Regulatory T cells (Tregs; CD4+CD25highFoxp3+) are critical in maintaining immune tolerance during pregnancy and uterine vascularization. In this study, we show that, in Mexican women with different preeclamptic severity levels, the number of Tregs and the subset of CD4+CD25highFoxp3+ are decreased compared with those of normotensive pregnant women (NP). Moreover, a systemic inflammatory state is a pivotal feature in the pathogenesis of this disorder and could be related to hypertension and endothelial dysfunction. Likewise, we observed elevated levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-8 in the serum of severe preeclamptic patients (SPE); no differences were found in the IL-1β and IL-10 levels compared with those of NP patients. An analysis of chemokines in the preeclamptic serum samples showed high levels of CXCL10, CCL2, and CXCL9. Our findings suggest that the preeclamptic state is linked with systemic inflammation and reduced numbers of Tregs.

Human natural killer (NK) cells are considered professional cytotoxic cells that are integrated into the effector branch of innate immunity during antiviral and antitumoral responses. The purpose of this study was to examine the peripheral distribution and expression of NK cell activation receptors from the fresh peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 30 breast cancer patients prior to any form of treatment (including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy), 10 benign breast pathology patients, and 24 control individuals. CD3−CD56dimCD16bright NK cells (CD56dim NK) and CD3−CD56brightCD16dim/− NK cells (CD56bright NK) were identified using flow cytometry. The circulating counts of CD56dim and CD56bright NK cells were not significantly different between the groups evaluated, nor were the counts of other leukocyte subsets between the breast cancer patients and benign breast pathology patients. However, in CD56dim NK cells, NKp44 expression was higher in breast cancer patients (P = .0302), whereas NKp30 (P = .0005), NKp46 (P = .0298), and NKG2D (P = .0005) expression was lower with respect to healthy donors. In CD56bright NK cells, NKp30 (P = .0007), NKp46 (P = .0012), and NKG2D (P = .0069) expression was lower in breast cancer patients compared with control group. Only NKG2D in CD56bright NK cells (P = .0208) and CD56dim NK cells (P = .0439) showed difference between benign breast pathology and breast cancer patients. Collectively, the current study showed phenotypic alterations in activation receptors on CD56dim and CD56bright NK cells, suggesting that breast cancer patients have decreased NK cell cytotoxicity.

These results suggest that the increase in arginase activity in platelets and erythrocytes participates in the alteration in nitric oxide metabolism in COPD patients and that there may be some differences between the tobacco smoke- and wood smoke-induced COPD.

Pebisut is a biological adhesive composed of naturally occurring carbohydrates combined with zinc oxide (ZnO) initially used as a coadjutant for healing of anastomoses. Likewise some works demonstrated that carbohydrate complexes exerts anti-inflammatory activity and it is widely known that ZnO modulate inflammation. However, the direct effects of Pebisut on isolated cells and acute inflammatory responses remained to be investigated. The present study evaluated anti-inflammatory effect of Pebisut using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated human mononuclear cells, chemotaxis, and cell infiltration in vivo in a murine model of peritonitis. Our data show that human cells treated with different dilutions of Pebisut release less IL-6, IL-1β, and IL-8 after LPS stimuli compared with the control treated cells. In addition, Pebisut lacked chemotactic activity in human mononuclear cells but was able to reduce chemotaxis towards CCL2, CCL5, and CXCL12 that are representative mononuclear cells chemoattractants. Finally, in a murine model of peritonitis, we found less number of macrophages (F4/80+) and T lymphocytes (CD3+) in peritoneal lavages from animals treated with Pebisut. Our results suggest that Pebisut has anti-inflammatory activity, which might have a beneficial effect during anastomoses healing or wounds associated with excessive inflammation.

Essential oils of Citrus sinensis and Citrus latifolia have shown biological functions as antiseptics, anti-inflammatories, antioxidants, antifungal and antimutagenic, so the evaluation of their antibacterial capacity, by themselves or in combination with standard antibiotics, presents an alternative for infection treatment. Flow cytometry opens the door for the design of faster and more accurate measurement of antibacterial activity. We use a SYTO9/PI staining system on E. coli ATCC 25922 to determine antibacterial activity by counting live and dead cells through flow cytometry. We found that dual staining showed highly variable results due to wavelength overlapping and instead we used fluorochrome individual staining that highly correlated with viable counts. Chloramphenicol and cefotaxime treatments did not present a dose-response behavior, rendered diffuse readings and/or gave filament formation on fluorescence microscopy. Amikacin was a better comparison standard because it presented a dose-response behavior. Essential oils had low antibacterial activity as compared to amikacin, with a maximum of 10% and 20% for C. latifolia and C. sinensis, respectively. Combinations of essential oils with antibiotic resulted in an unforeseen strong inhibition of amikacin activity. Although a low antibacterial activity was found, a series of standardization steps are proposed for antibacterial activity measurement by flow cytometry.