No abstract

The acute phase response is a systemic reaction to inflammatory processes characterized by multiple physiological adaptations, including the hepatic synthesis of acute-phase proteins. In humans, serum amyloid A (SAA) is one of the most prominent of these proteins. Despite the huge increase of serum levels of SAA in inflammation, its biological role remains to be elucidated, even though SAA is undoubtedly active in neutrophils. In a previous study, we reported that SAA induces the release of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-8 from human blood neutrophils. Here, we extend our earlier study, focusing on the effect of SAA on neutrophil IL-8 transcription and on the signaling pathways involved. We demonstrate herein that SAA, in relatively low concentrations (0.4-100 microg/ml) compared with those found in plasma in inflammatory conditions, induces a dose-dependent release of IL-8 from neutrophils. The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitor SB 203580 inhibits the IL-8 mRNA expression and the release of protein from neutrophils. The release of IL-8 from SAA-stimulated neutrophils is strongly suppressed by the addition of N-acetyl-l-cysteine, alpha-mercaptoethanol, glutathione, and dexamethasone. SAA also induces IL-8 expression and release from monocytes. In conclusion, SAA appears to be an important mediator of the inflammatory process, possibly contributing to the pool of IL-8 produced in chronic diseases, which may play a role in degenerative diseases.

No abstract

This work reports the effect of the apolipoproteins A-I and A-II (apoA-I and apoA-II) on the release of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-8, and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) and on the oxidative burst of human neutrophils. By themselves, apoA-I and apoA-II do not affect the basal liberation of these cytokines, whereas apoA-I affects the release of IL-1beta from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated neutrophils and apoA-II affects IL-8 released from LPS-stimulated neutrophils. ApoA-II also decreases the production of IL-8 released by neutrophils stimulated with the acute phase apolipoprotein serum amyloid A. Both apoA-I and apoA-II exerted approximately 30% inhibition on the oxidative burst of neutrophils stimulated by opsonized zymosan, as revealed by the luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence assay. These findings give additional support to the idea that the role of human plasma lipoproteins and apolipoproteins goes beyond their function in lipid transport and metabolism. HDL apolipoproteins appear to be a class of mediators that can participate in the regulation of the activity of neutrophils.

O estudo destaca um conjunto de variáveis associadas aos processos de controle e às ações para mitigar o consumo dos recursos nas operações com o objetivo de verificar se as empresas certificadas pela norma NBR ISO 14001 apresentam procedimentos de gestão ambiental significativamente diferentes dos adotados pelas empresas não certificadas por essa norma. É uma pesquisa descritiva assentada em uma amostra composta por 649 empresas de diferentes ramos de atividade, que disponibilizaram informações para a publicação na revista Análise Gestão Ambiental (2008). Foram objeto de estudo os seguintes recursos: água, energia elétrica, combustíveis, lenha/carvão e recursos minerais. A utilização de tratamento estatístico, consubstanciada na regressão logística e no quiquadrado, permitiu evidenciar que as empresas certificadas pela norma NBR ISO 14001 acentuam um conjunto maior dos fatores ambientais em sua gestão por meio de controles, ações e programas estruturados, demonstrando assim maior preocupação socioambiental.