Acupuncture stimulation at HT8, but not in the tail area, significantly reduced the KA-induced seizure, neuron death, microglial and astrocyte activations,

and IL-1 beta mRNA expression in the hippocampus. The acupuncture stimulation also decreased the mRNA expression of TNF-alpha, but it was not significant. These results indicate that acupuncture at HT8 can inhibit hippocampal cell death and suppress KA-induced inflammatory events, suggesting a possible role for acupuncture in the treatment of epilepsy.”
“Delayed-type hypersensitivity represents high levels Selleck AMN-107 of protein Ag-specific adaptive immunity induced by mycobacterial infection, and can be monitored in the Ag-challenged skin. Besides protein Ags, recent evidence has suggested that a substantial immunity directed against glycolipid Ags is also elicited in response to mycobacterial infection, but skin hypersensitivity to this class of Ags has not been fully assessed. To address

this www.selleckchem.com/products/sb273005.html issue directly, glycolipid-specific skin reactions were evaluated in guinea pigs infected with Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC). Significant skin induration was observed in MAC-infected, but not mock-infected, guinea pigs, following intradermal administration of a mixture of MAC-derived glycolipids. Surprisingly, this glycolipid-specific skin response involved up-regulated expression of IL-5 mRNA in situ and marked local infiltration of eosinophils. Challenge experiments with individual glycolipid components detected an outstanding capability for trehalose dimycolate (TDM), but not a structurally related glycolipid, glucose monomycolate, to elicit the skin response. T lymphocytes derived from the spleen of MAC-infected, but not uninfected, guinea pigs specifically responded to TDM in vitro by up-regulating IL-5 transcription, and this response was not blocked by Abs that reacted to the known guinea pig group 1 CD1 proteins.

Finally, the eosinophilic skin hypersensitivity selleck products to TDM was also elicited in guinea pigs vaccinated with bacillus Calmette-Guerin, which contrasted sharply with the classical delayed-type hypersensitivity response to the purified protein derivative. Therefore, the TDM-elicited eosinophilic response defines a new form of hypersensitivity in mycobacterial infection, which may account for local infiltration of eosinophils often observed at the site of infection. The Journal of Immunology, 2008, 181: 8528-8533.”
“Previous reports on the prognostic value of diabetes mellitus for cardiac complications after vascular surgery show divergent results, especially in regards to the role of type 2 diabetes as a cardiac risk factor, which remains unclear.