TLR9-based immunotherapy for the treatment of allergic diseases.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs), a family of pattern recognition receptors expressed on many cell types of innate immunity, recognize the pathogen-associated molecular patterns of microbes. The hygiene hypothesis suggests that a reduced microbial exposure in early childhood increases the susceptibility to allergic diseases due to deviation in development of the immune system. TLRs are key roles in the right and healthy direction of adaptive immunity with the induction of T-helper 2 toward Th1 immune responses and regulatory T cells. TLR ligand CpG-ODN-based immunomodulation is independent of allergen and it mainly affects innate immune system. While, CpG-oligodeoxynucleotide-based vaccination is allergen specific and induces adaptive immune system. The use of agonists of TLR9 in two distinct strategies of immunotherapy, immunomodulation and vaccination, could be presented as the curative method for the treatment of allergic diseases.

The serum level of transforming growth factor beta1 and its association with Foxp3 gene polymorphism in Iranian women with recurrent spontaneous abortion.

The aim of the study was to determine the role of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-ß1) and Foxp3 (rs3761548) promoter polymorphisms in Iranian women with recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). Eighty women with RSA were compared with eighty in a control group. Serum levels of TGF-ß1 were measured using ELISA and Foxp3 (rs3761548) promoter polymorphisms using a PCR-RFLP technique. In addition, serum levels of TGF-ß1 were compared in different genotypes in the two groups. The women's ages in the two groups were similar (30.15 ± 4.42 years [RSA] vs. 29.97 ± 4.51 [control]) as were serum TGF-ß1 concentrations in case and control groups (53.42 ± 2.08 ng/ml in control and 56.31 ± 2.58 ng/ml in the RSA group; p = 0.4). Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the genotype frequencies of the rs3761548 Foxp3 gene between the two groups (p = 0.3) and the levels of TGF-ß1 were similar in different genotypes. In conclusion, the data indicate that serum TGF-ß1 levels and Foxp3 (rs3761548) promoter polymorphism is not a risk factor for RSA and that there is no association between the polymorphism and serum TGF-ß1 levels.