Inflammatory or anti-inflammatory? That is the question as far as the acute-phase response and its mediators, the pentraxins, are concerned. Only some ten years ago, the classical or short pentraxin C-reactive protein and the newly discovered long pentraxin PTX3 were considered to exert most of the detrimental effects of acute inflammation, whether microbial or sterile in origin. However, accumulating evidence suggests an at least dichotomous, context-dependent outcome attributable to the pentraxins, if not a straightforward anti-inflammatory nature of the acute-phase response. This paper is focused on the inherent effects of pentraxin 3 in inflammatory responses, mainly in coronary artery disease and inAspergillus fumigatusinfection. Both are examples of inflammatory reactions in which PTX3 is substantially involved; the former sterile, the latter infectious in origin. Apart from different inducing noxae, similarities in the pathogenesis of the two are striking. All the same, the introductory question still persists: is the ultimate impact of PTX3 in these conditions inflammatory or anti-inflammatory, paradoxical as the latter might appear? We try to provide an answer such as it emerges in the light of recent findings.

Summary: CD163 is a member of scavenger receptor super family class B of the first subgroup. It is mapped to the region p13 on chromosome 12. Five different isoforms of CD163 have been described, which differ in the structure of their cytoplasmic domains and putative phosporylation sites. This scavenger receptor is selectively expressed on cells of monocytes and macrophages lineage exclusively. CD163 immunological function is essentially homeostatic. It also has other functions because participates in adhesion to endothelial cells, in tolerance induction and tissues regeneration. Other very important function of CD163 is the clearance of hemoglobin in its cell-free form and participation in anti-inflammation in its soluble form, exhibiting cytokine-like functions. We review the biological functions of CD163 which have been discovered until now. It seems apparent from this review that CD163 scavenger receptor can be used as biomarker in different diseases and as a valuable diagnostic parameter for prognosis of many diseases especially inflammatory disorders and sepsis.

Summary: cd200/cd200R are highly conserved type i paired membrane glycoproteins that belong to the ig superfamily containing a two immunoglobulin -like domain (v, c). cd200 is broadly distributed in a variety of cell types, whereas CD200R is primarily expressed in myeloid and lymphoid cells. They fulfill multiple functions in regulating inflammation. the interaction between cd200/cd200R results in activation of the intracellular inhibitory pathway with Rasgap recruitment and thus contributes to effector cell inhibition. It was confirmed that the CD200R activation stimulates the differentiation of t cells to the treg subset, upregulates indoleamine 2,3 -dioxygenase activity, modulates cytokine environment from a Th1 to a Th2 pattern, and facilitates an antiinflammatory IL -10 and TGF -β synthesis. CD200/CD200R are required for maintaining self -tolerance. Many studies have demonstrated the importance of cd200 in controlling autoimmunity, inflammation, the development and spread of cancer, hypersensitivity, and spontaneous fetal loss.