Novel role and regulation of the interleukin-1 receptor associated kinase (IRAK) family proteins.

The interleukin-1 receptor associated kinases (IRAKs) sit at the bottle neck for the Toll-like-receptor (TLR) mediated signal transduction process controlling host innate immune response. However, the exact role and regulation of IRAKs are still in the early stage and not fully understood. This review intends to summarize the recent advancement in this important topic and point out areas that need further intensive investigation.

Melatonin enhances lymphocyte proliferation and decreases the release of pituitary pro-opiomelanocortin-derived peptides in surgically traumatized rats.

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of melatonin (MT) on spleen lymphocyte proliferation and release of pituitary pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptides in surgically traumatized rats. MT prevented the depression of lymphocyte proliferation induced by trauma in vivo and in vitro, and prevented the decrease of beta-endorphin and adrenocorticotropin in the pituitary in vivo, but dose-dependently inhibited the release of POMC-derived peptides from the pituitary in vitro. The culture media of the pituitaries derived from the traumatized rats inhibited lymphocyte proliferation of normal rats.

Effect of melatonin and electroacupuncture (EA) on NK cell activity, interleukin-2 production and POMC-derived peptides in traumatic rats.

The present study was to evaluate the effect of melatonin (MT) and EA on the cytotoxic activity of natural killer (NK) cells, the dynamic changes of the induction of interleukin-2(IL-2) and the content of POMC-derived peptides, beta-endorphins (betaE) and ACTH in spleen lymphocytes and in plasma of traumatic rats. The results showed that intraperitioneal (i.p.