Cytokine generation by tissue-infiltrating mononuclear cells (TIMC) and by keratinocytes (KC) was investigated in material obtained from the oral mucosal tissues of patients with oral lichen planus (OLP). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and chronically inflamed and noninflamed gingival KC (CIG-KC, NOR-KC, respectively) were used as the controls. Compared to NOR-KC and CIG-KC, KC from OLP patients (OLP-KC) produced much more interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). The OLP-KC superiority in the production of these cytokines was more prominent when the KC were cultured in the presence of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), lipopolysaccharide and phorbol myristate acetate. OLP-KC also produced more monocyte-chemotactic factor(s) which were not inactivated by the antibodies against GM-CSF, macrophage colony-stimulating factor and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. TIMC in OLP tissues (OLP-TIMC) were superior to PBMC in the generation of IL-6 and GM-CSF. OLP-TIMC were stimulated to produce more TNF-alpha by IL-1 beta, IL-6 and GM-CSF, more IL-6 by IL-1 beta and GM-CSF, and more GM-CSF by IL-1 beta and IL-6 than PBMC. When compared to cytokine generation in TIMC from the chronically inflamed gingivae, more interferon-gamma, IL-6 and TNF-alpha were generated by OLP-TIMC. These results indicate that KC play a critical role in OLP, producing cytokines including monocyte-chemotactic factor(s), and that the cytokines produced by TIMC and OLP-KC through autocrine and paracrine processes enhance the local inflammatory response.
The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in odontogenic infections and oral candidiasis was examined, and influences of DM on the clinical manifestations of the infections and neutrophil functions were investigated. Among 21 severe and 221 mild odontogenic infections, DM was detected in 5 cases in each group. Of 64 cases of symptomatic oral candidiasis, 8 cases were complicated with DM which was detected by blood examination during treatment. During the period of infection, the mean fasting blood sugar level was 16.0 +/- 4.4 and 9.8 +/- 1.2 mmol/l in the DM-complicated odontogenic infections and candidiasis, respectively. All white blood counts, C-reactive protein levels and erythrocyte sedimentation rates were more elevated in DM(+) odontogenic infection cases than in DM(-) ones. In DM(+) candidiasis, hyposalivation (0.79 +/- 0.54 ml/10 min) was observed. The polymorphonuclear leukocytes from diabetic patients, especially those with candidiasis, produced less free oxygen radicals and exhibited reduced phagocytosis and intracellular killing of Candida cells associated with this reduced O2- generation during the infection. These suppressed neutrophil functions increased after treatment but did not reach control levels. These results indicate that DM is a predisposing condition for odontogenic infections and oral candidiasis, that DM-complicated infections become severe because of neutrophil suppression, and that examination of blood sugar level should be essential for patients with oral infections.
Functions of peripheral blood lymphocytes and neutrophils from 30 oral lichen planus (OLP) patients were examined using healthy persons as controls. Two-color flow cytometry of lymphocytes revealed no proportional difference in CD3 or CD4 cells between OLP and controls. CD8CD11b (suppressor T) and CD3HLA-DR+ cell populations increased significantly in OLP when compared with controls, and CD4/CD8 cell ratio decreased in OLP. Mitogenic response of patients' CD8 and CD4Leu8- cells was similar to that in controls. However, weaker blastogenesis of CD4Leu8+ cells, the most excellent responders in T cell subsets, was observed in OLP. Serum IFN beta level in OLP (8.4 +/- 4.8 IU/ml) was significantly lower than in controls (13.7 +/- 5.0 IU/ml) whereas no difference between the two groups could be found in IFN alpha or gamma. As for in vitro cytokine production by IL-2-stimulated lymphocytes, there was no difference in GM-CSF generation between the two groups, but, IFN gamma and IL1 beta production of patients' lymphocytes was less than that in healthy donors (57.6 +/- 50.7 VS 78.7 +/- 39.6 u/ml, 152.3 +/- 93.5 VS 258.7 +/- 65.4 pg/ml, respectively). Moreover, superoxide generation of patients' neutrophils by PMA stimulation was significantly insufficient as compared with controls' (84.9 +/- 30.9 VS 110.8 +/- 24.1 pmol/min/10(4) cells). Nevertheless, natural killer cell activities of both groups distributed in the same range. These results suggest that OLP patients' lymphocyte and neutrophil functions are impaired, and that cellular immunosuppression is a pathologic characteristic of OLP.
In this paper, we propose an algorithm that optimizes the ventricular fiber structure of the human heart. A number of histological studies and diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging analyses have revealed that the myocardial fiber forms a right-handed helix at the endocardium. However, the fiber formation changes its orientation as a function of transmural depth, becoming a left-handed helix at the epicardium. To determine how nature can construct such a structure, which obtains surprising pumping performance, we introduce macroscopic modeling of the branching structure of cardiac myocytes in our finite element ventricular model and utilize this in an optimization process. We put a set of multidirectional fibers around a central fiber orientation at each point of the ventricle walls and simulate heartbeats by generating contraction forces along each of these directions. We examine two optimization processes using the workloads or impulses measured in these directions to update the central fiber orientation. Both processes improve the pumping performance towards an optimal value within several tens of heartbeats, starting from an almost-flat fiber orientation. However, compared with the workload optimization, the impulse optimization produces better agreement with experimental studies on transmural changes of fiber helix angle, streamline patterns of characteristic helical structures, and temporal changes in strain. Furthermore, the impulse optimization is robust under geometrical changes of the heart and tends to homogenize various mechanical factors such as the stretch and stretch rate along the fiber orientation, the contraction force, and energy consumption. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.