Mehrdad Shavandi; Yasaman Yazdani; Shirin Asar; Arash Mohammadi; Ehsan Mohammadi-noori; Amir Kiani
Abstract
Background: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a systemic chronic autoimmune disease. Several inflammatory agents play key roles in RA pathogenesis, among which tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) are of great importance. Silymarin is a potent anti-oxidant extracted ...
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Background: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a systemic chronic autoimmune disease. Several inflammatory agents play key roles in RA pathogenesis, among which tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) are of great importance. Silymarin is a potent anti-oxidant extracted from Silybummarianum L. seeds. Objective: To study the effect of silymarin on serum levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in patients with RA. Methods: Patients with stable RA received 140 mg of silymarin, 3 times a day, for 3 months. Serum samples were collected before and after the treatment. Both TNF-α and IL-1β serum levels were measured by ELISA. Results: 42 patients (14.3% male, and 85.7% female, with a mean age of 47.59±12.8 years old) completed the treatment course. There was no significant difference in the overall mean concentration of either TNF-α (p=0.14) or IL-1β (p=0.27) in all 42 patients after the treatment with silymarin. Conclusion: The addition of silymarin to the treatment regimen of patients with stable RA has no significant effect on the serum levels of TNF-α and IL-1β, however, this study needs further evaluation with a larger sample size.
Al- Shaimaa Mohsen Sadek; Alya Mohammad Mashaal; Rasha Aly Ahmed El Sayed
Mohammad Motamedifar; Jamal Sarvari; Azin Ebrahimpour; Amir Emami
Volume 12, Issue 1 , March 2015, , Pages 27-34
Abstract
Background: Herpes simplex viruses (HSV) are human pathogens that establish lytic and latent infections. Reactivation from latency occurs intermittently, which represents a life-long source for recurrent infection. The role of immune factors in the control of recurrent symptomatic HSV lesions is complex ...
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Background: Herpes simplex viruses (HSV) are human pathogens that establish lytic and latent infections. Reactivation from latency occurs intermittently, which represents a life-long source for recurrent infection. The role of immune factors in the control of recurrent symptomatic HSV lesions is complex and the exact role of cytokines remains unclear. Objective: To assess the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) along with anti-herpetic IgG and IgM, in the symptomatic reactivation of HSV infection. Methods: Thirty-six patients with recurrent symptomatic herpes infection were selected as the study group and thirty-two healthy individuals with no history of symptomatic labial herpes infection enrolled as the control group. Skin swabs were obtained from lip and skin lesions for viral culture. Confirmation of HSV cytopathic effect was carried out using PCR assay. The levels of TNF-α, IL-10, IgG and IgM were measured using ELISA. Results: The level of TNF-α was significantly lower in individuals with recurrent symptomatic herpes infection in comparison with the controls (p=0.04). Also a significant elevation was observed in the levels of specific IgG in patients compared to controls (p<0.05). Conclusion: The decreased level of TNF-α and increased levels of IgG in individuals with a history of symptomatic reactivation of HSV infection is suggestive of a probable shift in favor of the Th2 immune response.
Keyvan AMirshahrokhi; Mahmoud Ghazi-khansari; Ahmad Mohammadi-Farani; Golnar Karimian
Volume 7, Issue 4 , December 2010, , Pages 247-251
Abstract
Background: The renin-angiotensin system has an important role in hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Renin-angiotensin system blockade by angiotensinconverting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors provides some protective effects against hepatic fibrogenesis. Captopril as an ACE inhibitor can decrease inflammatory ...
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Background: The renin-angiotensin system has an important role in hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Renin-angiotensin system blockade by angiotensinconverting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors provides some protective effects against hepatic fibrogenesis. Captopril as an ACE inhibitor can decrease inflammatory mediators and attenuate hepatic fibrosis in the livers of bile duct ligated (BDL) rats. Objective: The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of captopril on cytokine production in hepatic fibrosis induced by a bile duct ligation model in rats. Methods: Male rats were divided into four groups including; control, sham operated, BDL, and BDL plus captopril (10 mg/kg/day, orally). After 28 days of treatment, the livers were removed for cytokine analysis. Hepatic interleukin (IL)-10 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α levels were measured. Results: Captopril treatment decreased the hepatic content of the proinflammatory cytokine TNF-α and increased the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Conclusion: the present study suggests that the protective effect of captopril on hepatic fibrosis is likely to be mediated by cytokine production.
Saeid Abediankenari; Yousef Yousedzadeh; Hossein Azadeh; Mohammad Vahedi
Volume 7, Issue 2 , June 2010, , Pages 83-87
Abstract
Background: Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen presenting cells that have an important role in the initiation of immune response. The use of maturation factors in dendritic cell differentiation provides a promising approach in immunotherapy. Objective: In this study, we compared tumor necrosis ...
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Background: Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen presenting cells that have an important role in the initiation of immune response. The use of maturation factors in dendritic cell differentiation provides a promising approach in immunotherapy. Objective: In this study, we compared tumor necrosis factor-α, polyribocytidylic acid, lipopolysacharide and CpG oligonucleotides in inducing dendritic cell maturation. Methods: We generated immature dendritic cells with GM-CSF in combination with IL-4 from peripheral blood mononuclear adherent cells and used tumor necrosis factor-α, polyribocytidylic acid, lipopolysacharide and CpG for the induction of dendritic cell maturation. CD83 maturation marker on the dendritic cells was analyzed by flowcytometry after 7 days. In addition, mixed leukocyte reaction between dendritic cells and T cells was performed by MTT proliferation assay. Results: Flow cytometry results demonstrated a comparable high level of CD83 expression on the mature dendritic cells generated by TNF-α, CpG, Poly I:C, and LPS treatment of the immature dendritic cells. However, a significantly poorer proliferation of lymphocytes cocultured with the Poly I:C-treated DCs was observed compared to the CpG-treated DCs in mixed leukocyte reaction (p=0.026). Conversely, a significantly stronger proliferation of lymphocytes was observed when cocultured with TNF-α-treated DCs compared to the LPS-treated DCs (p=0.025). Conclusion: Our results indicated that all of studied maturation inducing factors can be used in DC maturation but TNF-α and CpG were the preferred in vitro maturation factors. It is concluded that maturation of dendritic cells by CpG motif and TNF-α can be used to regulate immune responses.
Marzieh Ebrahimi; Zuhair Mohammad Hassan; Jamshid Hadjati; Parisa Hayat; Seyed Mohammad Moazzeni
Volume 6, Issue 3 , September 2009, , Pages 107-118
Abstract
Background: Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is a primary mediator of immune regulation and might be required in the early stages of DC development from CD34+ cells. However, details of optimal timing of exposure to TNF-α in DC development process in monocytes or non-purified hematopoitic ...
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Background: Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is a primary mediator of immune regulation and might be required in the early stages of DC development from CD34+ cells. However, details of optimal timing of exposure to TNF-α in DC development process in monocytes or non-purified hematopoitic cells are still lacking and clear benefits of this approach to the development of DCs remain to be validated. Objective: To evaluate the effect of early and late exposure to TNF-α on DC devel-opment from non-purified cord blood mononuclear cells. Methods: To define the ef-fects of early exposure to TNF-α on cord blood mononuclear cells, we cultured UCB-MNC in the presence of SCF, Flt3L, GM-CSF and IL-4 for 14 days and matured them for an extra 4 days. TNF-α was added on day 0, 7 and 14 in TNF-α + group, and only on day 14 in TNF-α - group where it was used only as a maturation factor. Results: Immediate exposure to TNF-α was shown to: (1) enhance the survival of cells in the first week of culture; (2) produce mature DCs with higher maturation markers (CD80, CD83, CD86 and HLA-DR); and (3) increase secretion of IL-12 by mature DCs. In contrast, delayed exposure to TNF-α stimulate mature DCs with less purity producing a high level of IL-10 and a low level of IL-12. Conclusion: We developed a simple, easy and cost effective method to generate DCs from non-fractionating mononuclear cells in this study. Also we confirm the presence of a large number of functional DCs under inflammatory conditions, where local concentrations of TNF-α were high.
Mojgan Mohammadi; Mohammad Reza Bazrafshani; Philip.J Day; William. E.R. Ollier
Volume 6, Issue 3 , September 2009, , Pages 119-129
Abstract
Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has a key role in angiogene-sis and in transplantation. The level of VEGF is related to the differences in the DNA sequence of its promoter region. Objectives: In this study, the association between the combination of VEGF –1154 G and –2578 ...
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Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has a key role in angiogene-sis and in transplantation. The level of VEGF is related to the differences in the DNA sequence of its promoter region. Objectives: In this study, the association between the combination of VEGF –1154 G and –2578 C alleles and VEGF production by LPS-stimulated PBMCs was investigated. In addition; the relationship between VEGF poly-morphisms and the influence of TNF-α and IL-4 on VEGF production was studied. Methods: VEGF –1154 G/A and –2578 C/A were detected using ARMS-PCR. To de-termine the impact of combinations of these two polymorphisms on VEGF production; PBMCs were stimulated by LPS and VEGF production was measured by ELISA. Re-sults: The combinations of –1154 GG/-2578 CC and –1154 GG/-2578 CA were signifi-cantly associated with higher VEGF production (p<0.0001). Production of VEGF was significantly influenced by TNF-α in individuals who had certain VEGF genotype com-binations. Although VEGF production was dramatically suppressed by IL-4, it was not dependent on VEGF genotype. Conclusions: Since TNF-α has influence on the graft outcome, to avoid allocation of grafts from high TNF-α producer donors to recipients, it might be useful to predict and minimize graft rejection by having prior knowledge of TNF-α and also VEGF genotypes especially -1154 G/A and -2578 C/A VEGF.
Ali Asghar Ebrahimi; Hamid Noshad; Shahram Sadreddini; Mohammad Saeid Hejazi; Yashar Mohammadzadeh Sadigh; Yashar Eshraghi; Morteza Ghojazadeh
Volume 6, Issue 3 , September 2009, , Pages 147-153
Abstract
Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic multisystem autoimmune disease common in all races and ethnics. Cytokines and cytokines receptors play an important role in RA pathogenesis and clinical presentation. Objective: To investigate the serum levels of TNF-α, TNF-α RI, TNF-α ...
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Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic multisystem autoimmune disease common in all races and ethnics. Cytokines and cytokines receptors play an important role in RA pathogenesis and clinical presentation. Objective: To investigate the serum levels of TNF-α, TNF-α RI, TNF-α RII and IL-12 in RA patients and healthy control group. Methods: In this study 43 patients fulfilling the revised criteria of American College of Rheumatology (ACR) for RA and 13 healthy cases as a control group were selected for TNF-α, TNF-αRI, TNF-αRII and IL-12 serum level analysis. The patients' age was 42.2 ± 22 and the age of healthy group was 40.1 ± 19.2 years (p=0.1). The pa-tients had an active disease with at least six swollen and ten tender joints. Minimum ESR was 28 mm at first hours of the morning. Early morning stiffness in patients lasted longer than 45 minutes. Results: Our study showed that IL-12 serum level of the pa-tients (91.69 ± 43.07 ρg/ml) and control (61.79 ± 40.08 ρg/ml) group was significantly different (p<0.001). The serum level of TNF-αRI was 2.36 ± 0.77 ng/ml in the patient and 1.73 ± 0.37 ng/ml in the control group (p<0.01). TNF-αRII serum concentration in patients was 8.89 ± 2.3 ng/ml, while that of control group was 7.06±1.30 ng/ml (p=0.03). The serum level of TNF-α in patients was 32.90 ± 19.27 ρg/ml and that of the control group was 24.27± 8.28 ρg/ml (p=0.08) with no significant difference between the two. Conclusions: It is concluded that IL-12, TNF-αRI and TNF- αRII serum con-centrations are more important and better predictive factors than TNF-α in RA course and in the active forms of the disease.
Kazem Ahmadi; Majid Riazipour
Volume 5, Issue 3 , September 2008, , Pages 177-180
Abstract
Background: T-2 toxin is a mycotoxin of type A trichothecenes produced by several fungal genera such as Fusarium species. Mycotoxins can affect both cell mediated and humoral immune compartments. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investi-gate the effect of T-2 toxin on cytokine production by ...
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Background: T-2 toxin is a mycotoxin of type A trichothecenes produced by several fungal genera such as Fusarium species. Mycotoxins can affect both cell mediated and humoral immune compartments. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investi-gate the effect of T-2 toxin on cytokine production by mouse peritoneal macrophages and lymph node T cells. Methods: Mouse peritoneal macrophages and lymph node T cells were isolated and treated with different concentrations of T-2 toxin and incubated at 370C and 5% CO2 in air for 48 hours. Cell free media were removed and used for cy-tokine assay by an ELISA method. Results: T-2 toxin significantly reduced IL-1β re-lease in a concentration dependent manner (p<0.005, p<0.001). Interleukin-12 and TNF-α production were significantly increased in response to 0.001ng/ml, 0.01ng/ml and 0.1ng/ml of T-2 toxin (p<0.001). However, T-2 toxin at higher concentrations rang-ing from 1ng/ml to 100ng/ml, reduced both IL-12 (p<0.001) and TNF-α production (p<0.005, p<0.05). The effects of T-2 toxin on lymph node T cells showed that IL-4 and IL-10 release was decreased in a concentration dependent manner (all with p<0.01). T-2 toxin at concentrations between 1ng/ml and 100ng/ml reduced the release of both IL-2 and IFN-γ (p<0.05, p<0.001). Conclusion: The results suggest that T-2 toxin at low concentrations can highly induce secretion of IL-12, TNF-α, IFN-γ and IL-2 and it may be used as a positive immunomodulator in the human model.
Hojjatollah Shokri; Farzad Asadi; Ali Reza Bahonar; Ali Reza Khosravi
Volume 3, Issue 4 , December 2006, , Pages 164-168
Abstract
Background: Herbal medicines have been used since ancient times for treatment of a range of diseases and have represented stimulatory effects on the function of innate immunity. Objective: To evaluate the effects of Zataria multiflora (Z. multiflora) on the function of innate immunity including phagocytic ...
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Background: Herbal medicines have been used since ancient times for treatment of a range of diseases and have represented stimulatory effects on the function of innate immunity. Objective: To evaluate the effects of Zataria multiflora (Z. multiflora) on the function of innate immunity including phagocytic activity and TNF-α secretion in animal model. Methods: Eight BALB/c mice were divided into two equal groups. In group A, Z. multiflora essence was injected intraperitoneally to the mice, in group B, distilled water was injected. Blood was obtained from 4 mice in each group, 4 and 7 days following injection. The amounts of phagocytosis (respiratory burst) and TNF-α secretion were assessed by chemiluminescence and ELISA method, respectively. Results: Significant increase in phagocytosis and TNF-α secretion was observed in group A compared with the control group at days 4 and 7. Conclusion: Z. multiflora essence can remarkably stimulate innate immunity function and it may be used to immunize individuals alone or in combination with other immunostimulatory agents.
Mehdi Hassanzadeh; Reza Faridhosseini; Marjane Mahini; Farhad Faridhosseini; Alireza Ranjbar
Volume 3, Issue 3 , September 2006, , Pages 142-145
Abstract
Background: Selenium (Se) is part of the glutathione peroxidase enzyme complex (GSH-PX) that plays an important role in antioxidant mechanisms in body, also it has been demonstrated that populations with low Se intake have 2-3 times greater risk of ischemic heart disease. Objective: To determine the ...
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Background: Selenium (Se) is part of the glutathione peroxidase enzyme complex (GSH-PX) that plays an important role in antioxidant mechanisms in body, also it has been demonstrated that populations with low Se intake have 2-3 times greater risk of ischemic heart disease. Objective: To determine the circulating levels of IL- 6, TNF-α, Cu, Zn, and Se in patients with chronic coronary artery disease (CCAD), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and normal individuals. Methods: Patients were divided into two groups: 25 subjects with CCAD and 25 patients with AMI. The control group included 50 normal individuals who did not have any history of ischemic heart disease, and were sex and age matched with the patients. Blood samples were collected during the first hours after the onset of chest pain in AMI group. Serum concentration of Se, Cu, and Zn were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry and TNF-α and IL-6 levels were measured using ELISA method. Results: In both groups of patients there was a significant reduction in serum Se levels (82.36 + 11.31 mg/L in CCAD, 74.08+11.31mg/L in AMI, and 105+32.52mg/L in the control group, P=0.03). TNF-α titers were increased in AMI patients compared with CCAD and control group. Mean TNF-α levels were 37.44 pg/ml in CCAD, 914.32 pg/ml in AMI, and 4.80 pg/ml in the control group (P=0.01). Serum levels of IL-6 in CCAD and AMI patients were 3.28 ±15.55 pg/ml and 472±207.88 pg/ml, respectively, and 1.28 pg/ml in the control group (P=0.001). Conclusion: These findings confirm previous studies and demonstrate that patients suffering from AMI exhibit lower plasma concentrations of Se and higher concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines of TNF-α and IL-6.
