BACKGROUND Costimulation of murine macrophages with immune complexes (ICs) and TLR ligands leads to alternative activation. Studies on human myeloid cells, however, indicate that ICs induce an increased pro-inflammatory cytokine production. This study aimed to clarify the effect of ICs on the pro- versus anti-inflammatory profile of human polarized macrophages. MATERIALS AND METHODS Monocytes...

Background: Repeated Implantation Failure (RIF) is one of the most intricate obstacles in assisted reproduction. The cytokine and chemokine composition of uterine cavity seem to play important roles in the implantation process. Objective: To compare the cytokine profile in the endometrium of normal fertile women and those with repeated implantation failure. Methods: After enzymatic digestion of...

Cytokines are considered a promising immunotherapy for chronic diseases, because of their potency and fundamental roles in pathological processes. However, their therapeutic use is limited because of their poor pharmacokinetics and pleiotropic effects in various organs. These problems may be overcome by cell-specific delivery of the cytokine. This approach involves chemical modification of the ...

Osteopontin (OPN) is a proinflammatory cytokine and adhesion molecule implicated in the chemoattraction of monocytes and in cell-mediated immunity. We have recently reported that genetic OPN-deficiency attenuates the development of atherosclerosis in apoE / mice identifying OPN as potential target for pharmacological intervention in atherosclerosis. Synthetic agonists for the Liver X Receptor (...

Cytokines represent a diverse group of molecules that collectively exert a wide range of actions (1). The term cytokine is rather general, technically referring to a molecule made by one cell that acts on another, but cytokines are primarily growth factors and hormones of the immune and hematopoietic systems. The term broadly encompasses many of the interleukins and colony-stimulating factors (...

depression is a mental disorder that results from changes in the central nervous system (cns) that may result from immunological abnormalities. according to the world health organization, major depression will become the leading cause of disability worldwide. accumulating evidence has indicated the existence of reciprocal communication pathways between nervous, endocrine and immune systems. the...

alzheimer’s disease (ad) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by cognitive and other cns impairments which is increasing worldwide and poses a major public health problem, yet no effective treatments are found and available drugs only alleviate the symptoms temporarily. postmortem analyses on the brains of ad patients and observed lower risk of ad in nsaids users among other studies hav...