Differential engulfment of and by monocyte-derived macrophages is associated with altered phagocyte biochemistry and morphology.

Knowledge of changes in macrophages following bacterial engulfment is limited. U937-derived macrophages were incubated with or . Morphological and biochemical changes in macrophages following host-pathogen interactions were visualized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) respectively.

A Pilot Study Investigating the Influence of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms on Gastric Emptying Rate in Caucasian Men.

Gastric emptying rate in humans is subject to large individual variability, but previous research on the influence of genetics is scarce. Variation in the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP1R) gene is a plausible candidate gene to partially explain the high variance. This study aimed to investigate the influence of genetic variation in the GLP1R gene on gastric emptying rate of a glucose solution in humans.

The Effect of C-Reactive Protein Isoforms on Nitric Oxide Production by U937 Monocytes/Macrophages.

Inflammation is regulated by many endogenous factors including estrogen, a steroid hormone that declines with increasing age, leading to excessive inflammation in the elderly. C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute phase inflammatory protein that exists in two forms, native CRP (nCRP) and monomeric CRP (mCRP), which mediate distinct biological activities. It is unclear how each CRP isoform mediates nitric oxide (NO), a signaling molecule generated by NO synthase (NOS).

Role of C-Reactive Protein at Sites of Inflammation and Infection.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute inflammatory protein that increases up to 1,000-fold at sites of infection or inflammation. CRP is produced as a homopentameric protein, termed native CRP (nCRP), which can irreversibly dissociate at sites of inflammation and infection into five separate monomers, termed monomeric CRP (mCRP). CRP is synthesized primarily in liver hepatocytes but also by smooth muscle cells, macrophages, endothelial cells, lymphocytes, and adipocytes.

Health-related effects and improving extractability of cereal arabinoxylans.

Arabinoxylans (AXs) are major dietary fibers. They are composed of backbone chains of β-(1-4)-linked xylose residues to which α-l-arabinose are linked in the second and/or third carbon positions. Recently, AXs have attracted a great deal of attention because of their biological activities such as their immunomodulatory potential.

The influence of angiotensin converting enzyme and bradykinin receptor B2 gene variants on voluntary fluid intake and fluid balance in healthy men during moderate-intensity exercise in the heat.

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and bradykinin receptor B2 (B2R) genetic variation may affect thirst because of effects on angiotensin II production and bradykinin activity, respectively. To examine this, 45 healthy Caucasian men completed 60 min of cycle exercise at 62% ± 5% peak oxygen uptake in a room heated to 30.5 ± 0.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) is a therapeutic target for impaired cutaneous wound healing.

Impaired wound healing states lead to substantial morbidity and cost with treatment resulting in an expenditure of billions of dollars per annum in the U.S. alone.

The hormonal regulation of cutaneous wound healing.

Conditions of impaired wound healing in the elderly are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality and impose a significant financial burden upon the world's health services. The findings of a series of recent studies have served to highlight the contrasting contributions made by sex steroid hormones to the regulation of cutaneous repair processes. Although estrogens accelerate healing, the actions of the "male" sex hormones 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone and testosterone are primarily deleterious.

Closed-loop, multiobjective optimization of two-dimensional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for serum metabolomics.

Metabolomics seeks to measure potentially all the metabolites in a biological sample, and consequently, we need to develop and optimize methods to increase significantly the number of metabolites we can detect. We extended the closed-loop (iterative, automated) optimization system that we had previously developed for one-dimensional GC-TOF-MS (O'Hagan, S.; Dunn, W.

Androgens modulate the inflammatory response during acute wound healing.

Impaired wound healing states in the elderly lead to substantial morbidity and mortality, and a cost to the health services of over 9 billion dollars per annum. In addition to intrinsic ageing processes that per se cause delayed healing, studies have suggested marked differences in wound repair between the sexes. We have previously reported that, castration of male mice results in a striking acceleration of local cutaneous wound healing and dampens the associated inflammatory response.

The sex steroid precursor DHEA accelerates cutaneous wound healing via the estrogen receptors.

Age-related impaired wound healing states lead to substantial morbidity and cost, with treatment in the USA resulting in an expenditure of over $9 billion per annum. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is a ubiquitous adrenal hormone with immunomodulatory properties whose levels decline significantly with advanced age in humans. Conversion of DHEA locally to downstream steroid hormones leads to estrogenic and/or androgenic effects which may be important in age-related skin homeostasis, and which would avoid systemic adverse effects related to estrogen.

The dinucleotide (CA) repeat polymorphism of estrogen receptor beta but not the dinucleotide (TA) repeat polymorphism of estrogen receptor alpha is associated with venous ulceration.

Venous ulcers are the predominant form of chronic wound in the elderly, accounting for around 70% of all cases. The steroid sex hormone estrogen plays a crucial role in normal human skin maintenance and during cutaneous wound repair following injury. Estrogen can reverse age-related impaired wound healing by dampening the inflammatory response and increasing matrix deposition at the wound site.

Potential role of estrogens in wound healing.

Estrogens play a vital role in the development of sexually dimorphic characteristics essential for reproduction. In recent years, insight has been gained into the role of estrogens in non-reproductive pathophysiological processes, including neoplasia, vascular disease and osteoporosis. Intriguingly, the skin appears to act as an end-organ target for estrogenic action; marked structural and functional skin changes occurring after the menopause can be related to altered hormonal profiles.

Ageing and wound healing.

Cutaneous wound healing is a complex process encompassing a number of overlapping events including leukocyte recruitment, matrix deposition, epithelialization, and ultimately resolution of inflammation with the formation of a mature scar. Morbidity associated with age-related delayed wound healing imposes an enormous social and financial burden; unless improved wound care strategies are developed the projected relative and absolute increase in the elderly population will further exacerbate this problem. In recent years insight has been gained into the impact of ageing on cellular and tissue responses, resulting from impaired cytokine signal transduction, unchecked inflammation, an altered balance of protein synthesis and degradation, and subsequent downstream effects on the rate and quality of the wound healing response.