Background Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease of unknown aetiology characterised by granuloma formation and the presence of interferon g (IFNg)-producing T cells that cause inflammation and tissue damage in multiple organs, especially the lung. Exosomes are nano-sized immunomodulatory vesicles of endosomal origin released from a diverse range of cells and are also found in physiological fluids i...

Despite a large number of epidemiologic associations, clinical studies, and animal models, a direct involvement of pathogens in the etiology of human type 1 diabetes is still a matter of critical debate. Human enteroviruses (HEV), such as coxsackievirus B (CVB) and echoviruses (EV), have been associated with type 1 diabetes since the late 1960s (1) and have been found in pancreatic isolates of ...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterised by synovial inflammation that can lead to joint damage through bone and cartilage destruction, loss of function and decreased quality of life. Fortunately, over the past few years, we have witnessed major advances in the management of RA with new agents and treatment strategies that have improved outcomes and made remission become...

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is an autoimmune disorder of the thyroid gland. The destruction of thyrocytes associated with the disease exceeds the lifetime regenerative capacity of the gland about 5to 10-fold (1). The mechanisms responsible for this destruction have been elusive until Giordano et al. (2) demonstrated recently that Fas (CD95/APO-1) and its ligand (FasL) may be involved in the pa...

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is characterized by alveolar and interstitial inflammation, followed by the progressive derangement of alveolar architecture and deposition of extracellular matrix components. The disease is initiated by an unknown alveolar insult, which is followed by the influx of inflammatory cells to the lung. This recruitment phase results in a several fold increase in all c...

The link between gut and joint inflammation in spondyloarthritis (SpA) is well established, in particular in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and peripheral SpA. In 1995, Mielants et al discovered that almost 50% of patients with SpA have subclinical gut inflammation, of which a fraction develops Crohn’s disease over time. Recent studies clearly showed that the onset of disease and disease severity ...

Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), an exotoxin produced by staphylococcal aureus, is commonly associated with food poisoning and capable of triggering flu-like symptoms resembling those of endotoxins – such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) released from gram-negative bacterial cell walls. By comparing the host response to these distinct toxins on a genetic level, a set of genes can be identified to...

The ribonucleotide content of lymphocytes obtained from nor mal subjects and patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) was determined by means of high-performance liquid chromatography. The levels of normal Band T-cells were com pared to each other as well as those of their CLL counterparts. Unfractionated CLL lymphocytes, predominantly B-cells, had significantly lower levels of adenosin...

s of invited lectures Workshop Proceedings Page 5 Abstracts of invited lectures SESSION ON PATHOGENESIS Chairs: Hugo Murua Escobar, Franco Guscetti 01 Comparative Transcriptional Analysis of Canine and Human Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL). Molecular Signatures of NF-κB Activation and Sub-Classification of DLBCL Ted Hupp Edinburgh Cancer Research UK Centre, Edinburgh, United Kingdom E-mai...

Mesenchymal stem cells are multipotent stem cells derived from various sources. This review describes their immunomodulatory effect on Tcells, B-cells, NK cells and dendritic cells and interactions with T-regulatory (CD4+/25high Foxp3 +) cells, the last being one of the most important mode of actions. These cells are “super-suppressive” cells which act in “cell-cell contact” or through release ...