2,140 research outputs found
Endotoxemia-induced inflammation and the effect on the human brain
No full textIntroduction: Effects of systemic inflammation on cerebral function are not clear, as both inflammation-induced encephalopathy as well as stress-hormone mediated alertness have been described.Methods: Experimental endotoxemia (2 ng/kg Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) was induced in 15 subjects, whereas 10 served as controls. Cytokines (TNF-?, IL-6, IL1-RA and IL-10), cortisol, brain specific proteins (BSP), electroencephalography (EEG) and cognitive function tests (CFTs) were determined.Results: Following LPS infusion, circulating pro- and anti inflammatory cytokines, and cortisol increased (P < 0.0001). BSP changes stayed within the normal range, in which neuron specific enolase (NSE) and S100-? changed significantly. Except in one subject with a mild encephalopathic episode, without cognitive dysfunction, endotoxemia induced no clinically relevant EEG changes. Quantitative EEG analysis showed a higher state of alertness detected by changes in the central region, and peak frequency in the occipital region. Improved CFTs during endotoxemia was found to be due to a practice effect as CFTs improved to the same extent in the reference group. Cortisol significantly correlated with a higher state of alertness detected on the EEG. Increased IL-10 and the decreased NSE both correlated with improvement of working memory and with psychomotor speed capacity. No other significant correlations between cytokines, cortisol, EEG, CFT and BSP were found.Conclusions: Short-term systemic inflammation does not provoke or explain the occurrence of septic encephalopathy, but primarily results in an inflammation-mediated increase in cortisol and alertness
The case of Heinrich Wilhelm Poll (1877-1939): A German-Jewish geneticist, eugenicist, twin researcher, and victim of the Nazis
No full textThis paper uses a reconstruction of the life and career of Heinrich Poll as a window into developments and professional relationships in the biological sciences in Germany in the period from the beginning of the twentieth century to the Nazi seizure of power in 1933. Poll's intellectual work involved an early transition from morphometric physical anthropology to comparative evolutionary studies, and also found expression in twin research - a field in which he was an acknowledged early pioneer. His advocacy of eugenics led to participation in state-sponsored committees convened to advise on social policy, one of which debated sterilisation and made recommendations that led eventually to the establishment of the notorious Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Heredity and Eugenics. However, his status as a prominent geneticist and, in particular, as a eugenicist had an ironic and ultimately tragic dimension. Heinrich Poll was of Jewish birth, and this resulted in his career being destroyed by an application of the population policies he had helped put in place
RAGE and the innate immune response in infection and inflammation
No full textDe receptor RAGE (receptor for advanced glycation end products) is betrokken bij de immuunrespons, bijvoorbeeld door de migratie van ontstekingscellen naar de plek van de ontsteking te bevorderen of pro-inflammatoire processen te stimuleren. Marieke van Zoelen richt zich op RAGE als mogelijk therapeutisch aangrijpingspunt
Decoding DAMPs: Investigating the intricate crosstalk between host response and collateral damage
No full textThe innate immune system is able to rapidly respond to invading pathogens by virtue of its capacity to recognize conserved motifs expressed by microorganisms, named pathogen associated patterns (PAMPs). Innate immune cells sense PAMPs by a variety of pattern recognition receptors. Remarkably, many of these pattern recognition receptors can also recognize endogenous molecules. Under physiological conditions an interaction between host molecules and immune activating pattern recognition receptors is prevented by the fact that they do not reside in the same intra- or extracellular compartment or environment. When the integrity of the cell is disrupted, which can be caused by anything ranging from burns, blunt trauma or inflammation, host endogenous molecules can become displaced and meet their recognizing receptors. These molecules then become so-called alarmins or damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). DAMPs can further activate the immune system to give rise to injurious inflammation. In this thesis we studied several of these immune-system activating host molecules called DAMPs and their respective receptors. We documented the release of several DAMPs in the circulation during experimentally induced infection or inflammation and studied their cellular source and functional role in mice. We showed the relevance of these findings for humans by detecting DAMPs in plasma of healthy men injected with LPS and of patients with tuberculosis or sepsis. Considering the pleiotropic actions of DAMPs, the findings described in this thesis may add to a further understanding of the role of DAMPs in the immune response during infection, injury and inflammation
Correction: Increased von willebrand factor, decreased ADAMTS13 and thrombocytopenia in melioidosis (PLoS Negl Trop Dis 11(3), e0005468, 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005468 PMID: 28296884)
No full textThere is an error in the article XML causing the eighth author’s name to be indexed incorrectly. The name should be indexed as van der Poll T
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