Asthma therapies are effective in reducing inflammation but airway remodeling is poorly responsive to these agents. New therapeutic options that have fewer side effects and reverse chronic changes in the lungs are essential. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising for the development of novel therapies in regenerative medicine. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of MSCs on lung histopathology in a murine model of chronic asthma. BALB/c mice were divided into four groups: Group 1 (control group, n = 6), Group 2 (ovalbumin induced asthma only, n = 10), Group 3 (ovalbumin induced asthma + MSCs, n = 10), and Group 4 (MSCs only, n = 10). Histological findings (basement membrane, epithelium, subepithelial smooth muscle thickness, numbers of goblet and mast cells) of the airways and MSC migration were evaluated by light, electron, and confocal microscopes. In Group 3, all early histopathological changes except epithelial thickness and all of the chronic changes were significantly ameliorated when compared with Group 2. Evaluation with confocal microscopy showed that no noteworthy amount of MSCs were present in the lung tissues of Group 4 while significant amount of MSCs was detected in Group 3. Serum NO levels in Group 3, were significantly lower than Group 2. The results of this study revealed that MSCs migrated to lung tissue and ameliorated bronchial asthma in murine model. Further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of MSCs for the treatment of asthma.

Background. Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol that exhibits anti-inflammatory effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of resveratrol treatment on epithelium-derived cytokines and epithelial apoptosis in a murine model of atopic dermatitis-like lesions.Material and Methods. Atopic dermatitis-like lesions were induced in BALB/c mice by repeated application of 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene to shaved dorsal skin. Twenty-one BALB/c mice were divided into three groups: group I (control), group II (vehicle control), and group III (resveratrol). Systemic resveratrol (30 mg/kg/day) was administered repeatedly during the 6th week of the experiment. After the mice had been sacrificed, skin tissues were examined histologically for epithelial thickness. Epithelial apoptosis (caspase-3) and epithelium-derived cytokines [interleukin (IL)-25, IL-33, and thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP)] were evaluated immunohistochemically.Results. Epithelial thickness and the numbers of IL-25, IL-33, TSLP and caspase-3-positive cells were significantly higher in group II compared to group I mice. There was significant improvement in epithelial thickness in group III compared with group II mice (p < 0.05). The numbers of IL-25, IL-33, and TSLP-positive cells in the epithelium were lower in group III than in group II mice (p < 0.05). The number of caspase-3-positive cells, as an indicator of apoptosis, in the epithelium was significantly lower in group III than in group II mice (p < 0.05).Conclusion. Treatment with resveratrol was effective at ameliorating histological changes and inflammation by acting on epithelium-derived cytokines and epithelial apoptosis.

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Background: Dedicator of cytokinesis 8 (DOCK8) deficiency is the main cause of the autosomal recessive hyper-IgE syndrome (HIES). We previously reported the selective loss of group 3 innate lymphoid cell (ILC) number and function in a Dock8-deficient 922 | EKEN Et al.

ÖzetAmaç: Çocukluk çağında sınırlı veri nedeniyle kronik ürtiker (KÜ) etyolojisi tam olarak anlaşılamamıştır. Bu çalışmada kronik ürtiker tanılı çocuklarda muhtemel etyolojik nedenlerin değerlendirilmesini amaçladık. Gereç ve Yöntem: Ocak 2011 ile Temmuz 2012 tarihleri arasında KÜ tanısı ile kliniğimizde izlenen 18 yaş altı 67 hasta retrospektif olarak analiz edildi. Kronik ürtiker tanılı hastalarda otoimmun hastalıklar, maliniteler, infeksiyonlar gibi etyolojik faktörler araştırıldı. Veriler ortalama±standart sapma (SD) ve yüzde (%) olarak belirtildi. İki grup karşılaştırması Mann-Whitney U metodu kullanılarak yapıldı. P<0,05 olması istatiksel açıdan anlamlı kabul edildi. Bulgular: Kronik ürtiker (KÜ) tanısı olan 67 hasta çalışmaya alındı. Erkek/kız oranı:22/45, ortalama semptom başlangıç yaşı 10,2±4,6 (1-17) yıl idi. Hastaların %7'sinde ANA titresi >1/100 saptanmış olup bu hastaların hiçbirinde romatolojik hastalığa ait klinik özellik belirtilmediği öğrenildi. Hastaların %13,7'sinde tiroid otoantikor pozitifliği olup, hepsine tiroidit tanısı konulduğu ve L-Tiroxin tedavisi başlandığı görüldü. Otolog serum deri testi hastaların %48,2 (n=28)'sinde pozitif olarak saptandı. Sonuç: Çocuklarda infeksiyonlar ve besinler önemli birer KÜ nedeni gibi görünmemektedir. Erişkinlerde olduğu gibi çocuklarda da KÜ etyolojisinde otoreaktif süreçler önemli bir yer tutmaktadır. Bu sonuçlar daha önce KÜ tanılı Türk çocuklarda yapılan çalışmalar ile benzer özelliktedir. (Türk derm 2014; 48: 13-6) Anah tar Ke li me ler: Kronik ürtiker, otolog serum testi, antinükleer antikor, tiroidit Sum maryBackground and Design: The etiology of chronic urticaria (CU) in childhood remains incompletely understood because of limited data. In this study, we aimed to examine possible etiologies of CU in children. Materials and Methods:We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 67 children who attended our clinic and were diagnosed with CU between January 2001 and July 2012. We investigated the etiological factors contributing to chronic urticaria, such as autoimmune disorders, malignancies and infections. Data were presented as mean±standard deviation (SD) and percentage (%). The comparisons between two groups were conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Sixty-seven children who met the criteria for CU were included in the study. Male/female ratio was 0.5 and the mean age at onset of symptoms was 10.2±4.6 (range: 1-17) years. In 7% of patients, ANA titers were over 1/100. None of the patients had clinical features of a rheumatic disease, 13.7% of the subjects were positive for thyroid autoantibody. All of them were diagnosed with thyroiditis and received L-thyroxine treatment. Autologous serum skin test was positive in 42.8% of the patients (n=28). Conclusion: In children, infections and foods did not appear to be important causative factors for CU. As in adults, the etiology of CU in children is mainly related to autoreactive processes. This result is similar to ...