Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II engagement by toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1) transduces signals leading to proinflammatory cytokine gene expression (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-alpha]) in human monocytes. To study the proinflammatory role of MHC class II molecules expressed by bronchial epithelial cells (BEC), primary human BEC were isolated from surgical bronchial s...

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a systemic vasculitis syndrome with predisposition for infants under four years of age, the cause which remains unclear. A few cases KD have been reported in undergoing burn treatment. Although toxic shock toxin-1 (TSST-1) produced by Staphylococcus aureus at wound site thought to be involved pathogenesis KD, no case has detected was confirmed non-producer TSST-1. In th...

OBJECTIVE Although the incidence of reported cases of toxic shock syndrome (TSS) has declined in recent years, the disease continues to occur in menstruating women using the newer, less-absorbent tampons or barrier contraceptives. Extant tampons and other vaginal devices were tested for the ability to induce TSS toxin-1 (TSST-1) by a TSS strain of Staphylococcus aureus MN8, a known high-toxin p...

Despite knowledge of the effects of toxic shock syndrome (TSS) toxin 1 (TSST-1) on the adaptive immune system, little is known about stimulation of the innate immune system, particularly epithelial cells. This study investigated the interactions of TSS Staphylococcus aureus and TSST-1 with human vaginal epithelial cells (HVECs) and porcine mucosal surfaces. When cocultured with HVECs for 6 h, T...

Perforin (PRF1) is essential for immune surveillance and studies report decreased perforin in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), an illness potentially associated with stress and/or infection. We hypothesize that stress can influence regulation of PRF1 expression, and that this regulation will differ between CFS and non-fatigued (NF) controls. We used the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) as a stand...

The "Trier Social Stress Test" (TSST) is one of the most prominent laboratory stress paradigms. It is often used to investigate the effects of stress on cognitive or affective parameters. Such studies need a non-stress control condition. However, control conditions currently employed are often rather ill defined and do not parallel important modulating variables, e.g., physical or cognitive loa...

High mobility group box-1 (HMGB-1) is a DNA-binding protein secreted by activated monocytes and has been identified as a key late mediator of endotoxic shock. We investigated the regulation of HMGB-1 in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) following stimulation with the staphylococcal superantigen, toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), and found that TSST-1, like LPS, induced the s...

It has been well established that bacterial superantigens lead to the induction and aggravation of chronic inflammatory skin diseases. We investigated the clinical significance of serum specific immunoglobulin E (lgE) to the staphylococcal superantigens staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA), staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), and toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST)-1 in patients with chronic urtica...

Validated biological and psychological markers of acute stress in humans are an important tool in translational research. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), involving public interview and mental arithmetic performance, is among the most popular methods of inducing acute stress in experimental settings, and reliably increases hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation. However, although mu...