Recombinant C-type lectin protein of Toxocara canis increases the population of spleen Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in BALB/c mice.

Toxocara canis (T. canis) is a common parasitic nematode in dogs and cats. Parasitic worms can cause chronic and long-term infections in their host, due to their ability to neutralize the host's defense mechanisms. They can stimulate immune response-mediated regulatory T (T-reg) cells. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of recombinant T. canis C-type lectin protein (TCTL-1) on cell infiltration in the brains of BALB /c mice as well as the number of regulatory T cells. Six-week-old female BALB/c mice received the recombinant C-type lectin protein of T. canis six times intravenously and intraperitoneally. Twenty-eight days after the first injection, the spleen and brain of mice were removed under sterile conditions. The brains of mice were examined by histopathological staining methods. The FOXP3+ regulatory T cell population was determined by flow cytometry. The cell populations of regulatory T cells in spleen mononuclear cell culture of 3 female BALB/c mice injected with recombinant TCTL-1 (group I) were 2.59%, 1.64%, and 1.78 and in spleen mononuclear cell culture of three female BALB/c mice injected with sterile PBS (group II) as a control group were 1.14%, 1.13%, and 1.15%. Also, no cell infiltration was seen around the cerebral arteries of mice receiving this protein. This recombinant protein would increase the population of FOXP3+ regulatory T cells. These results suggest that recombinant C-type lectin protein of T. canis can modulate immune responses, reduce severe inflammatory responses, and induce FOXP3+ regulatory T cells.

Collagen II-primed Foxp3 Transduced T Cells Ameliorate Collagen-induced Arthritis in Rats: The Effect of Antigenic Priming on T Regulatory Cell Function.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a major role in the prevention of autoimmune diseases. Transfer of Foxp3 gene into conventional T cells converts their phenotype to regulatory T cells. Therefore, the question arises as to whether adoptively transferred in vitro differentiated Treg cells specific for a locally expressed antigen might have better inhibitory effects on the progression of the disease as compared with antigen-nonspecific T reg cells. Herein, we investigated the therapeutic potential of primed and unprimed retrovirus mediated Foxp3-overexpression T cells following intravenously injected of these cells into affected rats with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), an animal model of rheumatoid arthritis. Our analyses demonstrate that systemic administration of collagen II primed Foxp3-transduced T cells could markedly ameliorate CIA inflammatory responses at clinical (p<0.0014) and pathological exchanges including cellular infiltration (p=0.002), bone erosion (p=0.0013) and synovial hyperplasia (p=0.002). In contrast, collagen II unprimed Foxp3-transduced T cells like as collagen II primed or unprimed GFP-transduced T cells did not reveal any beneficial effects on arthritis features as compared with untreated group (p>0.05). Therefore, we believe that collagen II primed Foxp3-transduced T cells are interacting locally and systemically with immune cells which reveled with decreasing of T cells infiltration into joints along with specific CII IgG production. Considering the results described here, it appears that the using patients' T cells which previously exposed to specific antigens may have more effective therapeutic advantage in the production of induced regulatory T cells in the treatment of arthritis.

Alterations in the serum levels of chemokines 20 years after sulfur mustard exposure: Sardasht-Iran Cohort Study.

The serum levels of four important and well characterized inflammatory chemokines including MCP-1/CCL2, RANTES/CCL5, IL-8/CXCL8 and Fractalkine/CX3CL1 were evaluated in sulfur mustard (SM) exposed Iranian population 20 years after exposure. In this historical cohort study 372 SM exposed participants from Sardasht, and 128 unexposed participants as controls were studied. The serum concentrations of chemokines were measured by a sandwich ELISA technique. The serum concentrations in the exposed comparing to the control group were 201.86 vs 180.60 pg/ml (p=0.002), for MCP-1/CCL2, 1182.6 vs 1393.1pg/ml (p=0.021) for RANTES/CCL5, 12.61 vs 15 pg/ml (p=0.002) for IL-8/CXCL8 and 0.696 vs 0.0648 (p=0.413) for Fractalkine/CX3CL1. In conclusion, elevated levels of MCP-1/CCL2 may suggest an anti inflammatory response and decreased levels of IL-8/CXCL8 and RANTES/CCL5 may represent a different pathophysiology and diverse molecular mechanisms involved in long term clinical manifestations of SM exposure. However, further prospect into their role in the pathogenesis of SM remains to be done.

Neutrophil function (innate immunity) during Ramadan.

BACKGROUND: Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the essential religious practices of Muslims. The aim of this study was to evaluate opsonisation, phagocytosis, and nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction by white blood cells in normal, healthy, male subjects under non-fasting (before Ramadan) and fasting (after Ramadan) conditions. METHODS: In this study, 13 Muslim men, aged 28-54 years, whose health was confirmed by health application forms, gave blood samples one week before the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan and during the last week of Ramadan. Blood samples were tested for neutrophil phagocytosis, serum opsonisation power, and NBT reduction. RESULTS: Despite a decline in the neutrophil phagocytic index and serum opsonisation index, the percentage of neutrophils participating in phagocytosis increased with fasting. In addition, there was an increase in the percentage of neutrophils demonstrating NBT reduction. Although there was a decrease in opsonisation of the serum, the increased percentage of opsonisation compensated for this defect. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the beneficial effect of fasting during Ramadan on neutrophil phagocytic function.