Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a low-grade inflammatory state with increased serum levels of TNFα. The present study has compared the inflammatory responses to breast cancer cell lines in women with PCOS with healthy women. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from 50 women with PCOS and 50 healthy controls were cultured in the trans-well co-culture system. These cells were ...

OBJECTIVES To determine if increased T cell responses to articular cartilage link protein have any correlation with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and if RA patients with increased responses to link protein also respond to a 17 amino acid peptide covering the 'arthritogenic' epitope in mycobacterial hsp65 which is homologous with link protein. METHODS The reactivity of T cells from both periphera...

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA levels in whole-blood samples of 54 pediatric patients receiving T-cell-depleted haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in 2003 to 2007 were retrospectively compared with EBV DNA loads in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Determination of EBV DNA in whole blood missed 1 of 19 patients (5.2%), who tested positive for EBV DNA in PBMC. T...

T-cell molecular mimicry between streptococcal and heart proteins has been proposed as the triggering factor leading to autoimmunity in rheumatic heart disease (RHD). We searched for immunodominant T-cell M5 epitopes among RHD patients with defined clinical outcomes and compared the T-cell reactivities of peripheral blood and intralesional T cells from patients with severe RHD. The role of HLA ...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to estimate the production of interleukin-15 (IL-15) by neutrophils (PMNs) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) confronted with the serum levels of IL-15 in patients with Lyme disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS PMN and PBMC were isolated from heparinized whole blood of patients. The cells were incubated for 18 hs at 37 degrees C in a humidified incubator ...

A new synthetic compound, 6-hydroxy-2-tosylisoquinolin-1(2H)-one (2-OH), was selected for immunopharmacological activity tests. The effects of 2-OH on human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation were determined by tritiated thymidine uptake. Compared to phytohemagglutinin (PHA; 5 microg/mL) stimulation, 2-OH significantly enhanced PBMC proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. ...

Our previous studies showed that α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAchR) agonist nicotine has stimulatory effects on murine bone marrow-derived semimature DCs, but the effect of nicotine on peripheral blood mononuclear cell- (PBMC-) derived human semimature dendritic cells (hu-imDCs) is still to be clarified. In the present study, hu-imDCs (cultured 4 days) were conferred with  ex vivo lowe...

Background: The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is important in hematopoiesis. Despite the central role of mTOR in regulating the differentiation of immune cells, the effect of mTOR function on cord blood mononuclear cells is yet to be defined. Objectives: To evaluate the effect of mTOR inhibition, using rapamycin on the proliferation and apoptosis of cord blood mononuclear cells, as well ...

Human amniotic membrane-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hAM-MSCs) are capable of differentiating into several lineages and possess immunomodulatory properties. In this study, we investigated the soluble factor-mediated immunomodulatory effects of hAM-MSCs. Mitogen-induced peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation was suppressed by hAM-MSCs in a dose-dependent manner as well as hAM-...