chronic inflammatory diseases tagged posts

An international research team has established a link between gut microbiota and chronic inflammatory diseases such as arthritis. The team led by Éric Boilard of Université Laval has discovered that a protein naturally present in the gut acts on the microbiota and causes the formation of molecules that exacerbate the symptoms of these diseases. The details of this finding are published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation — Insight.

The protein in question, phospholipase A2-IIA, was discovered several years ago in the fluid that surrounds the joints of people with arthritis according to Dr. Boilard, a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Université Laval and a researcher at CHU de Québec-Université Laval Research Centre...

Highlights •TNF inhibits IL-4-induced Arg1 expression in macrophages and dendritic cells •Arg1 is upregulated in macrophages or dendritic cells of L. major-infected TNF−/− mice •Arg1 hyperexpression in TNF−/− mice impairs in situ production of leishmanicidal NO •Arg1 deletion restores parasite and disease control in otherwise non-healing mice

Tumour necrosis factor (TNF), a messenger substance in the immune system, plays an important role in triggering chronic inflammatory diseases. For this reason, TNF inhibitors are a standard form of treatment for patients with RA and certain inflammatory bowel diseases. However, TNF also protects against infection, which means that inhibiting it can cause latent infections to resurface...