Influence of surgical trauma on the mRNA expression of sex hormone receptors in PBMCs in male and female patients.

INTRODUCTION: Gender-specific immune responses have been found after trauma-hemorrhage. Male and female sex hormones seem to be responsible for this gender dimorphism. Alterations in sex hormone receptor expression in mice appear to contribute to the immunomodulatory effect of sex hormones after blood loss. The effect of surgical trauma on the expression of sex hormone receptors in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients, however, remains unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PBMCs were obtained from 14 patients (7 men and 7 women) undergoing major abdominal surgery preoperatively and 2 h postoperatively. The expression of the androgen and the estrogen alpha- and beta- receptors were determined by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). beta-Actin was used as housekeeping gene. RESULTS: The results indicate that surgical trauma has no influence on the expression of the androgen receptor and the estrogen receptors alpha and beta in male and female patients. DISCUSSION: The data demonstrate that, in contrast to mice, no alterations in the expression of androgen and estrogen hormone receptors were evident after surgery in patients. Thus, differences in the expression of sex hormone receptors do not appear to be responsible for the gender-specific immune response after surgery.

L-arginine improves wound healing after trauma-hemorrhage by increasing collagen synthesis.

BACKGROUND: Several studies indicate impaired wound healing after trauma and shock. Wound immune cell dysfunction seems to be responsible for altered wound healing after trauma-hemorrhage (T-H). In this respect, administration of the amino acid L-arginine normalized wound immune cell function under those conditions. It remains unknown, however, whether L-arginine improves impaired wound healing after T-H. METHODS: To study this, male C3H/HeN mice were subjected to a midline laparotomy (i.e., soft tissue trauma induced), and polyvinyl sponges were implanted subcutaneously at the wound site before hemorrhage (35 +/- 5 mm Hg for 90 minutes) or were subjected to sham operation. During resuscitation, mice received 300 mg/kg body weight L-arginine or saline (vehicle). Seven days thereafter, hydroxyproline (OHP), a metabolite of collagen synthesis, was measured in the wound fluid using high-performance liquid chromatography. Collagen types I and III were determined in the wound by Western blot analysis. In addition, wound breaking strength was measured 10 days after T-H or sham operation. RESULTS: The results indicate that OHP was significantly decreased in T-H mice. L-arginine, however, restored depressed OHP in the wound fluid in the T-H animals. Similarly, L-arginine treatment prevented a significant depression of collagen I synthesis after T-H. Collagen III was not significantly affected by T-H or L-arginine. Most important, L-arginine increased maximal wound breaking strength after severe blood loss. Therefore, L-arginine improves wound healing after T-H by increasing collagen synthesis. CONCLUSION: Because L-arginine improves wound healing, the results suggest that L-arginine might represent a novel and useful adjunct to fluid resuscitation for decreasing wound complications after trauma and severe blood loss.

Modulation of autoimmunity to beta-cell antigens by proteases.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Proteases are used in therapy for autoimmune diseases yet the mechanism of their action remains to be determined. We studied the immunological basis of protease therapy in the context of Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. METHODS: We studied the effects of proteases (trypsin, papain, chymotrypsin, bromelain) on immune reactivity of a series of autoreactive T-cell clones from prediabetic subjects and patients with a recent onset of Type I diabetes and specific to the autoantigens GAD65, IA-2 and insulin-secretory granule protein. RESULTS: Cell surface expression of adhesion, co-stimulatory and homing molecules on both antigen-presenting cells and T cells was changed after protease treatment. Cytokine analyses showed a selective inhibition of proinflammatory (Th-1) but not Th-2 cytokine production. Autoreactive T-cell proliferation was inhibited at pharmacological serum concentrations, whereas non-specific proliferation to phytohaemagglutinin was not affected at these concentrations. Preincubation experiments on T cells and antigen-presenting cells separately showed that this effect was mediated by APCs, but not T-cells. CONCLUSION/INTERPRETATION: Proteases have pleiotropic immunological effects supporting an immunomodulatory potential for the intervention of chronic inflammatory diseases and Th-1 mediated oedema formation.

Dominant role of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diabetes in non-obese diabetic mice.

Intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 is involved in forming the immunological synapse. The contribution of ICAM-1 to immune responses is not critical because mice with a disrupted ICAM-1 gene do not have grossly abnormal immune reactivity. Here we report on the surprising finding that diabetes-prone NOD mice with a disrupted ICAM-1 gene (ICAM-1(-/-)) are completely protected from disease development. While 64% of ICAM-1(+/+) and 44% of ICAM-1(+/-) female NOD mice developed overt diabetes until 310 days old, no ICAM-1(-/-) NOD mice became hyperglycaemic. Histological examinations revealed minor infiltration around pancreatic islets of ICAM1(-/-) NOD mice. Administration of cyclophosphamide caused a progression to severe islet destruction in ICAM-1(+/+) NOD mice within 10 days. In contrast, ICAM-1(-/-) mice showed only mild insulitis. Furthermore, ICAM-1(+/+) NOD mice showed an increase of IFN-gamma, interleukin (IL)-12p40 and IL-12p35 pancreatic mRNA levels, leading to an increased ratio of IFN-gamma: IL-4 and IL-12p40: IL-12p35 expression. In contrast, ICAM-1(-/-) NOD mice did not upregulate IFN-gamma or IL-12p40 gene expression but maintained IL-4 and increased IL-12p35 gene expression. These results identify a dominant and non-redundant role of ICAM-1 in the development of autoimmune diabetes.

Circulating forms of intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 in mice lacking membranous ICAM-1.

Mice deficient in intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), lacking membranous ICAM-1, show a normal development but abnormalities of inflammatory and immune functions. Although the membrane-bound form of ICAM-1 is not detectable in the mutant strain, circulating ICAM-1 (cICAM) is present in serum from ICAM-1-deficient mice in similar amounts as in serum from wild-type mice. These findings were confirmed in vitro by flow cytometric analysis of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated spleen cells, and cICAM-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analysis of supernatants of cultured spleen cells. To analyze for the source of cICAM-1, spleen cell RNA was isolated and ICAM-1 RNA was amplified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction using primers binding in the 5' and 3' untranslated regions. Different fragments were cloned and sequenced. In wild-type RNA the common 5 domain form of ICAM-1 was identified. In RNA from ICAM-1 mutant mice only 3 smaller fragments were found. Sequencing these fragments identified 3 alternatively spliced isoforms of ICAM-1, lacking 2 or 3 extracellular domains. However, in all spliced fragments the transmembrane domain was included. Therefore, we postulate that circulating forms of ICAM-1 are generated by proteolytic cleavage of membranous ICAM-1. The data indicate that the expression of membranous ICAM-1 and the appearance of circulating forms in serum are independently regulated mechanisms. (Blood. 2000;95:1350-1355)

B-50/growth-associated protein-43, a marker of neural development in Xenopus laevis.

To study the regulation and function of the growth-associated protein B-50/growth-associated protein-43 (mol. wt 43,000) in Xenopus laevis, B-50/growth-associated protein-43 complementary DNAs were isolated and characterized. The deduced amino acid sequence revealed potential functional domains of Xenopus B-50/growth-associated protein-43 that may be involved in G-protein interaction, membrane-binding, calmodulin-binding and protein kinase C phosphorylation. The expression of B-50/growth-associated protein-43 at the RNA and protein level during development was investigated using the Xenopus complementary DNA and the monoclonal B-50/growth-associated protein-43 antibody NM2. The antibody NM2 recognized the gene product on western blot and in whole-mount immunocytochemistry of Xenopus embryos. Moreover, visualization of the developmentally regulated appearance of B-50/growth-associated protein-43 immunoreactivity showed that this mode of detection may be used to monitor axonogenesis under various experimental conditions. In the adult Xenopus, XB-50/growth-associated protein-43 messenger RNA was shown to be expressed at high levels in brain, spinal cord and eye using northern blotting. The earliest expression detected on northern blot was at developmental stage 13 with poly(A) RNA. By whole-mount immunofluorescence, applying the confocal laser scanning microscope, the protein was first detected in embryos from stage 20, where it was expressed in the developing trigeminal ganglion. Also later in development the expression of the B-50/growth-associated protein-43 gene was restricted to the nervous system in Xenopus, as was previously found for the mouse. In conclusion, we find that XB-50/growth-associated protein-43 is a good marker to study the development of the nervous system in Xenopus laevis.