Search

IL-4 coordinates the Th2-type immune response in inflammatory diseases such as asthma. IL-27 can inhibit the development of both Th2 and Th1 cells. However, IL-27 can also drive naïve T cells to differentiate toward the Th1 phenotype. In this study, we investigated the effects of IL-27 on the activation of IL-4-induced human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B). Compared to controls, both IL-4 and IL-27 (25-100 ng/mL) increased the concentrations of CCL2 and IL-8 in a dose-dependent manner. However, compared to cells stimulated individually with IL-4 or IL-27, treatment with a combination of both cytokines reduced CCL2 and IL-8 concentrations in a dose- and time-dependent manner. IL-4 increased the activation of p38 MAPK, ERK1/2, STAT6 and NF-κB, while IL-27 increased the activation of p38 MAPK and ERK1/2 but not STAT6 and NF-κB. Compared to IL-4-stimulated cells, cells treated with both IL-27 and IL-4 displayed decreased activation of STAT6 and NF-κB but not ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK. Taken together, these results suggest that IL-27 plays a pro-inflammatory role when administered alone but downregulates bronchial epithelial cell activation when combined with IL-4. Therefore, IL-27 may be an interesting target for the treatment of Th2 inflammatory diseases., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Aim: The main goal in Crohn´s disease (CD) is a sustained suppression of inflammatory activity associated with mucosa healing in endoscopic evaluation. During clinical routine, there are small numbers of good markers to monitor inflammatory activity under treatment. We postulated that Oral 67 Gallium Citrate Scintigraphy is able to mark inflammatory disease in mucosa and deep inflammation in CD, when used in oral form., Objective: Measure the accuracy of Oral 67 Gallium Citrate Scintigraphy in intestinal inflammatory activity of Crohn´s disease., Patients and Methods: In a prospective consecutive cross-sectional study from January 2018 to June 2019, the ileocolonic region of 32 patients with CD were studied by dividing into four regions of interest (ROI) from the ileum to the rectum. A total of 128 intestinal segments were analyzed in cluster data. Accuracy values of Oral 67 Gallium Scintigraphy and colonoscopy tests were evaluated with the histological reference test. Values of the respective receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were obtained  and compared. The reliability between the tests was evaluated by Kappa statistical with the segment-level analyses using variance adjustments. All statistical analyses were performed with a test significance level of 0.05., Results: The study population included 32 patients with CD (10 men, 22 women; average age 39 years). Disease time was five years on average. Anti-TNFs treatment was found in 71%. The most found phenotype of the Montreal classification was L3. Differences in ROC curves for colonoscopy (0.94) and Oral 67 Ga Scintigraphy (0.96) did not show significant value (p = 0.32). The sensitivity of scintigraphy to detect intestinal inflammatory activity in CD was 64%, specificity of 96% and accuracy of 84%. A high agreement was found between oral scintigraphy and histological measurements with kappa = 0.64., Conclusions: Oral 67 Ga Scintigraphy had similar accuracy and agreement compared to colonoscopy in the identification of inflammatory activity in Crohn´s Disease. This new approach may be useful and less invasive for long term follow-ups.

Introduction: Oxidative stress markers such as nitric oxide (NO) have been investigated in hemodialysis (HD)., Objective: Evaluate the association of NO variation with adiposity indicators, metabolic, inflammatory and oxidative stress markers in individuals to HD., Methods: Cross-sectional study with 85 subjects on HD treatment (≥ 18 years). The clinical-nutritional status was evaluated through subjective global assessment modified (SGAm), anthropometric measurements and body composition. Dietary intake was evaluated using a food frequency questionnaire. Metabolic markers were obtained from medical records. Inflammatory markers (IL-6 and IL-10) and oxidative stress, (TACs), (SOD), (GST), (MDA) and NO were determined using standardized protocols., Results: Those individuals with a high concentration of NO (> 4.32 μmol/L) had lower values for SGAm score (p = 0.012) and higher iron values (p = 0.050), Fe saturation (p = 0.037) and triacylglycerol (p = 0.003). The same subjects still had lower consumption of copper (p = 0.026), manganese (p = 0.035), vitamin E (p = 0.050), ω3 (p = 0.021) and ω6 (p = 0.020). In a multiple regression model, concentrations of ferritin, triacylglycerol, IL6 and SOD contributed to a 54.8% increase in NO concentrations, whereas triacylglycerol and SOD concentrations were independent factors for NO variation (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The clinical and nutritional status as well as intake of nutrients with antioxidant properties (Cu, Zn, Mn, vitamin C and ω3) appears to modulate the variation of NO in this population.