The fundamental question of the exact nature of the role played by TNF in the failing myocardium remains one of contention. Many preclinical studies have demonstrated beneficial effects with TNF antagonism and recently the dichotomous role played...
Periodontitis--Age factors; Natural immunity; Age factors in disease
Periodontal disease arises from excessive host inflammatory responses to the tooth-associated microbial biofilm, known as dental plaque. Severity ranges from superficial inflammation of the gingivae (gingivitis) to extensive destruction of...
Tobacco smoke is a strong and independent risk factor for several chronic systemic diseases and also increases susceptibility to a multitude of bacterial infections, including periodontal infections. Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease...
Chronic periodontitis is strongly associated with composition of the oral biofilm
occupying the gingival crevicular aspect of the tooth and its associated root. Some gram-negative,
"red complex" bacteria instigate periodontal bone loss in...
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic autoimmune disorder that is subdivided into Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), and indeterminate colitis (IC). Epidemiological studies have proven that genetic variation increases...
Monophosphoryl Lipid A (MPLA), a derivative of LPS endotoxin, is a TLR4 agonist that displays as little as 0.1-1% as much toxicity as its parent molecule while retaining immunostimulatory properties. We discovered that MPLA activates a TRIF-biased...
It has been estimated that 30% of all cancer deaths in the U.S. are associated with obesity. It is well-established that obesity promotes low-grade chronic inflammation, however the mechanisms by which obesity-induced chronic inflammation may...
Previous studies on the mechanistic induction of anti-tumor responses by IL-12 cytokine therapy have focused on the adaptive immune response, specifically the activation NK cells and T cells as the primary targets of IL-12 treatment. In contrast,...
This thesis is divided into two parts below. Part I Adriamycin (ADR) can produce nephrotoxicity in rodents. The underlying mechanism may relate to ADR induced oxidative stress. In this study, we used transgenic mice (NMT3), which over-expressed the...
Periodontitis--Age factors; Natural immunity; Age factors in disease
Age-related alterations in innate immunity are poorly understood. The identification of those mechanisms, which are dysfunctional in old age, will shed light on potential therapeutic strategies for chronic inflammatory diseases prevalent in the...
Inflammation is now recognized as an important factor in several age-related diseases such as arthritis, atherosclerosis, multiple sclerosis and diabetes. In each case, sub-clinical chronic inflammation occurs over years and leads to progressive...
Mucin 1 (MUC1) is a plasma membrane-bound glycoprotein that plays a protective role in corneal epithelial cells. Two full-length splice variants of MUCl: MUCl/B and MUCl/A, that differ by the inclusion of 27 bp from intron 1 and a SNP in MUCl/A,...
Background The anthracycline doxorubicin (DOX) is widely used as an effective antineoplastic drug. Cardiotoxicity leading to congestive heart failure is the primary factor limiting the clinical use of DOX. However, although a variety of approaches...
The vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP) is involved in the modulation of the host inflammatory response during vaccinia virus infection. It possesses the ability to inhibit both classical and alternative pathways of complement...
Nerves--Regeneration; Spinal cord--Wounds and injuries--Treatment
These studies set out to identify strategies to rescue and repair the adult nervous system. First, we investigated the role of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) in 5HT1A receptor-induced neurogenesis in the rodent brain. Systemic treatment with an...
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic illness with the potential to affect many areas of one's life through painful physical symptoms and psychological distress. Despite the debilitating nature and increasing prevalence of IBD, there is...
Drug delivery systems; Curcumin--Therapeutic use--Administration
Curcumin, a plant derived compound has shown significant potency against various chronic diseases like cancer in cell culture and animal studies. However, the introduction of this compound into clinical setting is limited by its poor oral...
Circulating nucleated cell populations found in whole blood, including both white blood cells (leukocytes) and endothelial cells, provide an ideal platform for studies seeking to understand the disease processes for development of drugs and...
Periodontitis is a chronic, destructive inflammatory disease of the supporting
tissues of the teeth with a high prevalence among adults. While the complete
pathogenesis of periodontitis remains unclear, it is initiated and sustained by...
Nanomaterials have many intriguing applications in biology and medicine. Unique properties such as enhanced electrical properties, increased chemical reactivity and resistance to degradation, novel optical properties and comparable size to that of...
