Increased circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and imbalanced regulatory T-cell cytokines production in chronic idiopathic urticaria

The immunologic characterization of chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU), mainly regarding cytokine profile needs more investigation. We examined circulating inflammatory cytokine levels, T-cell induced secretion, and cytokine mRNA expression in patients with CIU subjected to the intradermal autologous serum skin test (ASST). Increased levels of circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-12p70, and IL-6 have been observed in most of patients with CIU, together with an enhancement of IL-2 secretion following T-cell stimulation. Highlighting the inflammatory profile in CIU found in ASST positive, is the enhanced B-cell proliferative responsiveness and increased IL-17 secretion levels. ASST-positive patients also exhibited impaired IL-4 secretion associated with increased IL-10 production. Altered cytokine expression in patients with ASST-negative, was the down-modulation of spontaneous IL-10 mRNA expression levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Our findings support the concept of immunologic dysregulation in CIU, revealing a systemic inflammatory profile associated with disturbed cytokine production by T cells, mainly related to IL-17 and IL-10 production. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparison of language impairment in late-onset depression and Alzheimer`s disease

Objectives: Depression and dementia are highly prevalent in the elderly. Language impairment is an inherent component of Alzheimer`s disease (AD), which can also be encountered in depressed patients. The aim of this study wasto compare the profiles of language abilities in late-onset depression and mild AD groups. Methods: We studied 25 patients with late-onset depression (mean age 73.6 +/- 6.6 years; schooling 9.1 +/- 5.7 years) and 30 patients with mild AD (77.6 +/- 5.4 years; 7.5 +/- 7.1 years) using the Arizona Battery for Communication Disorders of Dementia (ABCD), compared to a group of 30 controls (73.8 +/- 5.8 years; 9.1 +/- 5.4 years). Cut-off scores to discriminate between Controls x Depression and Depression x AD were determined. Results: Depressed patients` scores were similar to AD in confrontation naming, concept definition, following commands, repetition and reading comprehension (sentence). Episodic memory and mental status subtests were useful in differentiating depressed patients from AD, a result that was reproduced when using analysis of covariance to control for the effect of age in the same subtests (p = 0.01 and 0.04, respectively). Conclusion: Language impairment resembling AD was found in the aforementioned language subtests of the ABCD in elderly depressed patients; the mental status and episodic memory subtests were useful to discriminate between AD and depression. The ABCD has proven to be a suitable tool for language evaluation in this population and should aid in the differentiation of AD and pseudodementia (as that of depression).

The Elevated Interferon Gamma Production is an Important Immunological Marker in HAM/TSP Pathogenesis

Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the agent of the HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), which may Occur in > 5% of patients during their lifetime. HTLV-1-infection causes disturbances in the immune system, and the viral load may also play an important role in the pathogenesis of HAM/TSP. Some cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of this disorder. We have determined IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, IL-12 p70, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha production among HTLV-1-infected subjects from our HTLV-out Clinic in Institute of Infectious `Emilio Ribas` in Sao Paulo city, Brazil. PBMC obtained from healthy controls (n = 32), asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers (n = 68) and HAM/TSP patients (n = 44) were grown in the absence and in the presence of phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), and the supernatants` fluids were measured for cytokines production. IL-2 levels were increased in the a-symptomatic HTLV-1 carriers, and IFN-gamma was increased in both groups of patients (asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers and more significantly among HAM/TSP patients). IL-4, IL-10, TNF-alpha and IL-12 p70 levels were not significantly increased on both groups of patients, as compared with controls. The major finding Of this Study is that IFN-gamma was an important cytokine for the HAM/TSP pathogenesis. Therefore, immune modulation of IFN-gamma may be critical to treat of HAM/TSP patients.