Secretion,blood levels and cutaneous expression of TL1A in psoriasis patients

TL1A is a TNF‐like cytokine which has been shown to co‐stimulate TH1 and TH17 responses during chronic inflammation. The expression of this novel cytokine has been investigated in inflammatory disorders like rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, but little is known about expression and induction in psoriasis. Indeed, the pathogenesis in psoriasis is still not fully understood and it is speculated that cytokines other than TNF‐α are important in subsets of patients. Also, for patients with severe disease that are treated with systemic anti‐TNF‐α blockade, novel candidates to be used as disease and response biomarkers are of high interest. Here, we demonstrate TL1A expression in biopsies from psoriatic lesions. Also, we investigated spontaneous and induced TL1A secretion from PBMCs and blood levels from a cohort of psoriasis patients. Here, increased spontaneous secretion from PBMCs was observed as compared to healthy controls and a small subset of patients had highly elevated TL1A in the blood. Interestingly, activation of PBMCs with various cytokines showed a decreased sensitivity for TL1A activation in psoriasis patients compared to healthy controls.TL1A levels in blood and biopsies could not be correlated with disease activity with this patient cohort. Thus, additional large‐scale studies are warranted to investigate TL1A as a biomarker.     

Focal peritubular capillary C4d deposition in acute rejection.

BACKGROUND: Diffuse peritubular capillary (PTC) C4d deposition has been shown to be associated with relatively poor graft outcome. The significance of focal PTC C4d staining in the early post-transplant period is uncertain. METHODS: Sixty-five biopsies from 53 patients with acute rejection were graded (Banff '97 criteria), stained for C4d, monocytes and T cells, and divided into three groups according to PTC C4d: (i) focal C4d (F) (14 biopsies, 14 patients), (ii) diffuse C4d (D) (23 biopsies, 15 patients) and (iii) no C4d (N) (28 biopsies, 24 patients). The three groups were compared with respect to a variety of biopsy and clinical parameters including outcome. RESULTS: The incidence of transplant glomerulitis and glomerular monocyte infiltration were significantly greater in F (64% and 2.0+/-2.0) and D (57% and 3.4+/-2.0) than in N (11% and 0.2+/-0.2). A significantly higher proportion of F (93%) demonstrated acute cellular rejection (Banff '97 grade > or = 1A) than did D (35%). The F and D groups included significantly more females (50 and 67%, respectively) than did N (21%). The percentage of patients with a second or third transplant was higher in F (29%) and D (40%) than in N (8%) (P = 0.0589). The proportion of patients with glomerular filtration rate < 30 ml/min at 12, 24 and 48 months was higher in the D and F groups than in the N, and there was a statistically significant increasing trend in odds of this outcome occurring at 48 months across the three groups (D > F > N group) (P = 0.0416). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the biopsy findings and clinical course in patients with focal PTC C4d staining are similar to those associated with diffuse C4d.     

Lipid extract from completely sporoderm‐broken germinating Ganoderma sinensis spores elicits potent antitumor immune responses in human macrophages

Ganoderma sinensis has been used widely in Oriental countries for the prevention and treatment of various diseases including cancer. Previous studies have shown that the lipid extract from Ganoderma exhibits direct cytotoxicity against tumor cells. Here, it is reported that the lipid extract from germinating G. sinensis spores, at lower concentrations that have no direct tumoricidal activity, induce potent antitumor immune responses in human monocytes/macrophages. Upon stimulation with the lipid extract, monocytes/macrophages exhibited markedly increased production of proinflammatory cytokines and surface expression of costimulatory molecules. Conditioned medium from stimulated cells effectively suppressed the growth of tumor cells. Apparently, the lipid extract triggered macrophage activation via a mechanism different from that associated with LPS. Moreover, it was observed that the lipid extract could partially re‐establish the antitumor activity of the immunosuppressive tumor‐associated macrophages. These results indicated that in addition to its direct tumoricidal activity, the lipid extract from G. sinensis spores could exert antitumor activity by stimulating the activation of human monocytes/macrophages. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Cellular Lesion of Humoral Rejection: Predominant Recruitment of Monocytes to Peritubular and Glomerular Capillaries

Accumulation of inflammatory cells within capillaries is a common morphologic feature of humoral renal allograft rejection and is most easily appreciated if it occurs in glomeruli. The aim of our study was to determine the amount and composition of immune cells within glomeruli and peritubular capillaries (PTC) in cellular and humoral allograft rejection. Immunofluorescent double-labeling for CD31 and CD3 or CD68 was used for phenotyping and enumerating immune cells within glomeruli and PTC. The major findings are: (1) accumulation of immune cells in PTC is far more common than it would be anticipated based on the assessment by conventional histology; (2) it is not the absolute number of immune cells accumulating within capillaries, but rather the composition of the intracapillary cell population that distinguishes humoral rejection from cellular rejection and (3) in C4d positive biopsies a predominantly monocytic cell population accumulates not only within glomeruli but also within PTC. The median value of monocyte/T-cell ratio within PTC was 2.3 in C4d positive biopsies but only 1 (p = 0.0008) in C4d negative biopsies. Given their prominent presence within capillaries and their extensive biological versatility monocytes might contribute to the capillary damage observed in acute and chronic allograft rejection.     

哮喘患者CD8+T细胞对单核/巨噬细胞抗原递呈功能的影响

目的：探讨支气管哮喘患者CD8⁺T细胞对单核/巨噬细胞抗原递呈功能的影响。方法：哮喘患者20例，健康对照22例，分别取静脉血5 mL，并分离MΦ、CD8⁺T细胞和B细胞。每份血样分成4组：MΦ递呈抗原组、CD8⁺T细胞参与MΦ递呈抗原组、CD8⁺T细胞体外活化后对MΦ递呈抗原影响组及自然状态下CD8⁺T细胞对MΦ细胞递呈抗原影响组。各组用CTLL₂P抗原刺激18 h后，洗去刺激原，与自体B细胞共同孵育10 d，吸取上清液，测定特异性IgM、IgE、IgG含量。 结果:①哮喘患者MΦ单独递呈抗原，自体B细胞特异性IgM(A490值)（0.034±0.022）明显低于健康人(0.116±0.080)（P<0.05）；CD8⁺T细胞与MΦ共同培养递呈抗原时，产生的特异性IgM(A490值)(0.031±0.021)低于健康人(0.079±0.064)（P<0.05）；②哮喘患者CD8⁺T细胞与MΦ共同培养递呈抗原时，产生的特异性IgG(A490值)(0.102±0.041)明显高于健康人(0.081±0.067)（P<0.05），自然状态下及体外活化后CD8⁺T细胞与递呈抗原MΦ共同培养，产生的特异性IgG(A490值)(0.105±0.066, 0.079±0.059)与健康人(0.066±0.038, 0.069±0.047)无明显差别(P>0.05)；③哮喘患者CD8⁺T细胞与MΦ共同培养递呈抗原产生的特异性IgE(A490值)(0.171±0.154)高于健康人(0.147±0.059)（P<0.05）。 结论:哮喘患者CD8⁺T细胞对MΦ递呈抗原产生免疫球蛋白有调节作用,而且参与哮喘发病。     

Remarkable correlation between increased HLA-DQ antigen positive monocytes and prognosis of renal transplantation

Since cyclosporin A (CsA), a widely used immunosuppressive drug, strongly suppresses interleukin-2 (IL-2) secretion, it is frequently difficult to estimate T lymphocyte activation in early acute rejection. We found that, when evaluated based on HLA-DQ antigen expression, monocyte activation in the peripheral blood of renal transplantation patients was a very sharp parameter in diagosing acute rejection. All of 16 episodes of early acute rejection, which were relatively easily suppressed by steroid pulse therapy, showed a sharp increase in the proportion of HLA-DQ antigen-positive monocytes (DQ⁺ mono) and a quick return of DQ⁺ mono to previous values, along with a fall in serum creatinine levels. Since, however, HLA-DR antigen-positive T lymphocytes (DR ⁺T) were markedly increased over a long period in episodes of therapy-resistant and chronic rejection, their prolonged high value was regarded as a parameter indicative of poor prognosis.     

丙型肝炎患者PBMC的mIL-2R表达及其临床意义

目的 探讨丙型肝炎患mIL-2R表达水平及其临床意义。方法 用生物素-链酶亲和素法对56例抗-HCV阳性患外周血单个核细胞(PBMC)进行植物血凝素(PHA)诱导前后mIL-2R的的检测。结果 急、慢性丙型肝炎患静息状态mIL-2R表达水平，诱导状态mIL-2R表达水平分别与正常对照相比，差异均有显性。结论 丙型肝炎患体内存在明显的细胞免疫功能紊乱，T细胞活化障碍，并与肝病的慢性化有关。     

Role of leukocyte adhesion in filterability of a blood cell suspension

Research Institute of Physicochemical Medicine, Ministry of Health, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences Yu. M. Lopukhin.) Translated from Byulleten Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 113, No. 5, pp. 488–489, May, 1992.     

IL-2诱导外周血单个核细胞对肿瘤细胞的杀伤效应

目的　了解白细胞介素 2 (IL 2 )诱导外周血单个核细胞 (PBMC)对肿瘤细胞的杀伤效应 ,探讨其作用机制。方法　IL 2 ( 10 5IU/L)体外诱导PBMC 5d ,并与Raji细胞株共同培养 ,采用MTT法测定不同时间诱导后的PBMC对Raji细胞的杀伤效应 ;采用BAS ELISA法检测杀伤活性最大时的IFN γ、TNF α、sFasL的表达 ,采用流式细胞仪检测诱导后PBMC的FasL、穿孔素、颗粒酶B的表达。结果　IL 2 ( 10 5IU/L)体外诱导PBMC 5d时 ,都能明显增强对Raji细胞的杀伤活性 ,而且在培养的第 4天杀伤活性最高 (P <0 0 5 ) ,诱导PBMC 4d后 ,FasL、穿孔素、颗粒酶B的表达与B组相比 ,明显增加 ,差异有显著性 (P <0 0 5 )。结论　IL 2 ( 10 5IU/L)体外诱导PBMC能明显增强对Raji细胞的杀伤活性 ,主要是通过诱导PBMC表达IFN γ、穿孔素、颗粒酶B和FasL的表达而发挥抗肿瘤细胞的作用     

Acute Cellular Rejection Predominated by Monocytes Is a Severe Form of Rejection in Human Renal Recipients With or Without Campath-1H (Alemtuzumab) Induction Therapy

Campath-1H has been used successfully for induction and has resulted in a low rate of acute cellular rejection (ACR) in renal transplantation in combination with various postoperative immunosuppression regimens. This study was undertaken to investigate the extent of monocyte involvement in ACR, with or without Campath-1H induction. We found that monocytes represented the majority of inflammatory cells in grades Ib or higher ACR, but not with Ia type of ACR, regardless of the status of Campath-1H induction. Cases of ACR, following Campath-1H induction, appear to demonstrate a 'pure form' of monocytic ACR, whereas monocytes were mixed with many other types of inflammatory cells in the cases of ACR in the absence of Campath-1H induction. In addition with Campath-1H induction, the cases of monocyte-predominant ACR were found to uniformly exhibit a good response to corticosteroid treatment. We conclude that monocyte-predominate ACR may represent a severe form of rejection, with or without Campath-1H treatment.