Alarm signals generated at inflammatory foci reach the vascular lumen to attract immune cells towards the affected tissue. Different leucocyte subsets decipher and integrate these complex signals in order to make adequate decisions for their migration towards the inflamed tissue. Soluble cues (cytokines and chemokines) and membrane receptors in both endothelium and leucocytes orchestrate the co...

Red blood cell (RBC) storage lesions have been shown to be associated with some adverse reactions; numerous studies have focused on the lesions caused by storage, and few data on the RBC storage lesions caused by prestorage treatments of leucocyte filtration and irradiation. In this study, we examined the changes related with the RBC storage lesions, including 2,3-diphosphatidylglyceric acid (2...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES In this study we examined whether prestorage leucocyte reduction prevents the accumulation of bioreactive substances in red cell units. MATERIALS AND METHODS Measurements were performed in the supernatants of buffy-coat-depleted (standard red cells) and leucocyte-reduced (filtered red cells) red cell units. The effect of storage was evaluated by taking repetitive sam...

Viral respiratory infections cause acute airway abnormalities consisting of inflammation and physiological dysfunction in both animals and humans. It is likely that inflammatory cell products, such as cytokines, contribute substantially to viral-induced airway dysfunction. We hypothesized that imiquimod, an immune response enhancing agent that induces interferon-alpha, would attenuate the devel...

Allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation improves cardiac function, but cellular differentiation results in loss of immunoprivilege and rejection. To explore the mechanism involved in this immune rejection, we investigated the influence of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a factor secreted by MSCs, on immune privilege after myogenic, endothelial and smooth muscle cell differentiation induced...

AIM The aim of the study was to examine the association between telomere erosion and periodontitis in a long-standing prospective cohort study of New Zealand adults. Specific hypotheses tested were as follows: (i) that exposure to periodontitis at ages 26 and 38 was associated with accelerated leucocyte telomere erosion and (ii) that accelerated leucocyte telomere erosion was associated with hi...

Venous blood samples were taken from eight competitors in mid-evening after a racing day, and in the early morning before the next day's race, three times during the course of the Milk Race, 1992. These were used to gather information about the changes in circulating leucocyte levels in response to the exceptionally high sustained daily workload required during a major multi-stage race. The pri...

The analysis of plasma biochemistry and haematology to monitor the condition of birds in the wild has been found a useful tool in ecological research. Despite biparental investment in most wild birds studied, some studies of condition indices found sex differences, and attributed these to the costs of egg formation or brooding in females or a higher contribution of males to chick rearing. We st...

THE EFFECT OF LEUCODEPLETION ON THE EXPRESSION OF LEUCOCYTE ADHESION MOLECULES CD11b, CD18 AND CD62L, DURING IN-VITRO EXTRACORPOREAL CIRCULATION OF HUMAN BLOOD To examine the effect of leucodepletion on the expression of leucocyte surface adhesion molecules (and markers of leucocyte activation) CD18, CD11b, and CD62L in fresh whole human blood. 200mls of blood were taken from ten patients under...

In response to infections or tissue injury, circulating leucocytes adhere to and migrate from the vessel lumen to interstitial inflammatory sites to combat invading pathogens. However, these defensive actions may also cause host tissue injury and microvascular dysfunction through oxidative bursts or enzyme release. For decades, the interaction between leucocytes and microvessel walls has been c...