Sclerostin, TNF-alpha and Interleukin-18 Correlate and are Together with Klotho Related to Other Growth Factors and Cytokines in Haemodialysis Patients.

Patients with chronic renal failure are known to have renal osteodystrophy (bone disease) and increased calcification of vessels. A new marker of bone disease, sclerostin, the two pro-inflammatory cytokines tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-18 (IL-18), and the fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF-23) receptor-associated marker Klotho were tested in 84 haemodialysis (HD) patients and in healthy controls. The patients had significantly higher levels of the three former markers than of the controls while Klotho was significantly higher in the controls.

Interleukin-6 concentrations in the urine and dipstick analyses were related to bacteriuria but not symptoms in the elderly: a cross sectional study of 421 nursing home residents.

Background: Up to half the residents of nursing homes for the elderly have asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU), which should not be treated with antibiotics. A complementary test to discriminate between symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTI) and ABU is needed, as diagnostic uncertainty is likely to generate significant antibiotic overtreatment. Previous studies indicate that Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the urine might be suitable as such a test.

Fibroblast growth factor 23, hepatocyte growth factor, interleukin-6, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor. Inflammation markers in chronic haemodialysis patients?

Sera from 84 haemodialysis (HD) patients and 68 healthy blood donors were analysed with commercially available ELISA techniques for fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), interleukin-6 (Il-6), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), to find a possible correlation of FGF-23 and HGF with the earlier recognized inflammatory markers Il-6 and hs-CRP or suPAR. All patients studied had significantly elevated levels of FGF-23, HGF, hs-CRP and suPAR as compared to the controls. Il-6 and hs-CRP correlated for patients (R = 0.

Association of soluble CD89 levels with disease progression but not susceptibility in IgA nephropathy.

The Fc-α receptor (FcαR/CD89) is involved in IgA complex formation and may affect the development of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). In this study, we tested the genetic variations of the CD89 gene in relation to disease susceptibility in IgAN and the expression of soluble CD89 (sCD89) in sera of patients with IgAN and in controls. There was a significant difference between the levels of sCD89-IgA complexes, measured by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), in 177 patients with IgAN with and without disease progression at the time of first diagnosis.

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor is increased in cerebrospinal fluid but decreased in blood during long-term pain.

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is involved in inflammation and pain, roles which remain to be delineated clinically. We aimed to evaluate the role of central nervous and peripheral GDNF in long-term pain patients and in controls by analysing intrathecal and blood concentrations of GDNF. Simultaneous measurements of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and IL-6, anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 and chemokine IL-8 served to define inflammatory responses.

Interleukin-4 receptor polymorphisms in asthma and allergy: relation to different disease phenotypes.

Aim: Inheritance and genetic factors are supposed to influence susceptibility to asthma and allergy. We tested if single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the IL4R gene were associated with susceptibility to such diseases, or if they were related to the phenotypic presentation of asthma and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (ARC).

Methods: Three hundred and nine 12- to 13-year-old children were included.

Urinary proteins in children with urinary tract infection.

The aim of this study was to test our hypothesis that the urinary excretion of C-reactive protein (CRP), alpha 1-microglobulin (A1M), retinol-binding protein (RBP) and Clara cell protein (CC16) is increased in children with urinary tract infection (UTI) and relates to renal damage as measured by acute dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scintigraphy. Fifty-two children <2 years of age with UTI were enrolled in the study, 44 of whom were febrile. The control group consisted of 23 patients with non-UTI infection and elevated serum CRP (s-CRP) levels.

Genetic variation in the transforming growth factor-beta1 gene is associated with susceptibility to IgA nephropathy.

Background: There is growing evidence of genetic risk for susceptibility to IgA nephropathy. Among several candidate genes related to immunological regulation in renal tissue, TGFB1 is known to be a contributor to proliferation and the development of fibrosis.

Methods: We analysed several SNPs in a region of this gene using 212 DNA samples from biopsy-proven IgA nephropathy patients, 146 men and 66 women and 477 healthy age-matched controls (321 men and 156 women) from the same population in Sweden.

A module-based analytical strategy to identify novel disease-associated genes shows an inhibitory role for interleukin 7 Receptor in allergic inflammation.

Background: The identification of novel genes by high-throughput studies of complex diseases is complicated by the large number of potential genes. However, since disease-associated genes tend to interact, one solution is to arrange them in modules based on co-expression data and known gene interactions. The hypothesis of this study was that such a module could be a) found and validated in allergic disease and b) used to find and validate one ore more novel disease-associated genes.

Long-term treatment results and the immunoglobulin G subclass distribution patterns of proteinase-3-antineutrophil cytoplasm antibody (ANCA) and myeloperoxidase-ANCA in ANCA-associated vasculitis.

Objective: Small vessel vasculitis associated with antibodies to neutrophil cytoplasm antigens has been denominated antineutrophil cytoplasm antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV).

Material And Methods: Ninety-eight patients with various forms of AAV with renal involvement were studied retrospectively with regard to treatment, side-effects and outcome. The immunoglobulin G (IgG) subclass distribution patterns in serum were determined in 51 patients with nephelometry and those of anti-proteinase-3 (PR3) and anti-myeloperoxidase (MPO) in 44 patients by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Revaccination does not improve an observed deficit in antibody responses in Pakistani adults born of a lower birth weight.

We have previously shown that the generation of antibodies to a polysaccharide vaccine (Typhim Vi) is compromised in Pakistani adults born of a lower birth weight. To assess whether this represents a true B-cell-dependent deficit, we revaccinated subjects with a second dose of the same vaccine and with a polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccine to a different polysaccharide antigen (conjugated Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine). Anti-Vi IgG levels remained positively correlated with birth weight (p=0.

Serum concentration of interleukin-18 is up-regulated in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis.

We investigated circulating interleukin-18 concentrations in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (ASV) and healthy control subjects, and included a group of hemodialysis patients, a patient group previously reported to show high IL-18 plasma levels. Anti-proteinase 3 (PR3) and anti-myeloperoxidase (MPO) serum levels were also measured. Interestingly we found significantly increased serum IL-18 concentrations in ASV patients as compared to healthy controls, 437 vs.

Common variations in the IL4R gene affect splicing and influence natural expression of the soluble isoform.

We previously found the soluble interleukin 4 receptor (sIL4R) to be differently expressed in allergic asthma patients compared to healthy individuals. Here we present data demonstrating the involvement of the sequence variations, c.912-1003A > G, c.

Interferon-gamma dose-dependently inhibits prostaglandin E2-mediated dendritic-cell-migration towards secondary lymphoid organ chemokines.

Monocyte-derived human dendritic cells (MoDCs) are increasingly applied as cellular vaccines for cancer patients. Important features for their efficacy include high migratory responsiveness to lymph node-chemokines and most likely their ability to produce bioactive IL-12 p70 upon subsequent contact with CD40 ligand-expressing T-cells. The current standard DC-maturation cocktail for clinical trials is inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-6) combined with prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)), inducing phenotypically mature MoDCs with high migratory responsiveness to CCR7 ligands.

Avidity of tetanus and Hib antibodies after childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia - implications for vaccination strategies.

Aim: To investigate the possible relationship between serum levels and avidities of antibodies against tetanus toxoid (TT) and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) in children that were vaccinated after treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

Methods: The study groups were 31 paediatric patients with ALL and 18 healthy controls. All subjects were vaccinated with TT and a protein conjugated Hib vaccine.

Expression of idiotypic antibodies-1 and -2 and breastfeeding in relation to antibody levels against Haemophilus influenzae type B in children.

The aim of the study was to determine the concentrations of serum antibodies against Haemophilus influenzae type b in preschool children in relation to the distribution of idiotypic antibodies 1 and 2 (Id-1 and Id-2) and the exposure to breastfeeding in infancy. Sera were obtained from 74 control children recruited in an earlier case-control study before the introduction of general Hib vaccination. Duration of breastfeeding was monitored, and prevalence of noninvasive infections was registered.

Cytokines in the placenta of Pakistani newborns with and without intrauterine growth retardation.

Although intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) is a major risk factor for increased neonatal mortality and morbidity, the mechanisms behind it are not clear. We analyzed cytokine gene expression and gene polymorphisms in infants with and without IUGR in Pakistan, where IUGR is very common. 45 IUGR and 55 control mother/infant pairs were studied.

Association of the -159 CD14 gene polymorphism and lack of association of the -308 TNFA and Q551R IL-4RA polymorphisms with severe chronic periodontitis in Swedish Caucasians.

Background: Severe forms of periodontitis are suggested to have a genetic basis.

Objective: The aim of the present investigation was to study the association of gene polymorphisms related to some immune regulation components (G-308A TNFA, Q551R IL-4RA and C-159T CD14) with severe chronic periodontitis.

Materials And Methods: Sixty patients (aged 36-74 years; mean 54.

Intensive treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia reduces immune responses to diphtheria, tetanus, and Haemophilus influenzae type b.

Objectives: Immunity to diphtheria toxoid (D), tetanus toxoid (T), and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is affected in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The aims were to examine immunity and to compare the response to immunization at 1 or 6 months after treatment.

Methods: Thirty-one patients were immunized with DT and conjugated Hib vaccine (ActHib) at 1 month or 6 months after treatment of ALL with the NOPHO 92 protocol.

Haplotypes of the interleukin-4 receptor alpha chain gene associate with susceptibility to and severity of atopic asthma.

Background: Development of asthma is likely to depend on a complex interaction between environmental and genetic factors. Several groups have suggested the gene of the IL-4 receptor alpha chain (IL4R) as a candidate gene for the development of asthma, although association with single polymorphisms has shown contradicting results.

Objective: We chose to analyse IL4R gene haplotypes and assess their possible relevance in susceptibility to asthma and to certain clinical phenotypes.

Antibody response to the Haemophilus influenzae type b-tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine in healthy and infection-prone individuals with IgG3 subclass deficiency.

Searching for a possible explanation for the phenotypic heterogeneity in IgG3 deficiency, we studied the antibody response to a polysaccharide and a protein antigen in IgG3-deficient (IgG3d) adults after vaccination with Haemophilus influenzae type b capsular polysaccharide (Hib CP) conjugated to tetanus toxoid. Distribution of isotypes, idiotypes, clonotypes, and Gm allotypes were compared. All the vaccinated individuals, irrespective of the level of IgG3 and proneness to infections, developed protective levels of anti-Hib CP.

Aberrant IgG2 antibody response to Neisseria meningitidis polysaccharide A after vaccination in frequently infected compared to healthy IgA-deficient individuals.

In search for a possible explanation of the phenotypic heterogeneity in selective immunoglobulin (Ig)A deficiency, we studied the IgG2 antibody response to meningococcal polysaccharide A (PSA) in IgA-deficient (IgAd) individuals after vaccination with meningococcal A + C polysaccharide vaccine. Two groups of IgAd individuals, one frequently infected and one clinically apparently healthy, as well as healthy controls, were studied. In response to meningococcal A + C polysaccharide vaccine, a significant titre increase of specific IgG2 anti-PSA was found in 71% of the control individuals, in 50% of the healthy and in 42% of the infection-prone IgAd individuals.

Impaired kidney graft survival is associated with the TNF-alpha genotype.

Background: The TNF2 allele at position -308 of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha gene is associated with high TNF production. The purpose was to study the association of this gene polymorphism with rejection episodes and graft survival after kidney transplantation.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of transplant outcomes of patients who only had been treated with one single form of immunosuppression consisting of cyclosporine, azathioprine, and prednisolon was performed.