Effect of the intake of resveratrol, resveratrol phosphate, and catechin-rich grape seed extract on markers of oxidative stress and gene expression in adult obese subjects.

Background: The preventive effect of resveratrol (RES) on the development of human diseases has been verified by numerous epidemiological studies. Resveratrol triphosphate (RTP) is a stable derivative of RES in which phosphate groups protect the phenolic groups.

Aims: This study compared the effect of RTP on biochemical and molecular markers of oxidative stress to equimolar doses (0.

Functionally active macrophage-derived myeloperoxidase in the skin of drug-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis.

Background: Drug-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) probably results from a complex and specific immune cell reaction involving lymphocytes and macrophages.

Objective: To assess the functional role of macrophages in TEN.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry was performed on biopsies from early blisters developed in 9 TEN patients.

Effects of oral contraception with ethinylestradiol and drospirenone on oxidative stress in women 18-35 years old.

Background: Oral contraceptives (OCs) with estrogens and progestins may affect oxidative stress (OS) status.

Study Design: A group of 32 women using oral contraceptives (OCU) containing 0.03 mg ethinylestradiol and 3 mg drospirenone have been compared to a matched control group of 30 noncontraception users (NCU).

Monitoring of cellular responses after vaccination against tetanus toxoid: comparison of the measurement of IFN-gamma production by ELISA, ELISPOT, flow cytometry and real-time PCR.

One of the challenges for immunomonitoring in clinical trials is to detect an antigen specific T cell-mediated immune response. In an attempt to define the most suitable assay, tetanus toxoid was used to compare the capacity of 4 different methods to detect cytokine responses, before and after recall vaccination, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 14 healthy volunteers. ELISA, ELISPOT, intracytoplasmic detection and real-time RT-PCR were chosen to measure IFN-gamma production before and after vaccination.

Immune monitoring in whole blood using real-time PCR.

There is a need for simple and sensitive assays to assess innate and adaptive immune responses to microbial agents and vaccines. Herein, we describe a whole blood method allowing to measure the induction of cytokine synthesis at the mRNA level. The originality of this method consists in the combination of PAXgene tubes containing an mRNA stabilizer for blood collection, the MagNA Pure instrument as an automated system for mRNA extraction and RT-PCR reagent mix preparation, and the real-time PCR methodology on the Lightcycler for accurate and reproducible quantification of transcript levels.