A critical review of Astragalus polysaccharides: From therapeutic mechanisms to pharmaceutics.

As the important active ingredients of Astragali Radix (AR), Astragalus polysaccharides (APs) have therapeutic potential for multiple diseases including nervous system diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, and cancer. A large number of cell experiments combined with animal experiments have shed light on the therapeutic mechanisms and therapeutic effects of APs on a variety of diseases. However, the clinical application of APs is not widespread, except for the use of injected APs in the clinical adjuvant therapy of cancer. Due to the excessive molecular weight, bulky, low solubility and negatively charged characteristics, APs have low bioavailability which limits their clinical application. With the deepening of researches on the pharmaceutics of APs, the nanocrystals and moderate structural modification enormously boost the bioavailability, which may expand the application of APs. This review summarizes the studies in pharmacodynamic properties and pharmaceutics of APs, with the purpose of providing experimental researches and clinical application data for expanding the clinical development through expounding the therapeutic mechanisms and pharmaceutical researches of APs.

The content of docosahexaenoic acid in the suckling and the weaning diet beneficially modulates the ability of immune cells to response to stimuli.

The objective of the study was to isolate the effect of feeding a diet supplemented with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) during the suckling and/or the weaning period on immune system development and function in offspring. Dams were randomized to one of two nutritionally adequate diets: control diet (N=12, 0% DHA) or DHA diet (N=8, 0.9% DHA). Diets were fed to dams throughout lactation, and then at weaning (21d), two pups per dam were randomly assigned to continue on the same diet as the dam or consume the other experimental diet for an additional 21d. At 6 weeks, splenocyte phenotypes and ex vivo cytokine production after stimulation with concanavalin A (ConA), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or ovalbumin were assessed. Pups who received the control diet during both periods had the lowest production of IL-2 after ConA (P<.05 for interaction). Pups fed DHA during suckling had higher IL-10 production after all mitogens, regardless of the weaning diet (P<.05). Feeding DHA at weaning, regardless of the suckling diet, resulted in a lower production of IL-1ß and TNF-α in LPS-stimulated splenocytes and a higher proportion of total CD27+ cells (all P<.03). Our findings suggest that providing no DHA during critical periods of immune development resulted in a less efficient Th1 response upon challenge (IL-2 production). Feeding DHA during suckling had a programming effect on the ability of splenocytes to produce the regulatory cytokine IL-10. Feeding a DHA diet during weaning led to a lower TNF-α and IL-1ß response to a bacterial antigen.

The influence of hydrocarbon composition and exposure conditions on jet fuel-induced immunotoxicity.

Chronic jet fuel exposure could be detrimental to the health and well-being of exposed personnel, adversely affect their work performance and predispose these individuals to increased incidences of infectious disease, cancer and autoimmune disorders. Short-term (7 day) JP-8 jet fuel exposure has been shown to cause lung injury and immune dysfunction. Physiological alterations can be influenced not only by jet fuel exposure concentration (absolute amount), but also are dependent on the type of exposure (aerosol versus vapor) and the composition of the jet fuel (hydrocarbon composition). In the current study, these variables were examined with relation to effects of jet fuel exposure on immune function. It was discovered that real-time, in-line monitoring of jet fuel exposure resulted in aerosol exposure concentrations that were approximately one-eighth the concentration of previously reported exposure systems. Further, the effects of a synthetic jet fuel designed to eliminate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were also examined. Both of these changes in exposure reduced but did not eliminate the deleterious effects on the immune system of exposed mice.

A short review on the psychoneuroimmunology of posttraumatic stress disorder: from risk factors to medical comorbidities.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious and debilitating condition with a prevalence rate of approximately 8% in the United States. Given the number of veterans returning from conflicts around the globe with PTSD, and the substantial number of civilians experiencing traumas, new perspectives on the biology of PTSD are needed. Based on the concept that PTSD is a disorder of stress response systems, numerous studies have suggested changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) system function in patients with PTSD. Given that both glucocorticoids and catecholamines exert powerful effects on the immune system, it is surprising that relatively few studies have examined immune changes in patients with PTSD. Moreover, patients with PTSD are known to have increased rates of comorbidity with somatic disorders that involve immune and inflammatory processes. Patients with PTSD have been found to exhibit a number of immune changes including increased circulating inflammatory markers, increased reactivity to antigen skin tests, lower natural killer cell activity, and lower total T lymphocyte counts. Studies with humans and rodents suggest that certain proinflammatory cytokines are able to induce neurochemical and behavioral changes that resemble some key features of PTSD. This short article reviews immune alterations in PTSD, and considers possible mechanisms by which such changes may be related to neuroendocrine alterations and medical comorbidities of PTSD.

Treatment with bortezomib of a patient having hyper IgG4 disease.

Hyper IgG4 disease is a recently described inflammatory disease characterized by lymphoplasmacytic infiltration leading to fibrosis and tissue destruction. Whereas most cases have been successfully treated with corticosteroids, recurrent or refractory cases may benefit from alternative therapies. Bortezomib has proven to be successful in the treatment of multiple myeloma, and its mechanism indicates that it may have merit in autoimmune or other plasmacytic disorders. We report a patient with recurrent pulmonary infiltration with IgG4 plasma cells, consistent with hyper IgG4 disease, who was successfully treated using a bortezomib-based combination with minimal therapy-related toxicities.

Acupuncture and immune modulation.

Acupuncture is probably the most popular alternative therapy practiced in the United States, Europe and many Asian countries. It has been applied clinically for more than 5 thousand years according to the ancient oriental medical theory. A great deal of acupuncture research has been achieved, with particular efforts toward understanding the pain control effects. In addition to the analgesic effect of acupuncture, an increasing number of studies have demonstrated that acupuncture treatment can control autonomic nerve system functions such as blood pressure regulation, sphincter Oddi relaxation, and immune modulation. Although only a limited number of controlled studies have assessed the efficacy of acupuncture, increasing clinical evidences support that EA treatment is effective for various immunological diseases including allergic disorders, infections, autoimmune diseases and immunodifficiency-syndromes. This review will address the mechanism of acupuncture in modulating various immune responses and the relationship between acupuncture mediated immune regulation and neurological involvement.

[The role of maternal virus-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes in the immunopathology of congenital influenza infection in mice]. / Rol' materinskikh virusspetsificheskikh tsitotoksicheskikh T-limfotsitov v immunopatologii pri vrozhdennoi grippoznoi infektsii u myshei.

Using 51Cr isotope label it was demonstrated that a very low per cent of syngeneic lymphocytes derived from healthy donors and inoculated in the blood stream of uninfected or influenza virus-infected pregnant mice is found in fetuses before delivery. Similar results were obtained after inoculation of virus-specific cytotoxic lymphocytes (CTL) into uninfected pregnant mice. After inoculation into the blood stream of infected pregnant mice of virus-specific CTL their migration into fetuses before delivery increases, being most marked in 25-30% of mice. Intravenous inoculation of excess CTL (10(6) cells) to infected pregnant mice resulted in rapid development of signs of slow influenza infection in the progeny with typical clinical picture and histopathological lesions in organs and tissues. Large doses (10(7)-10(8) cells) of CTL inoculated into the blood stream cause higher reduction and death of fetuses and increase the rate of stillbirths. The role of maternal virus-specific CTL in the pathogenesis of experimental congenital and especially slow influenza infection is discussed.