Background: Management of multiple sclerosis (MS) is based on the usage of immunosuppressive and immune-modulating medications. Cytokines play an important role in the pathogenesis of MS. Objective: To evaluate the effects of rapamycin on the concentrations of Th1/Th2/Th17 serum cytokines in patients with MS. Methods: Six patients with relapsing remitting MS as a case group and 6 healthy indivi...

Introduction: Astrocytes are the most abundant glial cell type. In addition to their neurological roles, astrocytes also have immune functions. They have been involved in antigen presentation in the central nervous system (CNS). Activated astrocytes express adhesion molecules, chemokines and release several inflammatory mediators, pro-inflammatory cytokines, neurotrophic and neuroprotective fac...

Epstein–Barr virus is primarily the cause of acute infectious mononucleosis and can also cause lymphoma and autoimmune diseases. Th17 cells, which are a unique subset of ThCD4+ cells, direct the infection toward inflammation through production of inflammatory cytokine IL-17. In contrast, Treg Foxp3 cells inhibit inflammation through secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10, leading to chro...

BACKGROUND The average life span of Mongolians is 62 years for males and 69 years for females. This life span is about 16 years shorter than that of Japanese. Mongolian people generally eat meat, fat and diary products but less vegetables or fruit. Thus, we investigated the state of oxidative stress and dietary habits of Mongolians. METHODS The investigation was performed in Murun city in the...

Interleukin-1 family 7 (IL-1F7) is a novel member of IL-1F cytokines. IL-1F7 is more commonly known as IL-37. IL-37 join the α-subunit of the IL-18 receptor, or IL-18 binding protein (IL-18BP), and binding of these proteins can enhance the IL-18 suppression. IL-37 also translocates to the cell nucleus and affects gene transcription. IL-37 inhibits the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated pr...

Groundwater pollution by arsenic is a serious worldwide problem, especially in developing Asian and African countries. Large inter-individual variation in the arsenic metabolism has been reported. Human arsenic (+3 oxidation state) methyltransferase (AS3MT) is known to catalyze the methylation of arsenite. The M287T polymorphism in AS3MT is considered to be related to inter-individual variation...