamma (γ), as detected by bioassay, in 52 patients with myasthenia gravis (MG), and 43 sex- and age-matched healthy individuals. Patients showing titres ≥ 1.3 Log t_1/10, confirmed in 2 consecutive samples collected two months apart, were considered positive. NAbs against any of the IFNs More >

Philipp Röntgen¹, Armin Sablotzki^1,2, Andreas Simm¹, Rolf-Edgar Silber¹, Elke Czeslick^1,2

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.1, pp. 14-23, 2004

Abstract Proinflammatory cytokines produced by monocytes, like Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Interleukin-8 (IL-8), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) are known for their pivotal role in the initiation of the inflammatory response following cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Catecholamines like epinephrine (Epi) and norepinephrine (Nor) are often necessary to stabilize the cardiac function in the early postoperative period and may influence the cytokine expression in monocytes.
In this study we investigated the effects of Epi and Nor on IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α expression in human monocytes stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in whole blood, analyzed intracellularly by flow cytometry. Kinetics of intracellular proinflammatory… More >

John T. Parissis, Stamatis Adamopoulos¹, Koula Venetsanou, George Kostakis, Antonios Rigas, Spilios M. Karas, Dimitrios Kremastinos¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.2, pp. 139-144, 2004

Abstract No in vivo data exist about the relationship of circulating granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and soluble adhesion molecules ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 (sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1) to the severity of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and the pathophysiological events of post-infarction left ventricular dysfunction. We investigated the kinetics of these inflammatory mediators in the plasma of patients with AMI, and correlated the findings with the clinical severity of the disease during the first week of hospitalization as well as the degree of left ventricular dysfunction one month after the AMI.
Plasma levels of inflammatory markers were determined in… More >

Kathrin Lungstras-Bufler¹, Philip Bufler¹, Rabiatu Abdullah², Christine Rutherford², Stefan Endres³, Edward Abraham¹, Charles A. Dinarello¹, Robert M. Rodriguez²

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.2, pp. 135-138, 2004

Abstract We evaluated in a blinded fashion the cytokine profiles of patients with suspected necrotizing fasciitis. In 15 out of 20 patients, the diagnosis of necrotizing fasciitis was established; five patients had cellulitis. Eighteen of the 20 patients were i.v. drug users. Five of the 15 patients with necrotizing fasciitis died (33%). On admission, serum levels for interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-1-receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), IL-18 and interferon-γ (IFNγ) as well as white blood cells (WBC) were significantly elevated in patients with fatal outcome compared to survivors with necrotizing fasciitis. IL-1Ra and WBC levels were also higher than in More >

Anna Maria Megiovanni, Françoise Sanchez, Jean Claude Gluckman, Michelle Rosenzwajg

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.2, pp. 126-134, 2004

Abstract Monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) were used as an in vitro model of myeloid DCs in order to determine a minimum marker pattern with which to characterize and distinguish different stages of DC activation and maturation. Phenotypic changes induced on immature DCs by two prototypic stimuli, poly I:C and CD40 ligation, were first examined. Both elicited HLA-DR, CD40, CD86 and CXCR4 upregulation, and CCR5 downregulation, but only CD40 ligand-stimulated DCs became CD83⁺ /CCR7⁺ , whereas poly I:C-stimulated DCs expressed lower CD83 levels and were mostly CCR7^– . CD40 ligation and poly I:C elicited increased production of inflammatory cytokines… More >

Eva Villamón¹, Daniel Gozalbo¹, Patricia Roig¹, Celia Murciano¹, José Enrique O’Connor², Didier Fradelizi³, M. Luisa Gil¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 263-271, 2004

Abstract We have studied the role of myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), the universal Toll-like receptor (TLR) adaptor protein, in murine defenses against We have studied the role of myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), the universal Toll-like receptor (TLR) adaptor protein, in murine defenses against Candida albicans. MyD88-deficient mice, experimen-tally infected in vivo, had a very significant impaired survival, and a higher tissue fungal burden when compared with control mice. The recruitment of neutrophils to the site of infection was also significantly diminished in MyD88^-/- mice. In vitro production of proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IFN-γ and… More >

Isabelle Cognet¹, Florence Guilhot¹, Sylvie Chevalier², Angélique Guay-Giroux¹, Alexandra Bert¹, Greg C. A. Elson³, Hugues Gascan², Jean-François Gauchat¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 255-262, 2004

Abstract Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) is a neuroprotective cytokine initially identified in chick embryo. It has been evaluated for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. CNTF also acts on non-neuronal cells such as oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, adipocytes and skeletal muscles cells. CNTF has regulatory effects on body weight and is currently in clinical trial for the treatment of diabetes and obesity. CNTF mediates its function by activating a tripartite receptor comprising the CNTF receptor α chain (CNTFRα), the leukemia inhibitory factor receptor β chain (LIFRβ) and gp130. Human, rat and chicken CNTF have been expressed as recombinant proteins,… More >

Ewa Robak¹, Piotr Smolewski², Anna Wozniacka¹, Anna Sysa-Jedrzejowska¹, Henryk Stepień³, Tadeusz Robak²

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 222-230, 2004

Abstract Recent studies indicate that dendritic cells (DC) and several cytokines are implicated in the induction of autoimmune diseases. In this study we investigated the relationship between the total number of DC (tDC), and their plasmacytoid (pDC) and myeloid (mDC) subpopulations, with serum concentrations of interferons (IFN-α and IFN-γ) and selected cytokines (TNF-α, IL-4, IL-6), in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and healthy persons. Subpopulations of DC were determined by the following antigen expression profiles: BDCA-1+/CD11c+/HLA-DR+ (for mDC) and BDCA-2 +/CD123+/HLA-DR+ (for pDC), using flow cytometry. Serum levels of interferons and cytokines were assessed by… More >

George Fildissis, Kyriaki Venetsanou, Pavlos Myrianthefs, Stylianos Karatzas, Vasilios Zidianakis, George Baltopoulos

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 217-221, 2004

Abstract Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) is a therapeutic intervention with applications in a large variety of diseases, including traumatic injuries and acute or chronic infections. The presence of pro-inflammatory cytokines regulates certain factors including adhesion molecules, which play a significant role in HBO effects.
We have investigated the effect of HBO on pro-inflammatory cytokine release [tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 6 and 8 (IL-6 and IL-8)], and the regulation of adhesion molecules [soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and soluble vascular adhesion molecule (sVCAM)] after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation in 16 healthy individuals, originating from an urban area. A total… More >

Vivian Barak¹, Inna Kalickman¹, Tal Halperin¹, Shlomo Birkenfeld¹, Isaac Ginsburg²

European Cytokine Network, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 203-209, 2004

Abstract Background: Previous studies have shown that PADMA-28, a multicomponent, traditional Tibetan herbal plant preparation possesses a variety of beneficial effects on several experimental models of inflammatory and immune processes, including autoimmune diabetes and autoimmune encephalomyelitis. In humans, PADMA-28 attenuated the symptoms associated with intermittent claudications in atherosclerotic patients. Objective: To assess the effect of PADMA 28 on the immune system, e.g. cytokine (interleukins) production. Design: Cytokine production by human blood monocytes (derived from12 healthy donors) stimulated in vitro, either by endotoxin (LPS) from Salmonella typhi or by lipoteichoic acid (LTA) from group A Streptococci was… More >