Epidermal expression of I-TAC (Cxcl11) instructs adaptive Th2-type immunity.

To decipher early promoters of the local microenvironment for Th2-type immunity, we wanted to identify gene patterns that were induced by Leishmania major in the infected skin of susceptible, Th2-prone BALB/c, but not of resistant, Th1-prone C57BL/6 mice. We found a marked up-regulation of the chemokine I-TAC (Cxcl11) during the first 2 d of infection in the epidermis of susceptible but not of resistant mice. Accordingly, local injection of I-TAC (2×1 μg) in resistant mice on the first day of infection resulted in a Th2-driven, sustained deterioration of disease and dramatically enhanced parasite levels.

Soluble CD163 promotes recognition, phagocytosis and killing of Staphylococcus aureus via binding of specific fibronectin peptides.

CD163 is a multi-ligand scavenger receptor exclusively expressed by monocytes and macrophages, which is released after their activation during sepsis (sCD163). The biological relevance of sCD163, however, is not yet clear. We now demonstrate that sCD163 exhibits direct antimicrobial effects by recognizing a specific subfragment ((6) F1(1) F2(2) F2(7) F1) of fibronectin (FN) bound to staphylococcal surface molecules.

Endothelial cells present an innate resistance to glucocorticoid treatment: implications for therapy of primary vasculitis.

Background: In contrast to other chronic inflammatory diseases glucocorticoids alone do not maintain sufficient remission in primary vasculitis. The reasons for this therapeutic failure remain unclear.

Objectives: To investigate the molecular effects glucocorticoids exert on endothelial cells (EC) and to elucidate the molecular pathways responsible.

Induction of an anti-inflammatory human monocyte subtype is a unique property of glucocorticoids, but can be modified by IL-6 and IL-10.

Glucocorticoids (GC) are the most widely used immunosuppressive agents in clinical medicine. Recently we showed that GC enhance survival of human monocytes and induce a specific anti-inflammatory monocyte subtype which actively induces resolution of inflammation. We now investigated if cytokines IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10, which, like GC, have mostly anti-inflammatory effects on macrophages, would have GC-like effects also on monocytes.

Body posture and trunk muscle activity in women following treatment of breast cancer.

Background: Treatment of breast cancer can lead to abnormally shaped anteroposterior spinal curvatures, which consequently leads to functional disturbances of trunk muscles. The aim of the paper was to investigate the correlation between trunk muscle function and type of body posture in women receiving treatment for breast cancer.

Material And Methods: Fifty women following treatment of breast cancer were included in the study.

Body posture of women after breast cancer treatment.

Introduction: Human body posture changes in the course of ontogenesis. The changes are brought about by both internal factors (illness) and external factors (injury). The negative consequences of a medical condition such as breast cancer, together with the treatment process, undoubtedly contribute to disturbance of body posture.

Cerebral arterial stenoses and stroke: novel features of Aicardi-Goutières syndrome caused by the Arg164X mutation in SAMHD1 are associated with altered cytokine expression.

Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS) is a rare inborn multisystemic disease, resembling intrauterine viral infection and resulting in psychomotor retardation, spasticity and chilblain-likeskin lesions. Diagnostic criteria include intracerebral calcifications and elevated interferon-alpha and pterin levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). We report on four adult siblings with unknown neurodegenerative disease presenting with cerebrovascular stenoses, stroke and glaucoma in childhood, two of whom died at the age of 40 and 29 years.

The occurrence of strain symptoms in the lumbosacral region and pelvis during pregnancy and after childbirth.

Objective: The etiology and pathology of pain in the lumbosacral region and pelvis of pregnant women during and after pregnancy have not been fully determined. This study evaluated if lower back pain during pregnancy and after childbirth is connected with static alterations in the alignment of the pelvis, dysfunction of sacroiliac joints, and irritation of the pelvic ligaments and spine in the lumbosacral region.

Methods: This study was carried out on a group of 30 women in their eighth month of pregnancy and through 3 months after childbirth.

Glucocorticoids promote survival of anti-inflammatory macrophages via stimulation of adenosine receptor A3.

Active resolution of inflammation is a previously unrecognized process essential for tissue homeostasis. Monocytes play a pivotal role in the generation as well as resolution of inflammation. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are widely used anti-inflammatory agents.

Relation between trunk muscle activity and posture type in women following treatment for breast cancer.

The aim of the work was to determine the activity of trunk muscles in the sagittal plane in relation to body posture type in women treated for breast cancer. Fifty women having undergone treatment for breast cancer, with an average age of 61, participated in the study. All patients were studied by application of the photogrammetric method in order to determine posture; on the basis of the compensation ratio (mu), the examined group was divided into three posture sub-groups: kyphotic (K), lordotic (L) and balanced (R).

A comparison of the perceptions and aspirations of third-year physiotherapy students trained in three educational settings in Poland.

Objectives: In Poland, physiotherapy is offered at three types of school: medical universities, universities of physical education, and schools that do not specialise in either the medical sciences or physical education. This study explored the knowledge of students who were completing their physiotherapy studies about working in Poland and other countries of the European Union (EU), and about their vocational plans. Students were asked, through self-assessment, about aspects of the professional skills they had gained.

The influence of corrective exercises in a water environment on the shape of the antero-posterior curves of the spine and on the functional status of the locomotor system in children with Io scoliosis.

Background: There has been a growing interest in studies examining the importance of the aquatic environment in non-invasive treatment of scoliosis. The water environment is an important element in the correction of body posture abnormalities. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the influence of corrective exercises in a water environment on the shape of the antero-posterior curves of the spine and on the functional status of the locomotor system of children with Io scoliosis.

Bioelectric activity of selected muscle groups in people with impingement syndrome.

The aim of this study was to assess the changes of the bioelectric activity of the selected muscles and their impact on the functioning of the shoulder joint in people with impingement syndrome. The study covered 58 subjects aged between 24 and 85, who were treated for impingement syndrome in the years 2004-2006. The average duration of the disease was 40 months.

Analysis of three-dimensional motion of the glenohumeral joint in impingement syndrome.

Introduction: Impingement syndrome (IS) is one of the most common causes of progressive dysfunctions of the shoulder joint. The aim of the study was to evaluate the changes in the joint's mobility in patients with IS and to find correlations between the angular values of particular motion ranges.

Material And Method: The study involved 58 people aged 24-85 years, treated for IS from 2004 to 2006.

Principles of physiotherapeutic management of shoulder impingement syndrome.

Background: The study aimed to assess changes in shoulder joint mobility and symmetry as well as changes in the bioelectrical activity of selected muscles important for the functioning of the shoulder complex in order to determine optimal physiotherapeutic management in patients with shoulder impingement syndrome.

Material And Method: The study involved 58 persons aged 24-85 years treated for shoulder impingement syndrome from 2004 to 2006. Symptoms had been present for 40 months on average.

Posture in people with shoulder impingement syndrome.

Background: The posture of people with shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS) is a result of adaptive defensive posturing to decrease the intensity of pain in the affected joint. The aim of this work is to characterise trunk and shoulder girdle positioning in patients with SIS.

Material And Method: The study involved 58 patients treated for SIS in the years 2004-2006.

Changes in body posture in children with first-degree scoliosis taking part in corrective exercises in a water environment.

Background. Swimming and aquatic exercises are a very attractive form of movement for children and young people, which is helpful in correcting posture defects. The water environment relieves pressure on the spine, relaxes muscles, and makes it easier to assume the proper posture.

Somatic features and parameters of anterior-posterior spinal curvature in 7-year-olds with particular posture types.

Background. One of the key elements in the examination and evaluation of body posture is defining the shape and size of anterior-posterior curvature of the spine and the location of symmetrical bone points in the trunk area. The aim of our study was to determine which somatic features and parameters of spinal curvature in the sagittal plane show statistically significant differences among children with given types of body posture.

Outcome assessment after the surgical correction of scoliosis using the Cotrel-Dubousset method.

Background. The goal of our study was to assess the outcome of the surgical treatment of scoliosis using the Cotrel- Dubousset method. Material and methods.

The effectiveness of self-correction of body posture in girls with idiopathic scoliosis.

Background. The aim of our study was to assess self-correction of body posture depending on the position assumed. We made observations of the body posture of subjects in the habitual-unrestrained position and the forced erect position, and on that basis we assessed the capacity for self-correction in girls with lateral idiopathic scoliosis.

Pseudoradicular symptoms in patients exhibiting the lumbar spinal disc disease.

Introduction: The goal is to describe occurrences of functional motion system disorders in patients who exhibit the lumbar spinal disc disease. It is assumed that the lower back pain- radicular and pseudoradicular is caused by the lumbar spinal disc disease.

Material And Methods: Studies were performed in 19 patients who exhibited MRI determined hernia disc in the lumbar spine.

MRP8/MRP14 impairs endothelial integrity and induces a caspase-dependent and -independent cell death program.

Activated phagocytes express considerable amounts of MRP8 and MRP14, 2 calcium-binding S100 proteins forming stable heterodimers that are specifically secreted at inflammatory sites in many diseases. We previously reported that treatment of human microvascular endothelial cells with purified MRP8/MRP14 leads to loss of endothelial cell contacts. In this study, we demonstrate that MRP8/MRP14 complexes furthermore trigger cell death of endothelial cells after the onset of cell detachment.

Biophysical characterization of S100A8 and S100A9 in the absence and presence of bivalent cations.

S100A8 and S100A9 are two proinflammatory molecules belonging to the S100 family of calcium-binding proteins. Common to all S100 proteins S100A8 and S100A9 form non-covalently associated complexes which have been shown to exhibit different functional properties. Besides dimerization, recent research is focused on the importance of higher oligomeric structures of S100 proteins induced by bivalent cations.

Glucocorticoids induce differentiation of a specifically activated, anti-inflammatory subtype of human monocytes.

Monocytes and macrophages may either promote or down-regulate inflammatory reactions depending on their state of activation. The effects of glucocorticoids (GCs), the most widely used immunosuppressive drugs, on monocytes are currently not well defined. By analyzing the GC-induced expression pattern in human monocytes by microarray technology, we identified for the first time GC-dependent regulation of 133 genes, including anti-inflammatory molecules such as adenosine A3 receptor, CD1d, and IL-1 receptor II.

Serum cytochrome c indicates in vivo apoptosis and can serve as a prognostic marker during cancer therapy.

Despite significant progress in cancer therapy, the outcome of the treatment is often unfavorable. Better treatment monitoring would not only allow an individual more effective, patient-adjusted therapy, but also it would eliminate some of the side effects. Using a cytochrome c ELISA that was modified to increase sensitivity, we demonstrate that serum cytochrome c is a sensitive apoptotic marker in vivo reflecting therapy-induced cell death burden.