• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.37 no.2 s.145
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• pp.110-115
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• 2006

Melittia inouei (Yuri Nabang) larvae are used as a crude drug in East Asia for treating stomach cancer and inflammation, and currently reared as a pharmaceutical insect in Jejudo, Korea. This study evaluated the immuno-modulating activity of these extracts, by determining the level of, cytokine production from mouse splenocytes stimulated with the extracts. The Melittia inouei larvae extracts did not induce the splenocyte proliferation. On the other hand, they stimulated the splenocytes to produce cytokines such as $TNF-{\alpha}$, whereas they did not stimulate IL10, IL12 or $IFN-{\gamma}$. The aqueous portion of its plant (Tri-chosanthis kirilowii) extract (sap) was found to be a potent inducer of NO production from the CPAE cells. However, it showed weak inhibitory effects on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production from splenocytes. These data suggests that a Melittia inouei larvae extract immune modulatory activity in cytokine prodcutions such as $TNF-{\alpha}$ and VEGF which might be related its anticancer effect.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.71-80
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• 2008

Objective: There is increasing evidence that chronic non-bacterial prostatitis is recognized to be a local inflammatory disease, and there is substantiating evidence to support the role of the inflammatory responses in its pathogenesis, and clinical value in the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy. Prunella vulgaris has been traditionally used in treatment of inflammatory diseases, including of scrofula, goiter, and allergy diseases. In this study, we investigated the effects of Prunella vulgaris on inflammatory cytokines and cytopathological alternation in the rat model of non-bacterial prostatitis induced by castration and $17{\beta}-estradiol$ treatment. Methods: Two-month-old rats were treated with $17{\beta}-estradiol$ after castration for induction of experimental non-bacterial prostatitis, which is similar to human chronic prostatitis in histopathological profiles. Prunella vulgaris as an experimental specimen, and testosterone as a positive control, were administered orally. The prostates were evaluated by histopathological parameters including the epithelial score and epithelial-stromal ratio for glandular damage, and the expression of inflammatory cytokine genes including the interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}$, IL-5, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor $(TNF)-{\alpha}$. Results: While prostates of control rats revealed severe acinar gland atrophy and stromal proliferation, the rats treated with Prunella vulgaris showed a diminished range of tissue damage. Epithelial score was improved in Prunella vulgaris over that of the control (P<0.05). The epithelial-stromal ratio was lower with Prunella vulgaris when compared to that of the control (P<0.05). In the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of inflammatory cytokine genes, Prunella vulgaris inhibited the expression of $IL-1{\beta}$ and $TNF-{\alpha}$ genes, while it modulated the expression of IL-5, which is an anti-inflammatory cytokine. Conclusions: These findings suggest that Prunella vulgaris may protect the glandular epithelial cells and also inhibit stromal proliferation in association with the immune modulation including the suppression of inflammatory cytokines and promotion of anti-inflammatory cytokine. From theses results, we suggest that Prunella vulgaris could be a useful remedy agent for treating chronic non-bacterial prostatitis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.285-290
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• 2011

Naegleria fowleri, a ubiquitous free-living ameba, causes fatal primary amebic meningoencephalitis in humans. N. fowleri trophozoites are known to induce cytopathic changes upon contact with microglial cells, including necrotic and apoptotic cell death and pro-inflammatory cytokine release. In this study, we treated rat microglial cells with amebic lysate to probe contact-independent mechanisms for cytotoxicity, determining through a combination of light microscopy and scanning and transmission electron microscopy whether N. fowleri lysate could effect on both necrosis and apoptosis on microglia in a time- as well as dose-dependent fashion. A $^{51}Cr$ release assay demonstrated pronounced lysate induction of cytotoxicity (71.5%) toward microglial cells by 24 hr after its addition to cultures. In an assay of pro-inflammatory cytokine release, microglial cells treated with N. fowleri lysate produced TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-6, and IL-$1{\beta}$, though generation of the former 2 cytokines was reduced with time, and that of the last increased throughout the experimental period. In summary, N. fowleri lysate exerted strong cytopathic effects on microglial cells, and elicited pro-inflammatory cytokine release as a primary immune response.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.32.1-32.15
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• 2022

Malaria is a life-threatening disease, and Africa is still one of the most affected endemic regions despite years of policy to limit infection and transmission rates. Further, studies into the variable efficacy of the vaccine are needed to provide a better understanding of protective immunity. Thus, the current study is designed to delineate the effect of each dose of vaccine on the transcriptional profiles of subjects to determine its efficacy and understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the protection this vaccine provides. Here, we used gene expression profiles of pre and post-vaccination patients after various doses of RTS,S based on samples collected from the Gene Expression Omnibus datasets. Subsequently, differential gene expression analysis using edgeR revealed the significantly (false discovery rate < 0.005) 158 downregulated and 61 upregulated genes between control vs. controlled human malaria infection samples. Further, enrichment analysis of significant genes delineated the involvement of CCL8, CXCL10, CXCL11, XCR1, CSF3, IFNB1, IFNE, IL12B, IL22, IL6, IL27, etc., genes which found to be upregulated after earlier doses but downregulated after the 3rd dose in cytokine-chemokine pathways. Notably, we identified 13 cytokine genes whose expression significantly varied during three doses. Eventually, these findings give insight into the dual role of cytokine responses in malaria pathogenesis. The variations in their expression patterns after various doses of vaccination are linked to the protection as it decreases the severe inflammatory effects in malaria patients. This study will be helpful in designing a better vaccine against malaria and understanding the functions of cytokine response as well.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.817-826
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• 2018

The bursa of Fabricius (BF) is a central humoral immune organ unique to birds. Four bursal peptides (BP-I, BP-II, BP-III, and BP-IV) have been isolated and identified from the BF. In this study, the immunoadjuvant activities of BPs I to IV were examined in mice immunized with H9N2 avian influenza virus (AIV) vaccine. The results suggested that BP-I effectively enhanced cell-mediated immune responses, increased the secretion of Th1 (interferon gamma)- and Th2 (interleukin-4)-type cytokines, and induced an improved cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response to the H9N2 virus. BP-II mainly elevated specific antibody production, especially neutralizing antibodies, and increased Th1- and Th2-type cytokine secretion. BP-III had no significant effect on antibody production or cell-mediated immune responses compared to those in the control group. A strong immune response at both the humoral and cellular levels was induced by BP-IV. Furthermore, a virus challenge experiment followed by H&E staining revealed that BP-I and BP-II promoted removal of the virus and conferred protection in mouse lungs. BP-IV significantly reduced viral titers and histopathological changes and contributed to protection against H9N2 AIV challenge in mouse lungs. This study further elucidated the immunoadjuvant activities of BPs I to IV, providing a novel insight into immunoadjuvants for use in vaccine design.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.356-362
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• 2023

The 2'-fucosyllactose (2'-FL) is the richest components in a human milk oligosaccharide. Several studies have reported that 2'-FL has beneficial effects in infants. However, there are few studies on its immune-enhancing effects. This research aimed to examine the immune-enhancing effect of 2'-FL on immunosuppression by cyclophosphamide (CCP) in ICR mice. Mice were orally administered distilled water or 0.5 mg/kg B.W. 2'-FL for 14 days. An immunocompromised mouse model was induced using CCP 80 mg/kg B.W. at 12-14 days. Using the CCP had effects on reducing their body weight, organ weight, spleen index, natural killer (NK) cell activity, and cytokines concentration and expression. This study also used concanavalin A-mediated T-cell proliferation to verify the immune-enhancing effects in the sample. Body weight, spleen index, organ weight, and cytokine levels were measured to estimate the immune-enhancing effects. The body weight at 14 days tended to increase, and the spleen weight and index significantly increased in the 2'-FL group compared to the CCP group. The NK cell activity increased in the 2'-FL group compared to the CCP group, but there was no significant difference. The concentration of interleukin (IL)-2 tended to recover in the 2'-FL group compared to the CCP group. The 2'-FL group showed a significant increase of IL-10 and IFN-gamma concentration compared to the CCP group. In addition, there was a trend of increased IL-10 mRNA expression compared to the CCP group. These results revealed that 2'-FL improved CCP-induced immunosuppression, suggesting that 2'-FL may have the potential to enhance the immune system.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.274-284
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• 2009

Background: Swiprosin-1 was identified in human CD8+ lymphocytes, mature B cells and non-lymphonoid tissue. We have recently reported that swiprosin-1 is expressed in mast cells and up-regulated in both in vitro and in vivo. Methods: The expression of cytokines and swiprosin-1 were determined by by real time PCR and conventional PCR. Pharmacological inhibitors were treated to investigate potential mechanism of swiprosin-1 in mast cell activation. Actin content was evaluated by confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. Results: The swiprosin-1 augmented PMA/A23187-induced expression of cytokines and release of histamine. However, knock-down of swiprosin-1 showed only a modest effect on PMA/A23187-induced cytokine expression, suggesting that swiprosin-1 has gain-of-function characteristics. Swiprosin-1 was found in microvilli-like membrane protrusions and highly co-localized with F-actin. Importantly, either disruption of actin by cytochalasin B or inhibition of PI3 kinase, an enzyme involved in actin remodeling, by wortmannin blocked cytokine expression only in swiprosin-1-overexpressing cells. Conclusion: These results suggest that swiprosin-1 modulates mast cell activation potentially through actin regulation.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 2006

Purpose : Bee Venom Acupuncture(BVA) is known to affect inflammation and immune system. This study examined the macroscopic, hormonal and immunological effects of BVA on rats with surgically induced endometriosis. Methods : Endometrial tissue was implanted in the serosal wall of the small intestine in rats. The rats were divided randomly into an experimental and control group. The experimental group was treated with BVA injection on kwanwon(CV4) three times per week, and the control group was given an oral dose of normal saline every day. 6 weeks later, the size of the ectopic uterine tissue was estimated, and the serum progesterone, estradiol and cytokine($TNF-{\alpha}$, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-l0) concentrations were analyzed. Results : The size of the ectopic uterine implants in the experimental group was much smaller than that in the control group. The estradiol, IL-2 concentrations were significantly lower and the IL-6, IL-I0 concentrations were significantly higher in the serum of the experimental group than in the control group, there was no significant difference in the concentration of the other cytokine. Conclusion : These results suggest that BVA is an effective treatment for endometriosis.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Bioinformatics Conference
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• 2005.09a
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• pp.41-44
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• 2005

Cytokines play a crucial role in the immune and inflammatory responses. But because of the high evolutionary rate of these proteins, the similarity between different members of their family is very low, which makes the identification of novel members of cytokines very difficult. According to this point, a new bioinformatic strategy to identify novel cytokine of the short-chain and long-chain 4${\alpha}$ helix cytokine using hidden markov model (HMM) is proposed in the paper. As a result, two motifs were created on the two train data sets, which were used to search three different databases. In order to improve the result, a strict criterion is established to filter the novel cytokines in the subject proteins. Finally, according to their E-value, scores and the criterion, four subject proteins are predicted to be possible novel cytokines for each family respectively.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.81-87
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• 2007

Objectives: Angelicae Dahuricae Radix (Baek-Ji in Korean, BJ) is well known to be used as a medicine for cold, headache, supraorbital pain, nasal congestion, and toothache. Little is understood about the roles of BJ in the cytokine and chemokine secretion by immune cells. This study was designed to find out the effects of BJ on the cytokine and chemokine secretion in human mast cells (HMC). Methods : We treated BJ according to consistency on HMC and measured cytokines and chemokines levels using flow cytometry CBA system. Results: In BJ treated group. the expression of interferon-inducible protein 10 (IP-l0), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 9 (MIG), and interleukin 10 (IL-l0) levels were decreased significantly and chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (RANTES), IL-8, $interferone-{\gamma}$ ($IFN-{\gamma}$), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) were decreased significantly. Conclusion : The results of this experiment supposed that the treatment of BJ will ameliorate the secreting levels of some chemokines or cytokines such as IP-10, MCP-1, MIG, IL-10, RANTES, IL-8, $IFN-{\gamma}$, and TNF-a.