Non-healing skin ulcers are often resistant to most common therapies. Treatment with growth factors has been demonstrated to improve closure of chronic wounds. Here we investigate whether lyophilized culture supernatant of freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) is able to enhance wound healing. PBMC from healthy human individuals were prepared and cultured for 24 hours. Supe...

Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6), the etiologic agent of roseola, is ubiquitous, establishes latency in the host, and can infect a variety of immunocompetent cells, with CD4+ T lymphocytes being the targets in which it replicates most efficiently. The present study was undertaken to learn more about specific immunobiologic effects of HHV-6 infection on T-lymphocyte functions. Our data demonstrate th...

Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is highly expressed in the brain and modulates feeding behavior. It is also expressed in some peripheral tissues where its role remains unknown. We have investigated MCH function in human and mouse immune cells. RT-PCR analysis revealed a low expression of prepro-MCH and MCH receptor 1 (MCHR1) but not of MCHR2 transcript in tissular and peripheral blood immun...

The immune responses of pregnant cattle and their foetuses were examined following inoculation on day 70 of gestation either intravenously (iv) (group 1) or subcutaneously (sc) (group 2) with live NC1 strain tachyzoites or with Vero cells (control) (group 3). Peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) responses to Neospora antigen and foetal viability were assessed throughout the experiment. Two ...

Inflammation is common to many disorders and responsible for tissue and organ damage. In many disorders, the associated peripheral cytokine milieu is dilute and difficult to measure, necessitating development of more sensitive and informative biomarkers for mechanistic studies, earlier diagnosis, and monitoring therapeutic interventions. Previously, we have shown that plasma of recent-onset (RO...

Background The Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network has initiated several clinical trials utilizing T cell growth factors such as IL-15 and IL-7. In support of these trials, we have developed and conducted precision testing of a 12-color flow cytometric assay to characterize the surface markers present on T cells in fresh whole blood and among cryopreserved peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PB...

A possible free radical mechanism in metal allergy was investigated in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures from 6 subjects, contact allergic to Ni2+ and Co2+, and 6 control individuals. Ni2+ and Co(2+)-mediated free radical generation was studied with electron spin resonance spectroscopy. The immune response was characterized by cellular [methyl-3H]thymidine uptake and interferon-...