OBJECTIVE To characterise the effect of interleukin-4 (IL-4) on the biosynthesis of cyclo-oxygenases I (COX I) and II (COX II), the rate limiting enzymes of the synthesis of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), in freshly prepared rheumatoid synovial cells. METHODS Adherent synovial cells were obtained from rheumatoid synovium by collagenase digestion. The concentrations of PGE2 in culture supernatants w...

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of glucosamine-chondroitin sulphate combination on internal derangements of temporomandibular joint in clinical and biochemical manners. MATERIAL AND METHODS This randomized clinical study included 31 cases reporting joint tenderness, in which disc displacement was detected on MR imaging. In all patients, synovial fluid sampl...

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) acts in synergy with other inflammatory stimuli such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) to induce the maturation of migratory-type monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs). However, PGE2 has been reported to inhibit IL-12p70 production by MoDCs and to promote the generation of Th2 T cell responses. We demonstrate here that the addition of PGE2 to TNF for the maturation of Mo...

Bone loss around replacement prostheses may be related to the activation of mononuclear phagocytes (MNP) by prosthetic wear particles. We investigated how osteoblast-like cells were regulated by human MNP stimulated by particles of prosthetic material. Particles of titanium-6-aluminium-4-vanadium (TiAIV) stimulated MNP to release interleukin (IL)-1beta, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)alpha, IL-6 a...

Betel quid (BQ) chewing is an etiologic factor of oral cancer and submucus fibrosis (OSF). Keratinocyte inflammation is crucial for the pathogenesis of cancer and tissue fibrosis. We found that areca nut (AN) extract (100-400 micro g/ml) induced PGE2 production by KB cells by 2.34- to 23.1-fold and also TNF-alpha production by gingival keratinocytes (GK). Arecoline (0.2-1.2 mM) elevated PGE2 pr...

Prostaglandin E synthase (PGES) including isoenzymes of membrane-associated PGES (mPGES)-1, mPGES-2, and cytosolic PGES (cPGES) is the recently identified terminal enzyme of the arachidonic acid cascade. PGES converts prostaglandin (PG)H2 to PGE2 downstream of cyclooxygenase (COX). We investigated the expression of PGES isoenzyme in articular chondrocytes from patients with osteoarthritis (OA)....

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) plays an important role in Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Therefore, targeting COX-2 alone or in combination with other therapeutic agents may be a potential new effective treatment for patients with CCA. This study aimed to investigate whether Interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor antibody could enhance the inhibitory effects of NS-398, a selective COX-2 inhibitor, on CCA cell prol...

NF-kappaB transcription factors regulate inflammatory responses to cytokines such as IL-1beta and TNF-alpha. We tested whether PGE2 regulated nuclear localization of individual NF-kappaB subunits, p65 and p50, in synovial fibroblasts harvested from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). IL-1beta/TNF-alpha stimulated the translocation of p65 and p50 from the cytosol to the nucleus of human RA ...

C19 steroids are converted to estrogens by aromatase P450 (P450arom). Aromatase expression in humans is regulated by use of tissue-specific promoters in the placenta (promoter I.1), adipose tissue (promoters I.4, I.3, and II), and gonads (promoter II). The use of each promoter gives rise to a population of P450arom messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) species with a unique untranslated 5'-terminus...

Oxymatrine, a potent monosomic alkaloid extracted from Chinese herb Sophora japonica (Sophora flavescens Ait.). possesses anti-inflammatory activittyes.  This study was designed to investigate the effects of oxymatrine on nuclear factor–kappa B (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-dependent inflammatory responses in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated microglia. In this paper, BV2...