Effects of treatment with etanercept versus methotrexate on sleep quality, fatigue and selected immune parameters in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: To compare sleep quality, disease activity and patient-reported outcomes such as fatigue and immune parameters in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with etanercept (ETA) or methotrexate (MTX).

Methods: Of 36 patients (28-joint Disease Activity Score, DAS28CRP≥3.2) in this 16-week (w), open, prospective study, 19 (11 women) received MTX 12.

Effects of PVA-coated nanoparticles on human T helper cell activity.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) are used as high-sensitive enhancer for magnetic resonance imaging, where they represent a promising tool for early diagnosis of destructive diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Since we could demonstrate that professional phagocytes are activated by amino-polyvinyl-alcohol-coated-SPION (a-PVA-SPION), the study here focuses on the influence of a-PVA-SPION on human T cells activity. Therefore, primary human CD4+ T cells from RA patients and healthy subjects were treated with varying doses of a-PVA-SPION for 20h or 72h.

Pathophysiological hypoxia affects the redox state and IL-2 signalling of human CD4+ T cells and concomitantly impairs survival and proliferation.

Inflamed areas are characterized by infiltration of immune cells, local hypoxia and alterations of cellular redox states. We investigated the impact of hypoxia on survival, proliferation, cytokine secretion, intracellular energy and redox state of human CD4(+) T cells. We found that pathophysiological hypoxia (<2% O2 ) significantly decreased CD4(+) T-cell survival after mitogenic stimulation.

Human immune cells' behavior and survival under bioenergetically restricted conditions in an in vitro fracture hematoma model.

The initial inflammatory phase of bone fracture healing represents a critical step for the outcome of the healing process. However, both the mechanisms initiating this inflammatory phase and the function of immune cells present at the fracture site are poorly understood. In order to study the early events within a fracture hematoma, we established an in vitro fracture hematoma model: we cultured hematomas forming during an osteotomy (artificial bone fracture) of the femur during total hip arthroplasty (THA) in vitro under bioenergetically controlled conditions.

Origin and functional activity of the membrane-bound glucocorticoid receptor.

Objective: Glucocorticoids (GCs) exert their antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive effects in humans primarily via the cytosolic GC receptor (cGR) but also via rapid, nongenomic mechanisms. Most likely, membrane-bound GRs (mGR) are involved in nongenomic GC signaling. The aim of this study was to investigate the origin and functional activity of mGR.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor counterregulates dexamethasone-mediated suppression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha function and differentially influences human CD4+ T cell proliferation under hypoxia.

Hypoxia, a feature of inflammation and tumors, is a potent inducer of the proinflammatory cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). In transformed cells, MIF was shown to modulate and to be modulated via the oxygen-sensitive transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1. Furthermore, anti-inflammatory glucocorticoids (GCs) were described to regulate MIF action.

Rimexolone inhibits proliferation, cytokine expression and signal transduction of human CD4+ T-cells.

Rimexolone is a lipophilic glucocorticoid drug used for local application. Only few data are available describing its effects on immune cell functions. In this study we investigated the effects of rimexolone on the proliferation of human CD4+ T-cells using dexamethasone as standard reference.