Dengue virus-activated platelets modulate monocyte immunometabolic response through lipid droplet biogenesis and cytokine signaling.

Dengue is characterized as one of the most important arthropod-borne human viral diseases, representing a public health problem. Increased activation of immune cells is involved in the progression of infection to severe forms. Recently, our group demonstrated the contribution of platelet-monocyte interaction to inflammatory responses in dengue, adding to evolving evidence that platelets have inflammatory functions and can regulate different aspects of innate immune responses.

Leprosy and its reactional episodes: Serum levels and possible roles of omega-3 and omega-6-derived lipid mediators.

The disease leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium leprae. The disease displays a spectrum of clinical manifestations relating to the stage of the infection and the pathogen-specific immune response. The most frequent M.

Platelet activation and apoptosis modulate monocyte inflammatory responses in dengue.

Dengue is the most prevalent human arbovirus disease in the world. Dengue infection has a large spectrum of clinical manifestations, from self-limited febrile illness to severe syndromes accompanied by bleeding and shock. Thrombocytopenia and vascular leak with altered cytokine profiles in plasma are features of severe dengue.

Insult-dependent effect of bone marrow cell therapy on inflammatory response in a murine model of extrapulmonary acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Introduction: Administration of bone marrow-derived cells produces beneficial effects in experimental extrapulmonary acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). However, there are controversies regarding the effects of timing of cell administration and initial insult severity on inflammatory response. We evaluated the effects of bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells (BMDMC) in two models of extrapulmonary ARDS once lung morphofunctional changes had already been installed.

Oleanolic acid improves pulmonary morphofunctional parameters in experimental sepsis by modulating oxidative and apoptotic processes.

We compared the effects of oleanolic acid (OA) vs. dexamethasone on lung mechanics and histology, inflammation, and apoptosis in lung and distal organs in experimental sepsis. Seventy-eight BALB/c mice were randomly divided into two groups.

The innate immune response in HIV/AIDS septic shock patients: a comparative study.

Introduction: In recent years, the incidence of sepsis has increased in critically ill HIV/AIDS patients, and the presence of severe sepsis emerged as a major determinant of outcomes in this population. The inflammatory response and deregulated cytokine production play key roles in the pathophysiology of sepsis; however, these mechanisms have not been fully characterized in HIV/AIDS septic patients.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study that included HIV/AIDS and non-HIV patients with septic shock.

Statins decrease neuroinflammation and prevent cognitive impairment after cerebral malaria.

Cerebral malaria (CM) is the most severe manifestation of Plasmodium falciparum infection in children and non-immune adults. Previous work has documented a persistent cognitive impairment in children who survive an episode of CM that is mimicked in animal models of the disease. Potential therapeutic interventions for this complication have not been investigated, and are urgently needed.

IL-6 and IL-8 in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with aseptic meningitis and bacterial meningitis: their potential role as a marker for differential diagnosis.

Cytokines are molecules that act as mediators of immune response; cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) IL-6 is found in all meningeal inflammatory diseases, but IL-8 is associated with acute bacterial meningitis (ABM). A case control study was done to ascertain the discriminatory power of these cytokines in differentiating ABM from aseptic meningitis (AM); IL-6 and IL-8 CSF concentrations were tested through ELISA in samples collected from patients who underwent investigation for meningitis. Sixty patients, 18 with AM, nine with bacteriologic confirmed ABM and 33 controls, assisted in 2005 (MA and controls) and 2007 (ABM) were included.

Lipid bodies in oxidized LDL-induced foam cells are leukotriene-synthesizing organelles: a MCP-1/CCL2 regulated phenomenon.

Lipid-laden foam macrophages are emerging as key players in early atherogenesis. Even though cytoplasmic lipid bodies (lipid droplets) are now recognized as organelles with cell functions beyond lipid storage, the mechanisms controlling lipid body biogenesis within macrophages and their additional functions in atherosclerosis are not completely elucidated. Here we studied oxLDL-elicited macrophage machinery involved in lipid body biogenesis as well as lipid body roles in leukotriene (LT) synthesis.

Multiplex cytokine profile from dengue patients: MIP-1beta and IFN-gamma as predictive factors for severity.

Background: Dengue virus pathogenesis is not yet fully understood and the identification of patients at high risk for developing severe disease forms is still a great challenge in dengue patient care. During the present study, we evaluated prospectively the potential of cytokines present in plasma from patients with dengue in stratifying disease severity.

Methods: Seventeen-cytokine multiplex fluorescent microbead immunoassay was used for the simultaneous detection in 59 dengue patients.

Cytokine profiles as markers of disease severity in sepsis: a multiplex analysis.

Introduction: The current shortage of accurate and readily available, validated biomarkers of disease severity in sepsis is an important limitation when attempting to stratify patients into homogeneous groups, in order to study pathogenesis or develop therapeutic interventions. The aim of the present study was to determine the cytokine profile in plasma of patients with severe sepsis by using a multiplex system for simultaneous detection of 17 cytokines.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study conducted in four tertiary hospitals.

Allergic challenge-elicited lipid bodies compartmentalize in vivo leukotriene C4 synthesis within eosinophils.

Eosinophils are an important source of leukotriene (LT)C(4), which can be synthesized within lipid bodies-cytoplasmic organelles where eicosanoid formation may take place. Allergy-driven lipid body formation and function have never been investigated. Here, we studied the in vivo induction and role of lipid bodies within eosinophils recruited to sites of allergic inflammation.

Synergism between platelet-activating factor-like phospholipids and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma agonists generated during low density lipoprotein oxidation that induces lipid body formation in leukocytes.

Oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL) has an important proinflammatory role in atherogenesis. In this study, we investigated the ability of oxidized LDL (oxLDL) and its phospholipid components to induce lipid body formation in leukocytes. Incubation of mouse peritoneal macrophages with oxidized, but not with native LDL led to lipid body formation within 1 h.

Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and 5-lipoxygenase products recruit leukocytes in response to platelet-activating factor-like lipids in oxidized low-density lipoprotein.

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) contains inflammatory agents, including oxidatively fragmented phospholipids that activate the platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor, but in vivo events caused by these pathologically generated agents are not well defined. Injection of PAF-like lipids derived from oxidized LDL, or C(4)-PAF that is a major PAF-like lipid in these particles, into the pleural cavity of mice resulted in rapid monocyte, neutrophil, and eosinophil accumulation. Increased numbers of intracellular lipid bodies in these cells show they were in an inflammatory environment.