Abnormal Immune Response (abnormal + immune_response)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


New insights into the mechanisms of polymorphic light eruption: resistance to ultraviolet radiation-induced immune suppression as an aetiological factor

EXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY, Issue 4 2009
Peter Wolf
Abstract:, An abnormal immune response has long been thought responsible for the patho-aetiology of polymorphic light eruption, the most common photodermatosis. Recent evidence indicates that polymorphic light eruption patients are resistant to the immune suppressive effects of sunlight, a phenomenon that leads to the formation of skin lesions upon seasonal sun exposure. This immunological abnormality in polymorphic light eruption supports the concept of the biological significance and evolutionary logic of sunlight-induced immune suppression, i.e. the prevention of immune responses to photo-induced neo-antigens in the skin, thereby preventing autoimmunity and skin rashes. This article focuses on the immunological alterations in polymorphic light eruption and the pathogenic significance to the disease state and skin carcinogenesis. [source]


Loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 6 in HPV-16 positive cervical carcinomas carrying the DRB1*1501-DQB1*0602 haplotype

GENES, CHROMOSOMES AND CANCER, Issue 4 2004
Hugo Arias-Pulido
High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs), specifically HPV-16 and -18, have been associated with the development of carcinoma in situ (CIS) and of invasive cervical cancer (CC). However, only a small fraction of HPV-infected women will show signs of disease progression, suggesting that other factors in the carcinogenic pathway are needed. We previously demonstrated that human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DRB1*1501-DQB1*0602 (high risk) was associated with the development of CIS and CC tumors in HPV-16-positive patients. To characterize the molecular changes that could be relevant to tumor progression, we compared the extent of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosome 6 in HPV-16-positive CIS patients who were carriers of high-risk and neutral HLA haplotypes. CIS and CC cases demonstrated similar LOH patterns. A wide range of LOH frequencies was found at 6p (10,53%) and 6q (5,28%) in CIS cases, suggesting that LOH is an early event in the carcinogenic process. A comparative analysis of LOH frequencies in the high-risk versus the neutral HLA haplotypes showed a statistically significant difference in the extent of LOH at 6p24,p25 (58.6% versus 25.8%; P = 0.018) and at 6p21.3 (79.3% versus 35.5%; P = 0.001), a region that contains the HLA complex. LOH at this region could affect genes encoding HLA class I,II molecules, as well as factors responsible for the assembly, transport, and stable expression of HLA molecules. These losses may be a reflection of both an abnormal immune response and a general genome-wide instability resulting from virus persistence. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Clinical trial: the microbiological and immunological effects of synbiotic consumption , a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study in active Crohn's disease

ALIMENTARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 7 2010
H. Steed
Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2010; 32: 872,883 Summary Background, Crohn's disease is an inflammatory illness in which the immune response against gut microorganisms is believed to drive an abnormal immune response. Consequently, modification of mucosal bacterial communities, and the immune effects they elicit, might be used to modify the disease state. Aim, To investigate the effects of synbiotic consumption on disease processes in patients with Crohn's disease. Methods, A randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial was conducted involving 35 patients with active Crohn's disease, using a synbiotic comprising Bifidobacterium longum and Synergy 1. Clinical status was scored and rectal biopsies were collected at the start, and at 3- and 6-month intervals. Transcription levels of immune markers and mucosal bacterial 16S rRNA gene copy numbers were quantified using real-time PCR. Results, Significant improvements in clinical outcomes occurred with synbiotic consumption, with reductions in both Crohn's disease activity indices (P = 0.020) and histological scores (P = 0.018). The synbiotic had little effect on mucosal IL-18, INF-, and IL-1,; however, significant reductions occurred in TNF-, expression in synbiotic patients at 3 months (P = 0.041), although not at 6 months. Mucosal bifidobacteria proliferated in synbiotic patients. Conclusion, Synbiotic consumption was effective in improving clinical symptoms in patients with active Crohn's disease. [source]


The immune recognition of gluten in coeliac disease

CLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 3 2005
R. Ciccocioppo
Summary Coeliac disease, the most common intestinal disorder of western populations, is an autoimmune enteropathy caused by an abnormal immune response to dietary gluten peptides that occurs in genetically susceptible individuals carrying the HLA-DQ2 or -DQ8 haplotype. Despite the recent progresses in understanding the molecular mechanisms of mucosal lesions, it remains unknown how increased amounts of gluten peptides can enter the intestinal mucosa to initiate the inflammatory cascade. Current knowledge indicates that different gluten peptides are involved in the disease process in a different manner, some fragments being ,toxic' and others ,immunogenic'. Those defined as ,toxic' are able to induce mucosal damage either when added in culture to duodenal endoscopic biopsy or when administered in vivo, while those defined as ,immunogenic' are able to specifically stimulate HLA-DQ2- or DQ8-restricted T cell clones isolated from jejunal mucosa or peripheral blood of coeliac patients. These peptides are able to trigger two immunological pathways: one is thought to be a rapid effect on the epithelium that involves the innate immune response and the other represents the adaptive immune response involving CD4+ T cells in the lamina propria that recognize gluten epitopes processed and presented by antigen presenting cells. These findings are the subject of the present review. [source]