The effects of cadmium exposure in the induction of inflammation.

Inflammation is a physiological process essential for maintaining homeostatic mechanisms in human, but however, exaggerated inflammatory responses are closely related to many chronic diseases. Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal with high toxicity when present in food, water and air has the potential of eliciting inflammatory reactions, with a major health risk to human. This review aimed to elucidate on the major routes of Cd exposure, the main organs affected by the exposure, the degree of toxicity as well as the roles of the toxic effects on the immune system which results to inflammatory responses. Immune modulation by Cd may cause serious adverse health effects in humans. Various studies have highlighted the ability of Cd as an environmental pollutant involved in the modulation of the innate, adaptive and mucosal immune responses in relations to the release of chemokine, gene expression, and susceptibility to microbial infections.

Immunotherapeutic Effects of ß-D Mannuronic Acid on IL-4, GATA3, IL-17 and RORC Gene Expression in the PBMC of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic relapsing immune-mediated disorders that result from an aberrant immunological response. IBD comprises of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). The precise aetiology of IBD has not been fully understood, however, recent studies support the hypothesis that patients with IBD have a dysregulated immune response to endogenous bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The increasing number of hospitalisation coupled with the high economic burden faced by IBD patients, calls for more concerted research efforts, to design a potent and credible treatment option for these strata of patients. This research was designed to test the efficacy and potency of ß-D Mannuronic acid (M2000) in the treatment of IBD. Ten ml of blood was aseptically collected from 24 IBD patients and 24 normal controls. PBMC was isolated and stimulated with 1 µg/mL of LPS and incubated for 4 hours. The cells were later treated with 10 µg/mL or 50 µg/mL of Mannuronic acid and incubated for 24 hours at 370C under 5% CO2 and 100% humidity. After the incubation, RNA was extracted from the cells, cDNA was synthesised, and the expression of the gene was evaluated using quantitative real-time PCR. The result indicated a significant down-regulation of RORC and IL-17 genes expression, while the expression of IL-4 and GATA3 genes were significantly up-regulated. These research findings have shown that M2000 a biocompatible agent, that has an immunotherapeutic, immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive effects on the PBMC of IBD patients.