Administration of CD4CD25CD127FoxP3 Regulatory T Cells for Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: A Phase 1 Study.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated disease in which autoimmune T conventional (T) cells break the blood-brain barrier and destroy neurons of the central nervous system. It is hypothesized that CD4CD25CD127FoxP3 T regulatory (T) cells may inhibit this destruction through suppressive activity exerted on T cells.

Methods: We present the results of a phase 1b/2a, open-label, two-arm clinical trial in 14 patients treated with autologous T cells for relapsing-remitting MS.

Cerebral and skin microcirculatory dysfunction in type 1 diabetes.

Introduction: An increase in cerebral pulsatility index (PI), measured by transcranial Doppler, reflects the presence of cerebral microangiopathy. A decrease in distance between skin capillaries (DISTANCE) and an increase in the ratio between the area of capillaries and total area of examined skin (COVERAGE), revealed by capillaroscopy, reflects skin microangiopathy. However, little is known about the association between the cerebral and skin microvasculature function in patients at risk of microcirculatory dysfunction.

Cerebral thrombolysis in patients with ischemic stroke and heart failure.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is common among patients with ischemic stroke (IS), however its impact on outcome after iv-thrombolysis has not been fully determined. Moreover, definition of HF has been recently modified, but majority of stroke studies classified patients regarding an old HF criteria. Thus, the aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between both, newly and formerly defined HF and the long-term outcome, mortality and the presence of hemorrhagic complications in patients with acute IS treated with iv-thrombolysis.

CD271+, CXCR7+, CXCR4+, and CD133+ Stem/Progenitor Cells and Clinical Characteristics of Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients.

Ischemic stroke causes mobilization of various groups of progenitor cells from bone marrow to bloodstream and this correlates with the neurological status of stroke patients. The goal of our study was to identify the activity of chosen progenitor/stem cells in the peripheral blood of acute ischemic stroke patients in the first 7 days after the incident, through associations between the levels of the cells and clinical features of the patients. Thirty-three acute ischemic stroke patients and 15 non-stroke control subjects had their venous blood collected repeatedly in order to assess the levels of the CD45-CD34 + CD271+, the CD45-CD34 + CXCR4+, the CD45-CD34 + CXCR7+, and the CD45-CD34 + CD133+ stem/progenitor cells by means of flow cytometry.

IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels in gingival fluid and serum of patients with ischemic stroke.

It has been documented that an increase of immune cells in periodontitis may stimulate the process of atherosclerosis and lead to ischemic stroke. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is any significant difference in serum and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) cytokine concentrations between patients with early ischemic stroke (IS) and a control group. Eighty-six patients were consecutively enrolled for this study, 50 with ischemic stroke and 36 as a control group with no previous stroke.