OBJECTIVE To delineate the mechanisms by which topical interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) treatment promotes orthotopic corneal allograft survival. METHODS Corneal buttons were prepared from eyes of C57BL/6 mice and placed orthotopically in normal or neovascularized (high-risk) eyes of BALB/c mouse recipients. Topical IL-1RA (or vehicle alone) was applied to grafts 3 times daily until...

BACKGROUND The interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) is the principal determinant of IL-1β bioactivity within the IL-1 gene cluster, regulating IL-1α and IL-1β release. This study was designed to determine whether polymorphisms of the IL-1Ra gene (IL1RN) produce clinically measurable differences in serum IL-1Ra concentrations and opioid consumption in the postoperative period. METHODS Op...

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulates interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) gene expression and synthesis in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). IL-1 can also induce PBMC to synthesize IL-1 and TNF alpha. In the present study, we used IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) to determine the relative contribution of an IL-1-positive feedback loop to the total amou...

Pneumonia is a disease causing serious inflammation and infection of the lungs and accounts for >50,000 mortalities annually. The elderly are at an increased risk of developing pneumonia. Pneumonia is more serious in the elderly than in any other age group due to the increased inflammation and risk of community‑acquired pneumonia associated with aging. Interleukin‑1 receptor antagonist (IL‑1RA)...

Interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) is considered an important mediator in the pathogenesis of septic shock or bacterial meningitis. Its activity is specifically modulated by IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) and IL-1 soluble receptor type II (IL-1sRII). We now describe the time-course of IL-1beta and these modulating agents in 59 patients with acute meningococcal infections, the prototype human disea...

BACKGROUND Horses are much predisposed and susceptible to excessive and acute inflammatory responses that cause the recruitment and stimulation of polymorphnuclear granulocytes (PMN) together with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and the release of cytokines. The aim of the study is to develop easy, quick, cheap and reproducible methods for measuring tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)...

In this study, we report a total of 292 mouse embryos cultured on Vero cell monolayers and 77 embryos cultured in medium alone at different preimplantation stages examined individually for embryonic mRNA of beta-actin, interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (icIL-1ra) and interleukin-1 receptor type I (IL-1RtI) using reverse transcription and two-step polymerase chain r...

Introduction Recurrent pericarditis (RP) has a controversial pathogenesis that crosses infectious, auto-immune and auto-inflammatory pathways. It has been suggested that in some cases it might be an unrecognized auto-inflammatory disease. Recent studies have demonstrated that anakinra, an interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA), represents an effective treatment for the control of corticoste...

BACKGROUND Biological activity of interleukin-1 (IL-1) depends on the number and type of IL-1 receptors on target cells and on the amounts of its naturally occurring inhibitor, the IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra). METHODS Expression of IL-1 receptor was studied on the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 20 end-stage renal-disease patients maintained by chronic haemodialysis by means of ei...

OBJECTIVES Interferon beta (IFNβ) therapy is effective in multiple sclerosis and murine models of arthritis. Surprisingly, systemic IFNβ treatment induces only minimal improvement in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To explain this paradox, the authors evaluated the mechanism of IFNβ benefit in passive K/BxN arthritis and the effect of IFNβ treatment on RA synovium. METHODS Interleukin 10 (IL-10) n...