A proposed role of human defensins in Helicobacter pylori-related neurodegenerative disorders.

Cationic host defence peptides (CHDPs), also known as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), are essential components of the innate immunity with antimicrobial and pleiotropic immunomodulatory properties. In mammals the two major families of CHDPs are defensins and cathelicidins that comprise an arsenal of innate regulators of principal importance in the host tissues. Research in the last decade has demonstrated that defensins are crucial effectors of both innate and adaptive immunity.

Multiple sclerosis, idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: a common mechanism of irregular immune regulation.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS), idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), and diabetes mellitus-1 (DM-1) are polygenic autoimmune diseases with a pivotal autoimmune component affecting young adults. They share a number of characteristics, thereby suggesting common underlying pathways or mechanisms. Typically, the aforementioned diseases are organ-specific autoimmune disorders of unknown etiology, but with strong evidence of tissue-destructive activity of the humoral and/or cellular immune system in the end-organ tissues affected (ie, the myelin components in MS, the myocytes of myocardium in DCM, and the insulin-secreting β islets in DM-1).

Five-year survival after Helicobacter pylori eradication in Alzheimer disease patients.

Background: Alzheimer disease (AD) is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative condition.

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection (Hp-I) could improve survival in a Greek cohort of AD patients, in a 5-year follow-up.

Method: Forty-six patients diagnosed with probable AD were enrolled in the analysis.