Gender-specific effects of depression and suicidal ideation in prosocial behaviors.

BACKGROUND: Prosocial behaviors are essential to the ability to relate to others. Women typically display greater prosocial behavior than men. The impact of depression on prosocial behaviors and how gender interacts with those effects are not fully understood. We explored the role of gender in the potential effects of depression on prosocial behavior. METHODS: We examined prosocial behaviors using a modified version of the Trust Game in a clinical population and community controls. Study participants were characterized on the severity of depression and anxiety, presence of suicidal ideation, history of childhood trauma, recent stressful life events, and impulsivity. We correlated behavioral outcomes with gender and clinical variables using analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: The 89 participants comprised four study groups: depressed women, depressed men, healthy women and healthy men (n = 16-36). Depressed men exhibited reciprocity more frequently than healthy men. Depression induced an inversion of the gender-specific pattern of self-centered behavior. Suicidal ideation was associated with increased reciprocity behavior in both genders, and enhancement of the effect of depression on gender-specific self-centered behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Depression, particularly suicidal ideation, is associated with reversal of gender-specific patterns of prosocial behavior, suggesting abnormalities in sexual hormones regulation. This explanation is supported by known abnormalities in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axes found in depression.

Generation of antitumor response by IL-2-transduced JAWS II dendritic cells.

Antigen-loaded dendritic cells (DCs) are a promising tool for inducing a tumor-specific immune response. It seems probable that co-administration of those cells together with cytokine-transduced DCs can further increase effectiveness of the antitumor vaccine. The local production of IL-2 by genetically modified DCs may result in alteration of the unfavorable tumor environment causing immune response dysfunction. In the presented study murine DCs of an established JAWS II cell line were transduced with a retroviral vector carrying murine IL-2 gene (JAWS II/IL-2). JAWS II/IL-2 cells demonstrated slightly decreased tumor antigen (TAg) uptake capacities. However, this modification resulted in enhanced ability of the cells to migrate in vivo. The multiple injection of vaccines containing JAWS II/IL-2 cells caused MC38 tumor growth delay and prolonged mice survival. The immunological response was manifested as cytotoxic natural killer (NK) and T cell activation and tumor tissue infiltration by CD8(+) and CD4(+) cells, accompanied by increased IFN-γ production by spleen cells. These observations suggest that repeated peritumoral administration of IL-2-producing dendritic cells can inhibit tumor growth by intensification of CD8(+) and CD4(+) cells' influx into tumor tissue and further activation of the systemic antitumor response. It can be concluded that IL-2 transduced dendritic cells may be used as a potent adjuvant in antitumor immunotherapy.

[Dendritic cell-regulatory T-cell interaction]. / Oddzialywanie komórek dendrytycznych z limfocytami T regulatorowymi.

The one of the main modes of homeostasis protection is maintaining the balance between antimicrobial immunological reactions and mechanisms involved in immune response suppression. The interaction between dendritic and T cells plays a crucial role in inducing both an immune response and immunological tolerance. Dendritic cells are also able to affect the differentiation, migration, and activation of CD4+ T cells using cell-to-cell contact and/or cytokine production. The proper cytokine microenvironment can influence the induction of FoxP3 transcription factor in T cells, determining the regulatory properties of these cells. However, it is still unclear what is more substantial for Treg induction: the cytokines in the microenvironment, stimulation by a specific DC population, or the type of antigens presented by DC. Activated natural Treg as well as induced Treg cells use similar mechanisms to generate tolerance, for example by the production of such anti-inflammatory cytokines as TGF-beta or IL-10 and by direct contact with target cells. Recently, some reports have described the possibility that Treg cells lose FoxP3 expression followed by loss of suppressive function directed against proliferating T lymphocytes.