TLR have emerged as important primary sensors for diverse stimuli and are increasingly implicated in various diseases. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of the TLR system remain poorly understood. In this study, we report that some PGs may control TLR-mediated inflammatory events through modulation of TLR2 expression in brain immune cells. We first found that 15-deoxy-...

Mechanisms leading to down-regulation of activated microglia and astrocytes are poorly understood, in spite of the potentially detrimental role of activated glia in neurodegeneration. Prostaglandins, produced both by neurons and glia, may serve as mediators of glial and neuronal functions. We examined the influence of cyclopentenone prostaglandins and their precursors on activated glia. As mode...

OBJECTIVE Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) ligands reduce lesion formation in animal models of atherosclerosis by mechanisms that have not been defined completely. We hypothesized that PPARgamma ligands stimulate endothelial-derived nitric oxide release (*NO) to protect the vascular wall. METHODS AND RESULTS The PPARgamma ligands, 15-deoxy-Delta(12,14)-prostaglandi...

Objective—We recently reported that the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR ) ligands 15-deoxyprostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2) and ciglitazone increased cultured endothelial cell nitric oxide (NO) release without increasing the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). The current study was designed to characterize further the molecular mechanisms underlying PPAR -ligand–s...

The lipid products derived from the cyclooxygenase pathway can have diverse and often contrasting effects on vascular cell function. Cyclopentenone prostaglandins (cyPGs), such as 15-deoxy-prostaglandin-J2 (15d-PGJ2), a peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor(PPAR ) agonist, have been reported to cause endothelial cell apoptosis, yet in other cell types, cyPGs induce cytoprotective mediators...

BACKGROUND Prostaglandins (PGs), lipid autacoids derived from arachidonic acid, play a pivotal role during inflammation. PGD₂ synthase is abundantly expressed in heart tissue and PGD₂ has recently been found to induce cardiomyocyte apoptosis. PGD₂ is an unstable prostanoid metabolite; therefore the objective of the present study was to elucidate whether its final dehydration product, 15-deoxy-Δ...

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) appear to have no connection with cancers. In the view of cell death, however, common ground can be found between neuronal and non-neuronal diseases [1]. AD and PD are ascribed to the cell death of neurons, which should be alive under healthy conditions. In contrast, cancers are attributed to the proliferat...

BACKGROUND Several quality-of-life studies in patients awaiting major joint replacement have focused on the outcomes of surgery. Interest in examining patients on the elective waiting list has increased since the beginning of 2000. We assessed health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients waiting for total hip (THR) or knee (TKR) replacement in three Finnish hospitals, and compared patient...

Chronic noncancer pain is a prevalent problem associated with poor quality of life. While symptom burden is frequently mentioned in the literature and clinical settings, this research highlights the considerable negative impact of chronic pain on the individual. The 15D, a measure of health-related quality of life (HRQOL), is a user-friendly tool with good psychometric properties. Using a modif...