Biomedical subjects

Jessica Indrigo

Publications and source records attributed to Jessica Indrigo.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Asian and Siberian ginseng as a potential modulator of immune function: an in vitro cytokine study using mouse macrophages.

BACKGROUND: Ginseng is a widely used herbal product in China, other Asian countries, and in the Unites States. There is a traditional belief that ginseng stimulates immune functions. In this study, the innate effects of Asian and Siberian ginsengs on cytokines and chemokines produced by cultured macrophages were examined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The effects of Asian and Siberian ginseng on cytokines and chemokines produced by cultured macrophages were examined. Mouse macrophages (J774A.1) were incubated with Asian or Siberian ginseng at varying concentrations (1, 10, 100, and 1000 microg/ml) for 24 h and then harvested for RNA isolation. The expression levels of IL-1beta, IL-12, TNF-alpha, MIP-1 alpha, and MIP-2 mRNA were measured by quantitative PCR. RESULTS: Our data showed that Asian ginseng induced a statistically significant increase in IL-12 expression at both mRNA and protein levels. However, the minor twofold increase is probably biologically insignificant. No significant increase of IL-12 by Siberian ginseng was observed at any dose level studied. No significant change in IL-1beta, IL-15, TNF-alpha, or MIP-1alpha mRNA was observed by either Asian or Siberian ginseng treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed statistically significant differential regulation of IL-12 by Asian ginseng. Siberian ginseng did not show a statistically significant increase. We conclude that both Asian ginseng and Siberian ginseng cannot significantly stimulate innate macrophage immune functions that influence cellular immune responses. Therefore, contrary to the popular belief, Asian and Siberian ginseng may not stimulate immune function.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗

PubMed2003

Cord factor trehalose 6,6'-dimycolate (TDM) mediates trafficking events during mycobacterial infection of murine macrophages.

The persistence of tuberculosis within pulmonary granulomatous lesions is a complex phenomenon, with bacterial survival occurring in a focal region of high immune activity. In part, the survival of the organism may be linked to the ability of the surface glycolipid trehalose 6,6'-dimycolate (TDM; cord factor) to inhibit fusion events between phospholipid vesicles inside the host macrophage. At the same time, TDM contributes to macrophage activation and a cascade of events required for initiation and maintenance of granulomatous responses. This allows increased sequestration of organisms and further survival and persistence within host tissues. Bacterial viability, macrophage cytokine and chemokine response, and intracellular trafficking were investigated in Mycobacterium tuberculosis from which TDM had been removed. Removal of surface lipids led to enhanced trafficking of organisms to acidic compartments; reconstitution of delipidated organisms with either pure TDM or the petroleum ether extract containing crude surface lipids restored normal responses. Use of TDM-coated polystyrene beads demonstrated that TDM can mediate intracellular trafficking events, as well as influence macrophage production of pro-inflammatory molecules. Thus, the presence of TDM may be an important determinant for successful infection and survival of M. tuberculosis within macrophages.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Influence of trehalose 6,6'-dimycolate (TDM) during mycobacterial infection of bone marrow macrophages.

The relative role of surface lipids in the innate macrophage response to infection with mycobacteria remains unknown. Trehalose 6,6'-dimycolate (TDM), a major component of the mycobacterial cell wall, can elicit hypersensitive as well as T-cell-independent foreign body responses. The T-cell-independent contribution of TDM to the primary macrophage response to mycobacterial infection was investigated. Bone-marrow-derived macrophages isolated from C57BL/6 mice were infected with native Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) or with MTB delipidated using petroleum ether extraction methods. The removal of surface lipids caused decreased bacterial survival in macrophages, but there was no loss of bacterial growth in broth culture. Bacterial survival within macrophages was restored upon reconstitution of the bacteria with purified TDM. The cytokine and chemokine parameters of the macrophage responses were also investigated. The amounts of IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, IL-6 and MIP-1alpha produced were significantly reduced following delipidation, but were restored upon reconstitution with TDM. The amount of IL-12 produced, but not the amount of IL-10 produced, was also significantly reduced upon macrophage infection with delipidated MTB. Furthermore, nitric oxide responses were not impaired upon infection with delipidated MTB, suggesting that intracellular survival and macrophage secretion of cytokines and chemokines are differentially controlled. These studies indicate that TDM is a major component contributing to the innate macrophage responses to MTB infection.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Mycobacterial glycolipid cord factor trehalose 6,6'-dimycolate causes a decrease in serum cortisol during the granulomatous response.

Serum cortisol levels were evaluated in mice following intravenous administration of purified mycobacterial glycolipid trehalose 6,6'-dimycolate (TDM). C57BL/6 mice develop lung granulomas in response to TDM, while A/J mice are deficient in this process. Administration of TDM to C57BL/6 mice led to a rapid reduction in serum cortisol, concurrent with initiation of the granulomatous response and cytokine and chemokine mRNA induction. Cortisol levels were lowest on day 5 after TDM administration, but there was significant production of IL-6, TNF-alpha and IL-1beta messages. Granuloma formation and full immune responsiveness to TDM were only apparent upon a sufficient decrease in levels of systemic cortisol. Treatment of the C57BL/6 mice with hydrocortisone abolished inflammatory responses. Histologically nonresponding A/J mice exhibited higher constitutive serum cortisol and demonstrated different kinetics of cortisol reduction upon administration of TDM. A/J mice demonstrated hyperplastic morphology in the suprarenal gland with a high degree of vacuolization in the medullary region and activation of cells in the zona fasciculata and zona reticularis. The A/J mice were dysregulated with respect to cytokine responses thought to be necessary during granuloma formation. The high constitutive serum cortisol in the A/J mice may therefore contribute to pulmonary immunoresponsiveness and the establishment of an environment counterproductive to the initiation of granulomatous responses. The identification of a mycobacterial glycolipid able to influence serum cortisol levels is unique and is discussed in relation to immunopathology during tuberculosis disease.

Adrenal Cortex↗