In addition to the host immune response, genetic and environmental factors play crucial roles in the manifestation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) -173G/C polymorphism (rs755622), located in the promoter region of MIF, may play integral roles in diverse processes, including the immune response. Thus, the MIF -173G/C polymorphism may influen...

For over 25 years, the cytokine known as macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has been considered to be a product of activated T lymphocytes. We recently identified the murine homolog of human MIF as a protein secreted by the pituitary in response to endotoxin administration. In the course of these studies, we also detected MIF in acute sera obtained from endotoxin-treated, T cell-defic...

OBJECTIVE Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine and has been shown to play a role in pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential role of MIF in the destabilization of atherosclerotic plaques by stimulation of vascular MMP-1 expression. METHODS MIF and matrix metalloproteinase protein-1 (MMP-1) expression in human...

INTRODUCTION Glucocorticoid (GC) therapy remains important in improving the prognosis of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, some patients do not achieve an effective response with GC treatment, creating an obstacle to the remission of SLE. Identification of the underlying mechanisms responsible for steroid resistance can be significant. Macrophage migration inhibitory fa...

PURPOSE Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pleiotropic, proinflammatory cytokine that mediates various immunoinflammatory processes. Ocular cicatricial pemphigoid (OCP) is an autoimmune disease in which affected conjunctivae show features of an immunoinflammatory disease. In this study, the role of MIF in the pathogenesis of OCP was examined. METHODS The expression of MIF in co...

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) was originally identified in the culture medium of activated T lymphocytes as a soluble factor that inhibited the random migration of macrophages. MIF is now recognized to be a multipotent cytokine involved in the regulation of immune and inflammatory responses. Moreover, the pivotal nature of its involvement highlights the importance of MIF to the p...

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an upstream activator of innate immunity that regulates subsequent adaptive responses. It was previously shown that in macrophages, MIF binds to a complex of CD74 and CD44, resulting in initiation of a signaling pathway. In the current study, we investigated the role of MIF in B cell survival. We show that in B lymphocytes, MIF initiates a signali...

OBJECTIVE Cardiac surgery causes induction and release of inflammatory mediators that may be regulated by genetic background. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a proinflammatory mediator that is known to be up-regulated in patients undergoing cardiac operations. Here we analyzed genotype distribution and allele frequency of the MIF-173*G/C single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and ...

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) may play an important role in the pathogenesis of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), as MIF plays an important role to regulate the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), one of the inflammatory cytokines which induces and exacerbates aGVHD. We examined the ass...