During the past two decades, dengue viruses have been a major cause of severe illness and death among children in tropical Asia (1). Dengue viruses are mosquito-borne flaviviruses which occur as four antigenically distinct types. Homotypic immunity is thought to be life long, but after a brief period of crossprotection, heterotypic infections occur and are accompanied by secondary-type antibody...

as determined by vital staining, uptake of 2-deoxyglucose, and survival and replication in human fibroblasts. They are, however, rapidly killed by the addition of H202 and iodide under conditions in which control organisms are unaffected. We have used EPO bound to T. gondii to explore the role of peroxidase in the toxoplasmacidal activity of mononuclear phagocytes. Resident mouse peritoneal mac...

During the past two decades, dengue viruses have been a major cause of severe illness and death among children in tropical Asia (1). Dengue viruses are mosquito-borne flaviviruses which occur as four antigenically distinct types. Homotypic immunity is thought to be life long, but after a brief period of crossprotection, heterotypic infections occur and are accompanied by secondary-type antibody...

OBJECTIVE Superoxide anion radicals within the human body are regarded as a major cause of inflammation. However, their role in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) has not been well identified. This study aimed at investigating the relation between AS and the oxidative metabolism of phagocytes in whole blood. METHODS 24 patients with classic AS were examined to determine their cli...

Pregnant women have an increased risk for some infections, particularly during the last trimester. Phagocytic emigration from the circulation into tissues is an important aspect of the initial immune response. Therefore, circulating phagocytes of 42 pregnant and 15 postpartum patients were studied in vitro for random and chemotactic (or directional) migration through membrane filters (Millipore...

Innate immune cells are genetically conferred the ability to recognize microorganisms as "non-self", and to induce appropriate immune responses to eliminate them. On the other hand, immune cells should recognize self cells in order to avoid attacking normal tissues. For this purpose, immune cells make use of self-cell corpses. When cells undergo apoptosis, cell corpses are rapidly phagocytosed ...

Effective and efficient efferocytosis of dead cells associated cellular debris are critical to tissue homeostasis healing injured tissues. This important task was previously thought be restricted professional phagocytes (PPs). However, accumulating evidence has revealed another type phagocyte, the amateur phagocyte (AP), which can also participate in efferocytosis. APs non-myeloid progenitor/no...