Tuberculous glycolipid (TBGL) antigen is a cell wall component of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and has been used for the serodiagnosis of tuberculosis. We investigated correlations between the levels of anti-TBGL antibodies and a variety of laboratory markers that are potentially influenced by tuberculous infection. Comparisons between patients with cavitary lesions and those without cavitary les...

INTRODUCTION Since atherosclerosis may in part be an inflammatory disease, circulatory factors related to inflammation may be predictors of coronary artery disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the level of some circulating biomarkers and the extent of coronary artery disease. METHODS Blood samples were taken from 128 patients with stable forms of coronary hea...

The ability to induce Ab responses to pathogens while maintaining the quiescence of autoreactive cells is an important aspect of immune tolerance. During activation of TLR4, dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages (MFs) repress autoantibody production through their secretion of IL-6 and soluble CD40L (sCD40L). These soluble mediators selectively repress B cells chronically exposed to Ag, but not ...

BACKGROUND Hypertension is associated with an increase in platelet activation and endothelial dysfunction and leads to a tendency to cardiovascular events (CVEs). Signal peptide-CUB-EGF domain-containing protein 1 (SCUBE1) is a novel platelet activation marker. There are currently no studies showing the level of SCUBE1 in hypertensive patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the lev...

In the past 30 years, only three natural products have been sources of new drugs with antiplatelet activity. In this study, we have demonstrated for the first time that guanosine from Solanum lycopersicum possesses antiplatelet (secretion, spreading, adhesion and aggregation) activity in vitro and inhibition of platelet inflammatory mediator of atherosclerosis (sCD40L). According to ADP-induced...

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a member of the tumour necrosis factor superfamily and is involved in the regulation of bone metabolism and vascular calcification. Increased serum OPG levels have been reported in patients with stable angina pectoris and survivors of myocardial infarction with heart failure. The purpose of the present study was to determine serum OPG levels in young survivors of acute ...

PURPOSE We investigated correlations of coronary plaque composition determined by virtual histology (VH) intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and blood levels of biomarkers that represent the vulnerability of coronary plaques. MATERIALS AND METHODS Pre- and postprocedural blood levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein, soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L), matrix metalloproteinase-9, and neopterin we...

OBJECTIVE Cytokines have been reported to have key roles in major depressive disorder (MDD). However, much less is known about cytokines in MDD and antidepressant treatment due to the diversity of cytokines and the heterogeneity of depression. We investigated the levels of cytokines in patients with MDD compared with healthy subjects and their associations with antidepressant response. METHOD...

Blood platelets link the processes of haemostasis and inflammation. This study examined the immunomodulatory factors released by platelets after Toll-Like Receptor 4 (TLR4) engagement on their surfaces. Monoclonal anti-human FcgammaRII Ab (IV.3)-treated human platelets were cultured with TLR4 ligands in the presence or absence of blocking monoclonal antibody to human TLR4. The release of sCD62p...

Despite the use of anti-retroviral therapies, a majority of HIV-infected individuals still develop HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders (HAND), indicating that host inflammatory mediators, in addition to viral proteins, may be contributing to these disorders. Consistently, we have previously shown that levels of the inflammatory mediator soluble CD40L (sCD40L) are elevated in the circulation...