Cause Of Inflammation In Patients Research Articles

MiR-125b regulates procalcitonin production in monocytes by targeting Stat3

Sepsis is a leading cause of mortality in clinical infection, early identification and intervention is critical to improve its outcomes. Nonetheless, it is difficult to determine whether the cause of inflammation in patients is of bacterial origin at early stage. Procalcitonin (PCT) is considered as a promising marker in clinical laboratory test of bacterial infection. But the details for the regulation of PCT expression are not fully understood. miR-125b is important to immune system development and immunological host defense, while its role in the regulation of PCT production remains unexplored. In this study, we demonstrate that the expression of PCT is regulated by miR-125b in human monocytes. miR-125b modulates PCT expression by manipulating the amount and transcriptional activity of Stat3.

An ignored cause of inflammation in patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis: periodontal problems.

We aimed to assess whether there is a significant relation between periodontal health status and inflammation in uremic patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and also to reveal the efficiency of periodontal treatment in patients with various degrees of periodontal problems. Overall, 68 patients undergoing CAPD were included in the study. Clinical indices and measurements were obtained at baseline and panoramic radiographies were used for the diagnosis. According to the baseline values, patients were stratified into four groups according to the severity of periodontal problems as follows: healthy/gingivitis, slight-to-moderate, and severe periodontitis. A control examination was performed 3 months after the periodontal treatment for only 43 patients. Clinical and laboratory parameters before and after treatment were compared. The frequency of periodontal disease was found to be high in uremic patients on CAPD. The frequency and severity of periodontitis was also found to be significantly (p < 0.01) higher in patients with high sensitive C-reactive protein levels and longer duration of peritoneal dialysis (p < 0.01). In addition, the periodontitis rate was found to be higher in patients with cardiovascular disease (p < 0.05) and diabetes mellitus (p < 0.01). A meticulous periodontal examination should be a routine part of management of the uremic patients on CAPD because periodontal disease could be one of the hidden sources of unexplained inflammatory status.

Lung T-cell responses to nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by pulmonary inflammation that persists after the cessation of smoking. T cells have a major role in driving inflammation in patients with COPD and are activated by specific antigens to produce mediators, such as cytokines. The antigens that activate lung T cells have not been clearly defined. Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is the dominant bacterium isolated from the lungs of patients with COPD. We sought to measure the response of lung tissue T cells to stimulation with NTHi. We obtained lung tissue from 69 subjects having lobectomies for lung cancer. Of the group, 39 subjects had COPD, and 30 without COPD were classified as control subjects. The lung tissue was dispersed into single-cell suspensions and stimulated with live NTHi. Cells were labeledwith antibodies for 5 important inflammatory mediators in patients with COPD and analyzed by using flow cytometry. NTHi produced strong activation of both TH cells and cytotoxic T cells in the COPD cohort. The COPD cohort had significantly higher levels of cells producing TNF-α, IL-13, and IL-17 in both T-cell subsets. When control subjects were divided into those with and without a significant smoking history and compared with patients with COPD, there was a progressive increase in the numbers of T cells producing cytokines from nonsmoking control subjects to smoking control subjects to patients with COPD. NTHi activates lung T cells in patients with COPD. This proinflammatory profibrotic response might be a key cause of inflammation in patients with COPD and has implications for treatment.

Possible cause of systemic inflammation in patients with chronic heart failure of different classes

Jia-Kan Changa,∗, Ming-Chon Hsiungb, Sung-How Suec, Kuo-Chen Leec, Yi-Cheng Chuangc, Chung-Yi Changc, Jeng Wei c, Kai-Sheng Hsiehd aDepartment of Pediatrics, Cheng-Hsin General Hospital b Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Cheng-Hsin General Hospital c Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, Cheng-Hsin General Hospital d Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital

246 Structural alterations of large intestinal wall is a possible cause of systemic inflammation in patients with chronic heart failure of different classes

246 Structural alterations of large intestinal wall is a possible cause of systemic inflammation in patients with chronic heart failure of different classes N.A. Bylova1, G.P. Arutyunov1, L.I. Kafarskaya1, N.A. Savelov2, T.K. Chernyavskaya2, Y.A. Pokrovsky2, N.V. Kokosadze1, A.B. Risnenko1 1Russian State Medical University, Internal Disease, Moscow, Russian Federation; 2Histology, Moscow, Russian Federation