Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.7.49 (reverse transcriptase)
 31,746 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Interleukins 6 (IL-6) and 12 (IL-12), and the chemoattractant chemokine RANTES were studied in ethmoidal mucosa, using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The 49 patients had chronic sinusitis or nasal/paranasal polyposis, and some also allergy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrates RANTES and IL-12 on mRNA level in human sinonasal mucosa in situ. mRNA for IL-6, IL-12 and RANTES were detected in 2, 8 and 6 patients with chronic sinusitis, respectively, and in mucosa from patients with polyposis a positive expression was observed in 4, 14 and 10 cases. There were no statistically significant differences. Analysing the entire group of 49 patients, disregarding type of mucosal disease, the number of patients with positive RANTES was significantly higher than that for IL-6. Similarly, IL-12 positivity was more frequently expressed than IL-6. mRNA for IL-6 was expressed in only 2 of the allergic patients. The cytokine production studied thus seems to be unrelated to the clinically defined entities. There is thus a local production in human diseased sinonasal mucosa of RANTES, as well as of IL-6 and IL-12. The local production of RANTES is an important prerequisite for recruitment and migration of inflammatory cells into the tissue. IL-12 is a co-stimulator of antigen-specific responses of established T helper 1 (Th1) clones, and regulates the responsiveness of the clones to a number of T cell growth factors. The study supports a shift towards Th1 cells in these disease entities.
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PMID:Positive identification in situ of mRNA expression of IL-6, and IL-12, and the chemotactic cytokine RANTES in patients with chronic sinusitis and polypoid disease. Clinical relevance and relation to allergy. 883 50

Although several studies have demonstrated that low-dose, long-term 14-member macrolides (erythromycin (EM), roxithromycin (RXM), clarithromycin (CAM)) are effective in the treatment of chronic airway diseases like chronic sinusitis and diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB), the mechanism of action of these drugs is not yet clear. Both these airway diseases are associated with an increase in the proliferation of fibroblasts. Moreover, fibroblasts are also an important source of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-8 (IL-8), that play an important role in the pathogenesis of nasal polyps. Therefore, using primary fibroblast lines derived from nasal polyps, we investigated the effect of RXM on the synthesis of IL-8 and proliferation of nasal polyp fibroblasts (NPF). These fibroblasts were either treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and RXM for 24 h, or pre-incubated with RXM for 24 h and then treated with LPS and RXM for 24 h. The level of IL-8 mRNA in NPF was analysed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain (RT-PCR) and the level of IL-8 in culture supernatants was measured by ELISA. Next, the proliferative capacity of NPF after treatment with RXM was analysed by cell counting and 3H-thymidine uptake. RXM had no effect on LPS-induced IL-8 synthesis by NPF. On the other hand, RXM suppressed the proliferation of NPF in a dose-dependent manner. These findings suggest that, although RXM cannot directly inhibit the synthesis of IL-8, it probably reduces IL-8 production by inhibiting the proliferation of NPF.
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PMID:Effect of roxithromycin on IL-8 synthesis and proliferation of nasal polyp fibroblasts. 1009 66

Defensins, a prominent group of antimicrobial peptides, are an important component of the innate immune response, particularly at mucosal surfaces that are vulnerable to colonization by potential pathogens. The present study was undertaken to investigate the expression of defensins in inferior turbinate mucosa of normal subjects and inferior turbinate mucosa and nasal polyps of patients with chronic sinusitis. Expression of beta-defensin 1 and 2 and alpha-defensin 5 and 6 messenger RNAs (mRNAs) was investigated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, and their expression level was semiquantitatively evaluated by dot blot hybridization. Immunohistochemical analysis was used for detection of alpha-defensins 1, 2, and 3 in tissue sections. Beta-defensin 1 mRNA was expressed in all tissue samples, at levels that did not differ significantly. Beta-defensin 2 mRNA was detected in the turbinate mucosa and nasal polyps of patients with chronic sinusitis, but not in normal mucosa. Its expression level was significantly higher in nasal polyps than in turbinate mucosa. Alpha-defensin 5 and 6 mRNAs were not expressed in any tissues, but alpha-defensins 1, 2, and 3 were detected in all tissue samples obtained from patients with chronic sinusitis. These results suggest that beta-defensin 1 may play a constitutive role in nasal defenses, whereas alpha-defensins 1, 2, and 3 and beta-defensin 2 may be induced in response to local infection or inflammation.
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PMID:Antimicrobial defensin peptides of the human nasal mucosa. 1186 65