The objective PD98059 mouse of the present study was to determine relationships between acute-phase proteins in blood serum of cows [C-reactive protein (CRP), LPS-binding protein (LBP) and haptoglobin (Hp)]
and the faecal microbiota. Fifty-two healthy cows (2–8 years old) were investigated. Faecal bacteria were determent characterized by in situ hybridization with 16S/23S rRNA-targeted probes and by conventional culture methods. The population of Gram-negative faecal bacteria (Enterobacteriaceae) was correlated negatively with CRP and positively with LBP in blood plasma, independent of the method used. Similar results were observed with Clostridium perfringens. No correlation was found between the faecal population of intestinal bacteria and Hp levels in blood plasma. This datum indicates that intestinal bacteria, especially Enterobacteriaceae and C. perfringens, may influence the level of CRP and LBP in blood plasma. These findings can be very important for diagnostic evaluations of the intestinal microbiota and provide specific information about its regulation. Compound Library molecular weight “
“While much is known about tolerogenic dendritic cell effects on forkhead box protein
3 (FoxP3)+ regulatory T cells, virtually nothing is known about their effects on another arm of immunoregulation that is mediated by a subpopulation of immunosuppressive B cells. These cells suppress rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and inflammatory bowel Adenosine triphosphate disease in mice, and functional defects have been reported in human lupus. We show that co-stimulation-impaired tolerogenic dendritic cells that prevent and reverse type 1 diabetes mellitus induce the proliferation of human immunosuppressive B cells in vitro. We also show that the suppressive properties of these B cells concentrate inside the CD19+CD24+ B cell population and more specifically inside the CD19+CD24+CD38+ regulatory B cell population. We discovered that B cell conversion into suppressive cells in vitro is partially dependent on dendritic cell production of retinoic acid and also that CD19+CD24+CD38+
B regulatory cells express retinoic acid receptors. Taken together, our data suggest a model whereby part of the immunosuppressive properties of human tolerogenic dendritic cells could be mediated by retinoic acid which, in addition to its known role in favouring T cell differentiation to FoxP3+ regulatory T cells, acts to convert B cells into immunosuppressive cells. Historically, B lymphocytes have been considered primarily as antibody-producing and secondarily, as antigen-presenting cells [1, 2]. Given their role in producing pathogenic antibodies, especially in rheumatic diseases and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) [3, 4], B lymphocytes have been targeted for immunomodulation by therapeutic depletion and other methods [5-8].