ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Chronic urticaria is characterized by recurrent, itchy, and evanescent wheals over a period of six weeks. The mechanisms of chronic urticaria in children have not been fully elucidated. However, urticaria lesions represent a dynamic inflammatory process involving a complex interplay of various inflammatory mediators, chemokines, adhesion molecules and cellular interaction. The aim of this investigation was to elucidate the possible role of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in the promotion of eosinophil trafficking and the interaction of soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1) with eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) in chronic urticaria. METHODS: Twenty-three children with chronic urticaria and five healthy children were recruited into the study. Total IgE, sICAM-1 and ECP concentrations were measured in all the serum samples from the study subjects, and both skin prick tests and dermographisms were performed after counting peripheral blood eosinophil in each subject. RESULTS: Mean concentration of serum sICAM-1 was higher in the urticaria patient group than in the control (P<0.05), however, serum ECP levels were variable. In the urticaria group, there were statistically significant correlations between the levels of serum ICAM-1 and ECP (r=0.24, P<0.001), and between the levels of serum ICAM-1 and the grade of dermographism (r=0.313, P<0.001). On the other hand, serum ICAM-1 level was not significantly related to the number of peripheral blood eosinophil. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that ICAM-1 and ECP might play a certain important role in the cellular interactions of inflammation involved in chronic urticaria, and the role should be verified by further studies.
Subject(s)
Child , Male , Female , HumansABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Adhesion molecule is related to cell-cell interaction and inflammatory interaction. In addition, adhesive interactions between tumor cells and adjacent cells and/or extracellular matrix are important role in the complex process of tumor growth and develpment. Of these adhesion molecules, expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) have been identified in colon cancer, bladder cancer, lung cancer, melanoma, pancreatic cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma. In the current study, we analyzed serum ICAM-1 concentrations to investigate the relationship between the sICAM-1 level and the prognosis of the disease in patients with lung cancer METHODS: Serum sICAM-1 was measured in 84 patients with lung cancer according to the pathologic types and clinical staging using ICAM-1 ELISA kit. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyse survival time. RESULTS: There was no difference in sICAM-1 concentration among the stage of lung cancer. And no difference was observed among histologic tumor types with regard to sICAM-1 concentration. The overall survival of patients with low sICAM-1 concentration (or=306 ng/mL) in non-small cell lung cancer patients, but no difference was observed in small cell lung cancer patients. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that high levels of sICAM-1 reflect the poor prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
Subject(s)
Humans , Adhesives , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular , Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung , Colonic Neoplasms , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Extracellular Matrix , Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 , Lung Neoplasms , Lung , Melanoma , Pancreatic Neoplasms , Prognosis , Small Cell Lung Carcinoma , Urinary Bladder NeoplasmsABSTRACT
Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1(ICAM-1) plays an important role in a variety of inflammatory and immune-mediated mechanisms, including lymphocyte recruitment and targeting, antigen presentation and recognition, and lymphocyte cytotoxicity.In order to study the changes of soluble ICAM-1 and relationship to the immune mechanism of Graves' disease, we performed the measurement of a soluble form of ICAM-1 in sera from patients with Graves' disease before and after treatment with antithyroid drugs using a highly sensitive ELISA method.Our results were as followed.1) The serum levels of soluble ICAM-1 in patients with Graves' disease before treatment were significantly elevated than normal controls(p0.2).4) The serum levels of soluble ICAM-1 showed no significant correlation with serum titers of anti-thyroperoxidase antibody and anti-thyroglobulin antibody, serum T_3, T_4, TSH and goiter size in patients with Graves' disease.In conclusion, the soluble ICAM-1 levels reflect the activity of autoimmune reaction and might be used as a index of efficacy of antithyroid drug treatment of Graves' disease.