Invasive fungal diseases are a major cause of death in renal allograft recipients. We previously reported that adjunctive recombinant human interferon-γ therapy has clinical utility for invasive fungal diseases after renal transplantation. We have now developed a rapid peripheral blood-based quantitative real-time PCR assay that enables accurate profiling of cytokine imbalances. Our preliminary...

Tuberculosis (TB) cellular immune responses were examined in the breast milk of human immunodeficiency virus infected mothers using the T-SPOT. TB interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA). Positive TB interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) responses were detected in 6 of 8 (75%) valid breast milk assays. Among 7 mothers with paired breast milk and blood assays, TB IFN-γ responses were higher in breast milk than...

Buruli ulcer (BU), caused by infection with Mycobacterium ulcerans, is a chronic necrotizing human skin disease associated with the production of the cytotoxic macrolide exotoxin mycolactone. Despite extensive research, the type of immune responses elicited against this pathogen and the effector functions conferring protection against BU are not yet fully understood. While histopathological ana...

it is now well documented that interferon gamma (ifn-γ) is the indispensable cytokine for inducing protective immunity against experimental and human cutaneous leishmaniaisis. the importance of ifn-γ receptor (ifn-γr) has also been studied. in the present study, we made attempts to find out whether l. major infection is able to alter the expression of ifn-γr in vivo. in addition, we studied the...

introduction: cytokines are a large group of proteins play a key role in inflammation. down-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines has beneficial effect on heart function. propranolol, as a non selective beta-adrenergic blocker, has been extensively used for treatment of many cardiovascular problems such as arrhythmias and heart malfunction. in addition anti-inflammatory effects of propranolo...