Bacground: Evidence from several lines of investigations suggests that Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is involved in atherosclerosis as a bridge between innate and acquired immunity. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) can trigger inflammation through activation of human TLR4 (hTLR4) on monocytes. Hydrocortisone as an anti-inflammatory and immuno-suppressant agent has multiple mechanisms of a...

Glucagon alone, given to adrenalectomized rats, caused induction of tyrosine aminotransferase only in repeated doses. A single dose given with or 5 hours after hydrocortisone enhanced 3-fold the induction of tyrosine aminotransferase by the hydrocortisone. Glucagon did not alter the levels of tryptophan oxygenase in these situations. The simultaneous administration of actinomycin D completely i...

Both acute and chronic stress can impair maternal behavior and increase rates of infant abuse in several species. The mechanisms inducing these effects are unknown, but experimental manipulation of circulating corticosterone levels alters maternal behavior in rats, and circulating or excreted cortisol concentrations have been found to correlate either positively or negatively with maternal beha...

BACKGROUND We retrospectively studied associations between bolus infusion of hydrocortisone and variability of the blood glucose level and changes in insulin rates in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. METHODS 'Glycemic variability' and 'insulin infusion rate variability' were calculated from and expressed as the standard deviation (SD) of all blood glucose levels and insulin infusion rates ...

Polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) from patients with chronic granulomatous disease of childhood have impaired bactericidal activity and are deficient in diphosphopyridine nucleotide, reduced form of, (NADH) oxidase. Since hydrocortisone had been shown to inhibit NADH oxidation, experiments were undertaken to determine the effect of hydrocortisone on several parameters of human PMN function. T...

BACKGROUND:  Canine low-dose sepsis model provides a reliable setting to study innovative drugs. Lipopolysaccharides (LPS), a major constituent of bacterial outer membrane, have been demonstrated to play a critical role in the initiation of pathogenesis. Lipopolysaccharide-induced sepsis has been extensively studied in laboratory animals; but its importance has mainly remained unknown in dogs. ...

BACKGROUND Concern exists that the prolonged application of immunomodulators to treat atopic dermatitis may cause systemic immunosuppression. AIMS In a 7-month, multicentre, randomised, controlled trial, we investigated the equivalence of response to vaccination against meningococcal serogroup C disease with a protein-conjugate vaccine in children (2-11 years) with moderate to severe atopic d...

Considerable knowledge has been gained from the clinical study of various therapeutic agents in rheumatoid arthritis, yet comparatively little information is available on the metabolic action of these substances at the tissue level. A satisfactory in vitro approach to this problem could not be made until it could be established that in vitro metabolic changes occurred in the presence of rheumat...

Considerable controversy has revolved about the nature of the disturbed iron metabolism in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and the question whether the depositions of iron in the synovial tissues of these patients represent beneficial or harmful events (Mowat and Hothersall, 1968). Lawson, Owen, and Mowat (1967) showed that there was an increase in the urinary excretion of iron in patients w...