Publications by authors named "Jannis Kountouras"

Background: The innate immune response aims to prevent pathogens from entering the organism and/or to facilitate pathogen clearance. Innate immune cells, such as macrophages, mast cells (MCs), natural killer cells and neutrophils, bear pattern recognition receptors and are thus able to recognize common molecular patterns, such as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), the later occurring in the context of neuroinflammation. An inflammatory component in the pathology of otherwise "primary cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative" disease has recently been recognized and targeted as a means of therapeutic intervention.

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Background: Biologic agents used in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) may influence the pathophysiology of coexistent metabolic-dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). This study primarily aimed to evaluate the six-month effect of infliximab or vedolizumab vs. no biologics on presumed hepatic steatosis in patients with IBD.

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: Lipid dysmetabolism seems to contribute to the development and progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Our aim was to compare serum lipidomic profile between patients with NAFLD having received monotherapy with vitamin E (400 IU/d) and those having received combination therapy with vitamin E (400 IU/d) and low-dose spironolactone (25 mg/d) for 52 weeks. : This was a study of a randomized controlled trial (NCT01147523).

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Over the past decade, microbiome research has significantly expanded in both scope and volume, leading to the development of new models and treatments targeting the gut-brain axis to mitigate the effects of various disorders. Related research suggests that interventions during the critical period from birth to three years old may yield the greatest benefits. Investigating the substantial link between the gut and brain during this crucial developmental phase raises fundamental issues about the role of microorganisms in human health and brain development.

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infection, a significant global burden beyond the gastrointestinal tract, has long been implicated in various systemic pathologies. Rising evidence suggests that the bacterium's intricate relationship with the immune system and its potential to induce chronic inflammation impact diverse pathophysiological processes in pregnant women that may in turn affect the incidence of several adverse pregnancy and neonate outcomes. infection, which has been linked to metabolic syndrome and other disorders by provoking pericyte dysfunction, hyperhomocysteinemia, galectin-3, atrial fibrillation, gut dysbiosis, and mast cell activation pathologies, may also contribute to adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes.

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Both Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are highly prevalent worldwide. The emergence of relevant research suggesting a pathogenic linkage between H.

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Purpose: Non-invasive diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its advanced phenotypes (e.g., nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; NASH) is a hot research topic.

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Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) occurs in a low-grade inflammatory milieu dependent on highly complex networks that span well-beyond the hepatic tissue injury. Dysfunctional systemic metabolism that characterizes the disease, is further induced in response to environmental cues that modify energy and metabolic cellular demands, thereby altering the availability of specific substrates that profoundly regulate, through epigenetic mechanisms, the phenotypic heterogeneity of immune cells and influence hematopoietic stem cell differentiation fate. This immuno-metabolic signaling drives the initiation of downstream effector pathways and results in the decompensation of hepatic homeostasis that precedes pro-fibrotic events.

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Background: () has definite or possible associations with multiple local and distant manifestations. has been isolated from multiple sites throughout the body, including the nose. Clinical non-randomized studies with report discrepant data regarding the association between infection and nasal polyps.

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