The cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is regarded as a major regulator of inflammation and a key mediator that counter-regulates the inhibitory effects of glucocorticoids within the immune system. Therefore, MIF is a therapeutic target for the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. In addition, MIF was found to be implicated in cancer pathogenesis. Current therap...

BACKGROUND Diabetes has been regarded as an inflammatory condition which is associated with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD). The purpose of this study was to examine the expression levels of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) in patients with early diabetic cardiomyopathy, and to investigate the mechanisms involved in MIF ex...

We investigated the serum macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) levels of palmoplantar pustulosis patients, before and after the tonsillar provocation test. Higher serum MIF levels of palmoplantar pustulosis patients were decreased after the tonsillar provocation test (n=29). To confirm these phenomena, two patients with acute tonsillitis had their changes in body temperature, C-reactive...

BACKGROUND Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is essential for controlling parasite burden and survival in a model of systemic Toxoplasma gondii infection. Peroral T. gondii infection induces small intestine necrosis and death in susceptible hosts, and in many aspects resembles inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Considering the critical role of MIF in the pathogenesis of IBD, we hypoth...

The protein known as macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) was one of the first cytokines to be discovered and was described 30 years ago to be a T-cell-derived factor that inhibited the random migration of macrophages in vitro. A much broader role for MIF has emerged recently as a result of studies that have demonstrated it to be released from the anterior pituitary gland in vivo. MIF a...

BACKGROUND Numerous studies suggest that inflammation plays a key role in suicidal behavior. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a proinflammatory cytokine, has received increasing attention in depression research. However, no study has investigated whether MIF has genetic involvement in completed suicide. In this study, we sought to explore the relationship between two functional pol...

BACKGROUND Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a key regulator of inflammatory responses, including in the heart. Plasma MIF is elevated early in the course of acute myocardial infarction. In this study, we hypothesized that plasma MIF may also be increased in acute myocardial ischemia. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients undergoing cardiac stress test (stress nuclear myocardial perfusio...

To determine the role of endogenous migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in regulation of immune response during murine cysticercosis caused by the helminth parasite Taenia crassiceps, we analyzed the course of T. crassiceps infection in MIF(-/-) BALB/c mice. MIF(-/-) mice were highly susceptible to T. crassiceps and developed significantly higher parasite loads compared to similarly infected MIF(...

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine and reportedly counteracts the anti-inflammatory effect of endogenous glucocorticoids. There have been only a few reports that demonstrate a potential link between MIF and bronchial asthma. In an attempt to further clarify the precise role of MIF in asthma, we examined the effect of anti-MIF antibody on airway inflammat...

Background: Despite the long-standing association of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) with delayed-type hypersensitivity response, the potential role of MIF in chronic allograft nephropathy is unknown. The association between upregulation of MIF expression, macrophage and T cell infiltration and the severity of chronic allograft nephropathy suggests that MIF may be an important medi...