Properdin, complement, and magnesium ions constitute the recognized components of the properdin system (1, 2). This system, which is present in the normal serum of man and other mammals, has the ability in vitro to lyse certain cells, destroy bacteria, and inactivate viruses, and appears to be involved in the resistance or susceptibility of experimental animals to infection, irradiation, and sh...

Background Caloric restriction is associated with broad therapeutic potential in various diseases and an increase in health and life span. In this study, we assessed the impact of caloric restriction on acute and inflammatory nociception in mice, which were either fed ad libitum or subjected to caloric restriction with 80% of the daily average for two weeks. Results The behavioral tests revea...

Interstitial collagenase (MMP-1), a metalloproteinase produced by resident and inflammatory cells during connective tissue turnover, cleaves type I collagen fibrils. This catalytic event is rate limiting in remodeling of tissues rich in fibrillar collagen such as the skin and lungs. The regulation of collagenase expression is cell-type specific; bacterial LPS and zymosan, a yeast cell wall deri...

In major systemic inflammation such as severe peritonitis, various pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta and IL-6, play important roles in the development of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). The purpose of this study was to investigate the outflow of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines from the efferent mesenteric lymphatic vessels under peritonitis. M...

PURPOSE To investigate the efficacy and mechanism of tacrolimus(FK506), which is a novel macrolide immunosuppressant, in inhibiting triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) expression in a murine keratitis model induced by Aspergillus fumigatus. METHOD TREM-1 was detected in 11 fungus-infected human corneas by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). RAW264.7 macrophages were di...

Carlsson, Ola, and Bengt Rippe. Peritoneal lymphatic absorption and solute exchange during zymosan-induced peritonitis in the rat. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Heart Circ. Physiol. 46): H1107–H1112, 1999.—Lymph flow is elevated in most inflammatory conditions. However, a few previous studies have indicated that peritoneal lymph flow may actually fall during acute peritonitis. This study was performed t...

Recent evidence has suggested that a particulate O(2) (-)-forming system is responsible for the respiratory burst in activated neutrophils. The respiratory burst is normally a transient event, lasting only 30-60 min. To investigate the mechanism by which the burst is terminated, we examined the O(2) (-)-forming activity of neutrophil particles as a function of time in the presence and absence o...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the effect of amiloride on portal hypertension. Amiloride is known to inhibit Na(+)/H(+) exchangers on activated hepatic stellate cells. METHODS Liver cirrhosis in rats was induced by bile duct ligation (BDL) or thioacetamide (TAA) administration. The effects of zymosan for Kupffer cell (KC) activation or a thromboxane (TX) analogue (U46619) were test...

Human pulmonary macrophages (PM) obtained from surgically removed human lung tissue released a factor after exposure to activated zymosan that caused cultured human airways to release increased amounts of radiolabeled mucous glycoproteins. The factor was released maximally after 4-8 h of zymosan exposure and caused a dose-related increase in glycoprotein release; it was termed macrophage-derive...

During the process of phagocytosis, polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) release lysosomal enzymes into the extracellular medium. When the antibiotic cytochalasin B (CB) is present in the incubation medium along with phagocytable particles, enhanced recovery of enzyme activities from the incubation medium has been observed. These findings have led to the interpretation that CB enhances lysosomal ...