Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0042384 (vasculitis)
 20,525 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Fas antigen (Fas) is a cell surface receptor molecule that mediates apoptosis-inducing signals into activated and/or autoreactive peripheral T and B cells by stimulation with Fas ligand or agonistic anti-Fas mAb. The i.p. administration of the hamster anti-mouse Fas mAb RK-8, which induced apoptosis both in vivo and in vitro, did not kill adult mice, whereas those given another hamster anti-mouse Fas mAb Jo2 rapidly die of fulminant hepatitis with hemorrhage. Here, we report that MRL-gld/gld mice thoroughly recovered and/or were prevented from glomerulonephritis, arthritis, sialadenitis, vasculitis and lymphoadenopathy after receiving a single administration of the agonistic anti-mouse Fas mAb RK-8. The serum levels of autoantibodies were decreased after the administration. All the therapeutic effects of RK-8 persisted for >6 months. These findings suggest that the systemic administration of agonistic anti-Fas mAb without fulminant hepatitis-inducing activity is a useful therapeutic strategy for treating systemic autoimmune disease.
 ...
PMID:Amelioration of systemic autoimmune disease by the stimulation of apoptosis-promoting receptor Fas with anti-Fas mAb. 946 7

To elucidate the clinicopathological features of cutaneous allergic (leukocytoclastic) vasculitis (CAV), biopsied skin tissues of 32 patients with CAV were examined immunohistopathologically and compared with the main clinical features. Additionally, to obtain some clues to better understand the roles of infiltrating cells, particularly neutrophils in CAV, apoptosis and related antigens were investigated in vivo. The 32 patients with CAV were divided into two groups based on their clinical course: (i) non-recurrent (group I; nine cases); and (ii) recurrent (group II; 23 cases). Immunohistopathologically, group I was characterized by stereotypical necrotizing changes of CAV with fibrin exudation of small blood vessels in the upper cutis, and group II was characterized by CAV and fibrous thickening of the vascular walls with significant infiltration of CD3+, UCHL-1+ T cells. Group II was subdivided further: groups IIa (15 cases) and IIb (eight cases); that is, the former was notable for necrotizing changes of CAV, which tended to spread into the proper corium down to the lower cutis; whereas the latter exhibited considerably less marked histological changes of CAV without any spread to the lower cutis. In a comparison of the clinical data among the three groups, there were considerable differences in age, clinical course, localization of purpura and associated disease. In particular, group II showed a high frequency of connective tissue diseases. The presence of apoptosis was seen in a considerable number of neutrophils, and some nuclear debris turned out to be apoptotic bodies by the in situ terminal deoxytransferase (TdT)-catalyzed DNA nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method and electron microscopy. By combining immunohistochemistry with TUNEL, the majority of apoptotic neutrophils and nuclear debris was seen to be ingested by macrophages. In immunohistochemical examinations for apoptosis-related bcl-2 protein and Fas antigen, bcl-2 was recognized only in the cytoplasm of infiltrating T cells, and Fas was positively stained on the cellular membranes of infiltrating T cells and neutrophils in a scattered fashion. Thus, a novel method for neutrophil disposal in CAV was suggested.
 ...
PMID:Cutaneous allergic vasculitis: clinicopathological characterization and identification of apoptosis. 977 9

The etiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains unknown; however, recent studies have suggested a central role of the vascular endothelium in RA pathogenesis. The immune complex (IC)-mediated vasculitis is typical for RA. The studies reported herein were undertaken to determine 1) whether IC isolated from plasma of patients with RA are capable of inducing expression of ICAM-1/CD54 and Fas antigen/CD95 on the endothelial cell (EC) in vitro, 2) whether the capacity to induce expression of this phenotypic markers of EC activation is determined by the size or by the composition of the IC. The concentrations of IC were chosen to be within the range for IC levels in plasma. We have shown that all IC-containing samples (n = 8) significantly and in a dose-dependent manner increased level of ICAM-1 expression on the EC. In selected experiments EC were incubated with IC in the presence of complement. The presence of serum containing active complement components resulted in further up-regulation of ICAM-1 expression only in 4 of 8 cases, independently on the ability of IC to fix complement. Additionally, we have found that all IC samples significantly and in a dose-dependent manner induced the marked increase in CD95 expression on the EC. Furthermore, the levels of augmented expression of CD95 correlated with the levels of CD54 expression stimulated by the same IC-containing samples. We have demonstrated that these levels of stimulated expression of ICAM-1 as well as levels of Fas antigen expression negatively correlated with percentage amounts of IgM in total protein concentration of IC and directly correlated with IgG content in comparison to IgM in the structure of this IC. Our results show that IC stimulate ECs to express ICAM-1 and CD95, all of which have been implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatic disease. The studies reported herein provide further information regarding to inflammatory potential of IC in RA.
 ...
PMID:Influence of Immune Complexes on Expression of CD54 and CD95 on the Surface of Endothelial Cells of ECV-304 Line. 1268 82