Immunologic effector mechanisms of a standardized mistletoe extract on the function of human monocytes and lymphocytes in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo.

Even though mistletoe extracts have been in clinical use for centuries their exact mode of action is still unknown. Currently, the application scheme for registered preparations is a dose-escalating scheme to thus reduce side effects. In this study, healthy controls and patients were evaluated for their immunologic response to treatment with a standardized mistletoe extract (Iscador).

Improving the in vitro antigen specific T cell proliferation assay: the use of interferon-alpha to elicit antigen specific stimulation and decrease bystander proliferation.

The measurement of the proliferative response of primed T cells to an antigenic stimulus (lymphocyte transformation assay: LTT) is commonly used for determining T cell immune responsiveness. However, the ratio between the spontaneous and the antigen-triggered response (stimulation index) is frequently quite low (<3-5) making the interpretation difficult. We modified the assay by the addition of interferon-alpha and the use of fresh autologous serum instead of human AB pool serum.

Mechanisms of endotoxin tolerance in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis: role of interleukin 10, interleukin 1 receptor antagonist, and soluble tumour necrosis factor receptors as well as effector cell desensitisation.

Background: In patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis, endotoxaemia is a frequent finding. Unknown mechanisms, however, prevent typical clinical symptoms of endotoxaemia in many patients.

Methods: We determined plasma levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators, ex vivo cytokine secretion capacity, and expression of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) receptors on phagocytic blood cells in 49 patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and 41 age matched healthy controls.

Plasma cytokine parameters and mortality in patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: Inflammatory immune activation is an important feature in chronic heart failure (CHF). Little is known about the prognostic importance of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), soluble TNF-receptor 1 and 2 (sTNF-R1/sTNF-R2), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and soluble CD14 receptors (sCD14) in CHF patients.

Methods And Results: In 152 CHF patients (age 61+/-1 years, New York Heart Association [NYHA] class 2.

[Prophylactic effectiveness of propolis for immunostimulation: a clinical pilot study].

Objective: The aim of this pilot investigation was to show the evidence of the prophylactic immunostimulating effectiveness caused by propolis. The immune response was determined by the measurement of the cytokine level in vivo and ex vivo (TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-8).

Study Design: In an open prospective monocentric study, test persons received Propolis XNP.

The influence of laparotomy and laparoscopy on tumor growth in a rat model.

Background: The effects of laparotomy and laparoscopy with different gases on subcutaneous and intraperitoneal tumor growth have not been evaluated yet.

Methods: Tumor growth of colon adenocarcinoma DHD/K12/TRb was measured in rats after laparotomy, laparoscopy with CO2 or air, and in control group. Cell kinetics were determined after incubation with carbon dioxide or air in vitro and tumor growth was measured subcutaneously and intraperitoneally after surgery in vivo.

Differential regulation of monocytic tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-10 expression.

Activation of human monocytes by bacterial endotoxin (LPS) results in an initial burst of inflammatory cytokines like tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha which is followed by the secretion of anti-inflammatory mediators like interleukin (IL)-10. The signaling pathways in IL-10 induction are unknown. Here, we show that the regulation of IL-10 expression is more complex than that of TNF-alpha.

Inactivation of the very strong HCMV immediate early promoter by DNA CpG methylation in vitro.

The influence of DNA methylation in vitro on the activity of the very strong human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) major immediate early (IE) modulator/enhancer/promoter region was investigated by transient transfection experiments of premonocytic HL-60 cells. While sequence-specific methylation of the major IE enhancer and/or modulator with the cytosine methyl-transferases FnuDII, HhaI and HaeIII had no significant effect, the promoter activity was completely repressed by methylation of the cytosine in 5'-CpG sites with the Spiroplasma methyltransferase SssI. Addition of TNF-alpha or PMA which are strong stimulators of HCMV major IE enhancer/promoter activity in premonocytic HL-60 cells had no effect on repression.

Immunodepression following neurosurgical procedures.

Objective: To determine the influence of a selective, sterile central nervous system surgery on immune reactivity, particularly whether a decrease of monocytic human leukocyte antigen-DR expression, indicating immunodepression, occurs after neurosurgery and if this measurement is useful for identification of patients with a high risk of infection.

Design: Prospective study.

Setting: Department of neurosurgery and intensive care unit in a university hospital.

Stimulation of the human cytomegalovirus IE enhancer/promoter in HL-60 cells by TNFalpha is mediated via induction of NF-kappaB.

TNFalpha enhances the basal activity of the major Immediate Early (IE) enhancer/promoter of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in the immature premonocytic HL-60 cell line. The stimulatory effect of TNFalpha is mediated by induction of the transcription factor NF-kappaB, which specifically binds to the 18-bp repetitive sequence motif of the enhancer region. Complex formation could be competed by oligonucleotides representing the 18-bp sequence motif or the prototype NF-kappaB sequence of the immunoglobulin kappa gene.

Interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 concentrations as predictors of outcome in ventricular assist device patients before heart transplantation.

Objective: To determine whether the serum concentrations of some circulating cytokines (as highly sensitive markers of inflammation) are of value in predicting the outcome of patients with cardiogenic shock and end-stage heart disease, who undergo ventricular assist device implantation until heart transplantation.

Design: Cohort study.

Setting: University teaching hospitals.

Tumour necrosis factor alpha stimulates the activity of the human cytomegalovirus major immediate early enhancer/promoter in immature monocytic cells.

Both tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) stimulated human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) major immediate early (IE) enhancer/promoter activity in the HL-60 granulocyte/monocyte progenitor cell line when added to transfected cells. In U-937 monocytic cells, by contrast, TNF-alpha had no stimulatory effect and the addition of PMA produced only marginal stimulation. In the mature THP-1 monocytic cell line and in differentiated HL-60 cells, addition of TNF-alpha caused inhibition of the IE enhancer/promoter activity.

The influence of interferon-gamma and interleukin-4 on IgE production in B lymphocytes of patients with atopic dermatitis. A possible criterion for selection of patients for interferon therapy.

The regulation of IgE production in B lymphocytes of patients with atopic dermatitis by interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was studied. IL-4 stimulated IgE production in vitro in B-cells of healthy donors and of children with atopic dermatitis, but had only a marginal effect on the high basal level of IgE production by lymphocytes from adult patients with atopic dermatitis. The addition of IFN-gamma prevented in all cases the stimulation of IgE synthesis induced by IL-4.

Immortalization of magnetically separated human lymphocytes by electrofusion.

Human lymphocytes from peripheral blood (MNC) were separated on magnetic beads for the presence of different surface markers. Cells from positive and negative fractions were successfully immortalized by electrofusion with the heteromyeloma line CB-Fu2. B cells, which were separated on anti-CD 19 coated beads, could be immortalized at a rate between 10(-5) and 10(-4) even if the fusion was conducted with just a few hundred thousand cells.

Polyclonal IgG synthesis of mononuclear cells induced by the homopolymer of 4,6-dideoxy-4-formamido-alpha-D-mannopyranosyl units isolated from Brucella melitensis.

Brucella melitensis attaches selectively to B lymphocytes. The bacterium induces in vitro only a slight proliferation of mononuclear cells and inhibits the spontaneous IgG synthesis. In order to characterize these effects, the O-chain of the lipopolysaccharide of Brucella melitensis (a polysaccharide consisting of poly-4,6-dideoxy-4-formamido-alpha-D-mannoside) was prepared and its influence on lymphocyte functions tested.

The mitogenicity of extracts from Sarcocystis gigantea macrocysts is due to lectin(s).

As recently reported, extracts from macrocysts of Sarcocystis gigantea obtained by sonication show mitogenic activity towards lymphocytes. By affinity chromatography using a galactose gel, a lectin fraction which contained the entire mitogenic activity was obtained from these extracts.