The elastin peptide VGVAPG increases CD4 T-cell IL-4 production in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung-infiltrating inflammatory cells secrete proteases and participate in elastin breakdown and genesis of elastin-derived peptides (EP). In the present study, we hypothesized that the pattern of T lymphocytes cytokine expression may be modulated by EP in COPD patients.

Methods: CD4 and CD8 T-cells, sorted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) collected from COPD patients (n = 29) and controls (n = 13) were cultured with or without EP.

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Generation Relates with Early Stage and Vascular Complications in Systemic Sclerosis.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic disease characterized by a great clinical and immunological heterogeneity whose pathophysiology is still being unraveled. Recently, innate immunity has been proposed to participate to the pathogenesis of SSc. In this study, we investigated the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) according to patient phenotype.

Characteristic Pattern of IL-17RA, IL-17RB, and IL-17RC in Monocytes/Macrophages and Mast Cells From Patients With Bullous Pemphigoid.

Inflammation is largely implicated in bullous pemphigoid (BP), the most frequent skin auto-immune blistering disease. IL-17, essentially IL-17A/F, has been involved in blister formation through regulation of protease production, and its specific serum profile within BP was related to disease outcome. However, relationships between IL-17 family ligands and receptors are quite complex with six different IL-17 isoforms, and five different receptors.

IL-23/IL-17 Axis Activates IL-1β-Associated Inflammasome in Macrophages and Generates an Auto-Inflammatory Response in a Subgroup of Patients With Bullous Pemphigoid.

Bullous Pemphigoid (BP) is a skin autoimmune blistering disease characterized by immune-mediated degradation of the dermo-epidermal junction and release of a large number of inflammatory cytokines. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is a pleiotropic pro-inflammatory cytokine associated with inflammasome activation and known to be pivotal in several auto-immune and auto-inflammatory diseases. We sought to clarify the presence of inflammasome-dependent IL-1β and to investigate its role in BP.

Blister Fluid Induces MMP-9-Associated M2-Type Macrophages in Bullous Pemphigoid.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a cutaneous autoimmune disease, characterized by an inflammatory cascade leading to blister formation. Although macrophages were shown to participate in BP pathophysiology, their role in the blister formation process still needs to be investigated. We here addressed the influence of serum and blister fluid (BF) from patients with BP on the polarization status of macrophages with regards to the metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression.

NET Formation in Bullous Pemphigoid Patients With Relapse Is Modulated by IL-17 and IL-23 Interplay.

DNA extracellular traps (ETs), released by neutrophils (NETs), or eosinophils (EETs), play a pathogenic role in several autoimmune disorders. However, to date, NETs have never been investigated in bullous pemphigoid (BP) with respect to clinical and immunological activities, both at baseline and at time of relapse which have been characterized with specific IL-17 and IL-23 patterns. We sought to assess whether ETs were associated with BP as well as the relative contribution of IL-17 axis cytokines to NET induction.

The Interleukin-17 Family of Cytokines in Breast Cancer.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women worldwide and remains a major cause of mortality with an expected 137,000 death this year in Europe. Standard management of metastatic BC comprises hormonotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapies. Cyclin dependent kinase (CDK) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors have recently proved their efficiency in hormonal receptor expressing BC.

Association of Transient Palmoplantar Keratoderma With Clinical and Immunologic Characteristics of Bullous Pemphigoid.

Importance: Development of transient palmoplantar keratoderma (PPK) with bullous pemphigoid (BP) has only been described in 2 isolated case reports. The clinical significance and the pathophysiologic mechanisms of this association are unknown.

Objective: To examine the clinical characteristics and immunological profile of patients with BP who develop transient PPK and analyze therapeutic options and outcomes.

Mucosal Involvement in Bullous Pemphigoid Is Mostly Associated with Disease Severity and to Absence of Anti-BP230 Autoantibody.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most common autoimmune bullous disease and typically affects the elderly. Binding of specific autoantibodies to BP180/230 hemidesmosomal components induces an inflammatory response leading to skin blister formation. Unusual manifestations of BP include additional mucous membrane involvement, without pathophysiological knowledge associated to the formation of these lesions.

Autoantibodies Associated With Connective Tissue Diseases: What Meaning for Clinicians?

Connective tissue diseases (CTDs) such as systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, myositis, Sjögren's syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis are systemic diseases which are often associated with a challenge in diagnosis. Autoantibodies (AAbs) can be detected in these diseases and help clinicians in their diagnosis. Actually, pathophysiology of these diseases is associated with the presence of antinuclear antibodies.

Anti-Type VII Collagen Antibodies Are Identified in a Subpopulation of Bullous Pemphigoid Patients With Relapse.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune bullous skin disease characterized by anti-BP180 and anti-BP230 autoantibodies (AAbs). Mucous membrane involvement is an uncommon clinical feature of BP which may evoke epidermolysis bullosa acquisita, another skin autoimmune disease characterized by anti-type VII collagen AAbs. We therefore evaluated the presence of anti-type VII collagen AAbs in the serum of BP patients with and without mucosal lesions at time of diagnosis and under therapy.

Biomarkers related to bullous pemphigoid activity and outcome.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most common autoimmune subepidermal blistering disease of the skin. Investigation of the BP-associated pathophysiological processes during the last decades showed that the generation of autoantibodies directed against the hemidesmosome proteins BP180 and BP230, a hallmark of the BP-associated autoimmune response, leads to the recruitment of inflammatory immune cells at the dermal-epidermal junction, and subsequently to the release of a large amount of inflammatory molecules involved in blister formation. Analysis in transversal and longitudinal studies of autoantibodies and inflammatory molecules production both at the time of diagnosis and under treatment was mainly performed within the serum but also in the blister fluid.

Variation of the epidermal expression of glucocorticoid receptor-beta as potential predictive marker of bullous pemphigoid outcome.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most common autoimmune subepidermal blistering disease in Western countries. Although topical and/or systemic glucocorticoids treatment efficacy is widely recognized, up to 30% of patients with BP may undergo a relapse during the first year of treatment. We investigated the protein expression of the total glucocorticoid receptor and GRβ isoform in the skin biopsy specimens from patients with BP and wondered whether such investigation at baseline provided a tool to predict disease outcome.

Eosinophil Cationic Protein (ECP), a predictive marker of bullous pemphigoid severity and outcome.

Bullous Pemphigoid (BP) is an inflammatory rare autoimmune bullous dermatosis, which outcome cannot be predicted through clinical investigations. Eosinophils are the main immune infiltrated cells in BP. However, the release of Major Basic Protein (MBP), Eosinophil Derived Neurotoxin (EDN), and Eosinophil Cationic Protein (ECP) upon eosinophil activation has still not been evaluated with respect to BP development.

Meeting Report of the Pathogenesis of Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Meeting in Munich, September 2016.

Autoimmune blistering diseases are a heterogeneous group of about a dozen complex disorders that are characterized by intraepidermal (pemphigus) and subepidermal blistering (pemphigoid diseases and dermatitis herpetiformis). The Pathogenesis of Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Meeting, organized by the Departments of Dermatology in Lübeck and Marburg and the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Munich, was held in September 2016 in Munich. The meeting brought together basic scientists and clinicians from all continents dedicating their work to autoimmune blistering diseases.

Bullous Pemphigoid: A Review of its Diagnosis, Associations and Treatment.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most common autoimmune subepidermal blistering disease in Western countries, and typically affects the elderly. BP is immunologically characterized by tissue-bound and circulating autoantibodies directed against either the BP antigen 180 (BP180, or BPAG2) or the BP antigen 230 (BP230, or BPAG1e), or even both, which are components of hemidesmosomes involved in the dermal-epidermal cohesion. Risk factors for BP include old age, neurologic diseases (dementia, Parkinson's disease, cerebrovascular disease), and some particular drugs, including loop diuretics, spironolactone and neuroleptics.

Histone deacetylases meet microRNA-associated MMP-9 expression regulation in glucocorticoid-sensitive and -resistant cell lines.

Glucocorticoids are largely used in the treatment of inflammatory pathologies and/or hematological malignancies and regulate the expression of a variety of genes involved in inflammation or metastasis such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMP). Long-term exposure to glucocorticoids can result in failure of responsiveness, which is often associated with an unwanted gene expression. Epigenetic mechanisms are involved in gene expression modulated after development of glucocorticoid resistance but how these mechanisms take place must be further studied.

Bullous pemphigoid outcome is associated with CXCL10-induced matrix metalloproteinase 9 secretion from monocytes and neutrophils but not lymphocytes.

Background: The outcome of bullous pemphigoid (BP), the most frequent autoimmune skin-blistering disease, involves matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), IL-17, and IL-23 release from infiltrated inflammatory cells. The chemokine CXCL10 has been associated with several autoimmune diseases, but its participation in BP pathophysiology still needs to be clarified.

Objective: We sought to assess whether BP outcome was associated with different CXCL10 levels and to evaluate the contribution of CXCL10 to the described cytokine/protease inflammatory loop associated with disease outcome.

Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment: The Protumor Effects of IL-17 Related to Cancer Type.

The inflammatory process contributes to immune tolerance as well as to tumor progression and metastasis. By releasing extracellular signals, cancerous cells constantly shape their surrounding microenvironment through their interactions with infiltrating immune cells, stromal cells and components of extracellular matrix. Recently, the pro-inflammatory interleukin 17 (IL-17)-producing T helper lymphocytes, the Th17 cells, and the IL-17/IL-17 receptor (IL-17R) axis gained special attention.

IL-17E synergizes with EGF and confers in vitro resistance to EGFR-targeted therapies in TNBC cells.

Estrogen receptor-, progesterone receptor- and HER2-negative breast cancers, also known as triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs), have poor prognoses and are refractory to current therapeutic agents, including epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors. Resistance to anti-EGFR therapeutic agents is often associated with sustained kinase phosphorylation, which promotes EGFR activation and translocation to the nucleus and prevents these agents from acting on their targets. The mechanisms underlying this resistance have not been fully elucidated.

Ethanolic Extract of Algerian Propolis and Galangin Decreased Murine Melanoma Tumor Progression in Mice.

Melanoma is the more dangerous skin cancer, and metastatic melanoma still carries poor prognosis. Despite recent therapeutic advances, prolonged survival remains rare and research is still required. Propolis extracts from many countries have attracted a great deal of attention for their biological properties.

Integrating longitudinal serum IL-17 and IL-23 follow-up, along with autoantibodies variation, contributes to predict bullous pemphigoid outcome.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an inflammatory autoimmune bullous disease involving cytokines and proteases in the process of blister formation. Recently, IL-17 and IL-23 were evidenced in lesional skin and serum of BP patients at time of diagnosis, but their involvement in disease outcome has still not been investigated yet. We then analysed IL-17 and IL-23 serum levels during the first months of follow-up upon treatment.