جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « Cytokine Assay » در نشریات گروه « پزشکی »

Necrotic enteritis (NE), an infection of the gastrointestinal tract of birds, is a major concern of the poultry industry due to its huge economic losses. The disease is caused by the Gram-positive bacterium Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens). Due to the ban on antibiotic usage in the poultry industry, the incidence of NE has increased significantly in recent years. We have previously shown that immunization of chickens with a subunit chimeric antigen composed of the most effective C. perfringens toxins in NE pathogenesis (alpha toxin, B-like toxin (NetB), and zinc metallopeptidase (ZMP)) can protect birds against this disease. In the present study, the chickens were subcutaneously immunized by the recombinant protein. Then, the expression profile of cytokines in immunized birds was evaluated. For this purpose, following the immunization regimen, samples were taken from the intestines of the birds, mRNAs were extracted and the expression of four different cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-17, and IL-22) was investigated using quantitative real-time PCR. The mentioned cytokines are representatives of helper T lymphocytes and have roles in several immune system activities, such as cellular, humoral, and mucosal immunity responses, as well as inflammation. According to the results of the cytokine assay, subcutaneously-administered recombinant protein elicited humoral and cellular immune systems but it could not stimulate the mucosal immune system. The candidate vaccine elicited the immune system so that the differences between the adjuvant recombinant protein (Adj-rNAM group) and the control group were significant (p <0.001). The results, in addition to our previous study outputs, indicate that our strategy, after completing adequate investigations, can provide an alternative solution to using antibiotics in NE treatment.

Nonencapsulated, nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is considered an important cause of acute otitis in children and respiratory diseases among adults. The bacteria express several outer membrane proteins, some of which have been studied as vaccine candidates. Protein D is a highly conserved surface lipoprotein, which has been found in strains of both encapsulated and nonencapsulated H. influenzae.
Opsonin and protective antibodies against protein D play major roles in the prevention of infections caused by NTHi. Since NTHi can be also an intracellular organism, it needs to be removed through immune-mediated mechanisms.
In this study, groups of BALB/c mice were subcutaneously immunized with recombinanat truncated D protein and an aluminum hydroxide (alum) adjuvant or protein D combined with an outer membrane vesicle (OMV) adjuvant from Neisseria meningitidis bacteria. Then, opsonophagocytic activities of antibodies were measured in serum samples collected on days 14, 28, and 42. The levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-10, and interferon-gamma were measured in splenocyte cultures of immunized mice.
The opsonophagocytic activity of antibodies significantly increased in the immunized mice, compared to the control group, particularly on day 42. In addition, the secretion level of cytokines significantly increased in both groups of immunized mice, compared to the control group.
The results of this study demonstrated that recombinant truncated D protein can induce specific immune responses against nonencapsulated H. influenzae. It was suggested that the recombinant truncated D protein, as a vaccine candidate against the nonencapsulated strains of H. influenza, is essential in protection and development of sustainable immunity against infections caused by this bacterium.

In leishmaniasis, some drugs prescribed for treatment have toxic ef­fects and there are reports about drug resistance in some countries. Due to this fact, using herbal drugs such as artemisinin with good efficacy and low toxic effect might be suitable. We evaluated the apoptotic effect of artemisinin on Leishmania major in vitro and the antileishmanial activities of artemisinin on leishmaniasis in BALB/c mice and at the end INF-γ and IL-4 cytokines levels were detected by ELISA in spleen cell culture supernatants. During treatment the lesion size and survival rate were measured each four and ten days, respectively. Percentage of early and late apoptosis in promastigotes of control group and promastigotes treated with 10, 25, 50 and 100 µg/ml of artemisinin after 48 h were 0.13, 16.04, 41.23, 49.03 and 81.83, respectively. The IFN-γ in ointment treated group were higher than those of other groups (P<0.05). The in vivo results showed that ointment compounds healed the lesions more effectively rather than intraperito­neal injection method (P<0.05). The survival rate of mice 150 days after challenge in treated group with ointment of artemisinin was 66% while all mice in control groups were died. All of in vitro results represented that this drug had antileishmanial ef­fects and these results were confirmed by evaluation effects in vivo condition of leish­maniasis. Interestingly, according to these results it can be concluded that this drug have antileishmanial effects in vitro and in vivo conditions. Artemisinin induces cytotoxic effect on L. major via apoptosis-related mechanism.