Background and Aims: Hepatitis C virus is one of the viral infections which is mainly transmitted by blood transfusion. Patients with thalassaemia frequently need blood transfusion and are in danger of HCV infection. In most cases of infection (85%) the virus evades the immune system and establishes a chronic infection that may lead to cirrhosis and liver carcinoma. Liver is the main site of HC...

production by PBMC is mediated not through LH/hCG receptor, but through glucose receptor. Therefore, it should be noted that the response of PBMC to hCG might depend on the glycosylation status of hCG reagent(s) (Kosaka et al., 2002). We also observed that r-hCG-stimulated PBMC effectively promote invasion of murine and human trophoblastic cells by producing bioactive molecules (Egawa et al., 2...

T cell-mediated rejection remains a barrier to the clinical application of islet xenotransplantation. Regulatory T cells (Treg) regulate immune responses by suppressing effector T cells. This study aimed to determine the ability of human Treg to prevent islet xenograft rejection and the mechanism(s) involved. Neonatal porcine islet transplanted NOD-SCID IL2rγ(-/-) mice received human peripheral...

This investigation was designed to confirm IL-8 production from human bronchial epithelial cells with toluene diisocyanate (TDI) exposure and to examine the effects of pro-inflammatory cytokine and dexamethasone. We cultured Beas-2B, a bronchial epithelial cell line with TDI-HSA conjugate and compared with those without conjugate. IL-8 in the supernatant was measured by ELISA. To evaluate the e...

Despite steady progress in elimination of measles virus globally, measles infection still causes 500,000 annual deaths, mostly in developing countries where endemic measles strains still circulate. Many adults are infected every year in China, with symptoms more severe than those observed in children. In this study, we have used blood samples from adult measles patients in Shanghai and age-matc...

Cell-mediated immunity is critical to host defenses against the fungal infection cryptococcosis. Here, two functions critical to effective cell-mediated immunity (CMI), lymphoproliferation and cytokine release, were studied in Cryptococcus neoformans-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from seven healthy donors (controls) and two patients with cryptococcosis. PBMC responses to ...

We investigated the potential superantigenic properties of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). In contrast to the findings of a previous report (P. Bowness, P. A. H. Moss, H. Tranter, J. I. Bell, and A. J. McMichael, J. Exp. Med. 176:893-896, 1992), two different, biologically active preparations of CPE had no mitogenic effects on PBMC. ...

Coccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection endemic in the southwestern United States that is increasing in incidence. While cellular immunity correlates with protection from clinical illness, the precise elements of that response are undefined. Using the coccidioidal antigen preparation T27K and multiparametric flow cytometry, the in vitro frequency of polyfunctional T lymphocytes in the peripher...

Factors that influence viability and function of cryopreserved peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were identified on 54 samples from 27 AIDS Clinical Trial Units. PBMC viability ranged from 1 to 96% with a median of 70%, was higher in laboratories with experienced staff, and was not significantly associated with CD4 cell number. Function of cryopreserved PBMC, measured by lymphocyte prol...

The induction of IL-12 and IL-10 production by the immunomodulatory C3 binding glycoprotein (C3bgp) was studied on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Isolated PBMC from healthy human donors were cultured 24 hours with C3bgp isolated from Cuscuta europea. We studied also the influence of C3bgp on the cytokine production in LPS-, PHAand PWM-stimulated PBMC. The levels of these cytok...