Connective tissue contraction is an important aspect of both normal wound healing and fibrosis. This process may contribute to small airway narrowing associated with certain airway diseases. Fibroblast-mediated contraction of a three-dimensional collagen gel has been considered a model of tissue contraction. In this study, the ability of primary cultured human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC) obtained by bronchial brushings to modulate fibroblast gel contraction was evaluated. Human lung fibroblasts (HFL1) were cast into type I collagen gels. The gels were floated both in dishes containing a monolayer of HBEC or in dishes without HBEC. Contraction assessed by measuring the area of gels was increased at all time points from 24 h up to 96 h of coculture. At 48 h, coculture of HBEC with fibroblasts resulted in significantly more contraction than fibroblasts alone (36.6 ± 1.2 vs. 20.4 ± 1.7%, P < 0.05). Lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 10 μg/ml) stimulation of the HBEC augmented the contraction (44.9 ± 1.0%, P < 0.05 vs. HBEC). In the presence of indomethacin, the augmentation by LPS was increased further (52.2 ± 4.3%, P< 0.05 vs. HBEC with LPS), suggesting that prostaglandins (PGs) are present and may inhibit contraction. Consistent with this, PGE was present in HBEC-conditioned medium. Bronchial epithelial cell conditioned medium had an effect similar to coculturing. SG-150 column chromatography revealed augmentive activity between 20 and 30 kDa and inhibitory activity between 10 and 20 kDa. Measurement by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay confirmed the presence of the active form of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β2. The stimulatory activity of conditioned medium was blocked by adding anti-TGF-β antibody. These data demonstrate that, through the release of factors including TGF-β2 which can augment and PGE which can inhibit, HBEC can modulate fibroblast-mediated collagen gel contraction. In this manner, HBEC may modulate fibroblast activities that determine the architecture of bronchial tissue.

Autoinflammatory diseases (AIDs) represent a rare and heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by recurrent episodes of inflammation and a broad range of clinical manifestations. The most common symptoms involve recurrent fevers, musculoskeletal symptoms, and serositis; however, AIDs can also lead to life-threatening complications, such as macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) and systemic AA amyloidosis. Typical monogenic periodic fever syndromes include cryopyrin-associated periodic fever syndrome (CAPS), tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS), mevalonate kinase deficiency/hyper IgD syndrome (MKD/HIDS), and familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). However, a number of other clinical entities, such as systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA), adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD), Kawasaki disease (KD) and idiopathic recurrent pericarditis (IRP), display similar phenotypical and immunological features to AIDs. All these diseases are pathophysiologicaly characterized by dysregulation of the innate immune system and the central pathogenic role is attributed to the IL-1 cytokine family (IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-1Ra, IL-18, IL-36Ra, IL-36α, IL-37, IL-36β, IL-36g, IL-38, and IL-33). Therefore, reasonable therapeutic approaches aim to inhibit these cytokines and their pathways. To date, several anti-IL-1 therapies have evolved. Each drug differs in structure, mechanism of action, efficacy for the treatment of selected diseases, and side effects. Most of the available data regarding the efficacy and safety of IL-1 inhibitors are related to anakinra, canakinumab, and rilonacept. Other promising therapeutics, such as gevokizumab, tadekinig alfa, and tranilast are currently undergoing clinical trials. In this review, we provide sophisticated and up-to-date insight into the therapeutic uses of different IL-1 inhibitors in monogenic periodic fever syndromes.

Interleukin (IL)-4 is thought to contribute to the Th2 type of immune response and hence the development of allergic reactions such as asthma. In asthmatic patients, the airway epithelium expresses increased amounts of the cell surface adhesion molecule intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 (CD54). One cytokine capable of inducing ICAM-1 in airway epithelial cells, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), is present in asthma. This study evaluated if IL-4 either alone or together with TNF-α costimulation might modulate CD54 expression by human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs). CD54 positivity increased in response to IL-4 (16 ± 2% positive vs. 3 ± 1%, P < 0.01); greater induction of CD54 resulted from TNF-α (45 ± 2%, P < 0.001). Costimulation with TNF-α plus IL-4 further augmented expression (56 ± 1%, P < 0.05). Immunoperoxidase results were confirmed by flow cytometry. RT-PCR revealed no increase in ICAM-1 mRNA expression under control conditions or after stimulation with IL-4 alone. TNF-α increased IL-4 mRNA, and IL-4 potentiated this. Functionally, IL-4 augmented the adhesion of THP-1 monocyte/macrophage cells to monolayers of HBECs both alone and in the presence of TNF-α. We conclude that 1) IL-4 augments epithelial cell ICAM-1 expression, 2) IL-4 potentiates the adhesion of THP-1 monocyte/macrophage cells to epithelial cells, and 3) modulation of epithelial cell ICAM-1 expression by IL-4 may play a role in the immunopathology of bronchial asthma.

BackgroundAbout 30% of the population worldwide are infected with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Latent toxoplasmosis has many specific behavioral and physiological effects on the human organism. Modified reactivity of the immune system has been suggested to play a key role in many of these effects. For example, the immunosuppression hypothesis explains the higher probability of the birth of male offspring observed in Toxoplasma-positive humans and mice by the protection of the (more immunogenic) male embryos against abortion.MethodsHere we searched for indices of immunosuppression in Toxoplasma-positive subjects by comparing clinical records of immunology outpatients.ResultsOur cohort study showed that the male patients with latent toxoplasmosis had decreased and the Toxoplasma-positive women had increased leukocyte, NK-cell and monocyte counts in comparison with controls. The B-cell counts were reduced in both Toxoplasma-positive men and women. The difference between Toxoplasma-positive and Toxoplasma-negative subjects diminished with the decline of the specific Toxoplasma antibody titre (a proxy for the length of infection), which is consistent with the observed decreasing strength of the effect of latent toxoplasmosis on human reproduction. The prevalence of toxoplasmosis in 128 male patients was unusually low (10.9%) which contrasted with normal prevalence in 312 female patients (23.7%) and in general population Prague (20-30%).ConclusionsLatent toxoplasmosis has immunomodulatory effects in human and probably protects men against some classes of immunopathological diseases. The main limitation of the present study was the absence of the data on the immunoreactivity of immune cells subpopulations. Therefore further studies are needed to search for indices of immunosuppression in human using more specific markers.

Calprotectin (MRP8/14, S100A8/S100A9, 27E10 antigen) is a heterodimer of two calcium-binding proteins present in the cytoplasm of neutrophils and expressed on the membrane of monocytes. Upon neutrophil activation or endothelial adhesion of monocytes, calprotectin is released and may be detected in serum or body fluids as potentially useful clinical inflammatory marker. The soluble form of calprotectin provides both bacteriostatic and cytokine-like effects in the local environment. When calprotectin metabolism is affected on a systemic level, the zinc-binding properties of protein may induce severe dysregulation of zinc homeostasis with severe clinical symptoms. The distribution of membrane form of calprotectin is restricted to monocytes and immature macrophages and the presence of calprotectin-positive infiltrating cells reflects the influx of mononuclear phagocytes to the site of inflammation. Calprotectin expression and release seems to be of particular importance in immune and immunopathological reactions.