published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

Πρόσφατα δεδομένα υποδεικνύουν ότι η έκφραση του p75NTR και των Trk υποδοχέων των νευροτροφινών (TrkA, TrkB, TrkC) είναι ιδιαίτερα σημαντική όχι μόνο στη νευρωνική επιβίωση κατά τη διάρκεια της ανάπτυξης και την ενήλικο ζωή αλλά και σε ποικίλες κυτταρικές διαδικασίες όπως η ανοσολογική απάντηση του οργανισμού σε φλεγμονές. Ο σκοπός αυτής της μελέτης ήταν να ερευνήσει την κυτταρική εντόπιση και κατανομή του p75NTR και των Trk υποδοχέων των νευροτροφινών στην ελκώδη κολίτιδα σε σύγκριση με το φυσιολογικό έντερο του ενήλικα ανθρώπου χρησιμοποιώντας την ανοσοϊστοχημική μέθοδο. Στη μελέτη συμπεριελήφθησαν 45 περιπτώσεις ελκώδους κολίτιδας και 5 δείγματα φυσιολογικού εντέρου. Παρατηρήθηκε αύξηση της έκφρασης όσον αφορά τους TrkA υποδοχείς τόσο στο επιθήλιο όσο και στα κύτταρα του εντερικού νευρικού συστήματος στο φλεγμονώδες σε σχέση με το φυσιολογικό έντερο. Έντονη έκφραση των TrkB υποδοχέων ταυτοποιήθηκε στο μυϊκό τοίχωμα των αγγείων και στα εντεροενδοκρινή κύτταρα του επιθηλίου στο φλεγμονώδες και στο φυσιολογικό έντερο. Μειωμένη έκφραση, τόσο στο επιθήλιο όσο και στο εντερικό νευρικό σύστημα, όσον αφορά την έκφραση των TrkB και TrkC υποδοχέων παρατηρήθηκε στις περιπτώσεις ελκώδους κολίτιδας σε σχέση με το φυσιολογικό έντερο. Ο p75NTR παρουσίασε έκφραση αποκλειστικά στα πλέγματα του νευρικού συστήματος, τόσο στο φυσιολογικό όσο και στο φλεγμονώδες έντερο. Τα παραπάνω αποτελέσματα υποδεικνύουν ότι οι νευροτροφίνες μέσω της δέσμευσής τους με τους Trk υποδοχείς και τον p75NTR πιθανόν εμπλέκονται στην παθογένεια των φλεγμονών όπως η ελκώδης κολίτιδα κατά την ενήλικο ζωή. / -

This thesis is an investigation of the effects of whole beans, with different levels of phenolics level, on colonic inflammation in mice. C57BL/6 male mice were fed a basal diet (BD) supplemented with or without 20% bean flour for 3 weeks. Colitis was induced by 2% dextran sulphate sodium (DSS) in mice drinking water. Phenolic determinations of the bean flours revealed that within each pair of beans, the darker bean had higher phenolic content and antioxidant activity compared to the lighter one. In addition, only coloured beans had anthocyanin. When bean were consumed both prior to and during DSS cycle, the mice experienced both disease attention and aggravation. However, when bean consumption was limited to prior to DSS induction only, mice had reduced colitis upon later DSS induction. Overall, findings suggest that the effects of bean may differ depending on the timing of consumption. / Agriculture and Agri-Food of Canada, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs

No description available.

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) result from the nexus of a genetic predisposition, dysregulated immunologic insult against commensal microflora, and an environmental trigger. The intestinal epithelium is a single cell layer that separates a highly active mucosal immune system from a large antigenic load in the intestinal lumen. Innate immune recognition combined with a highly regulated adaptive immune response maintains this tolerance. The intestinal epithelium in collusion with antigen presenting cells primarily modulates this activity. In this thesis, we show that, in response to DNA isolated from bacteria, innate toll like receptor 9 (TLR9) activation in intestinal epithelial cells modulates both arms of the immune system, to regulate intestinal homeostasis, and through this mechanism, Bifidobacteria breve DNA exerts its anti-inflammatory function. / Experimental Medicine

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an umbrella term for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. These are characterized by a chronic inflammation of the intestinal mucosa. Living with chronic illness meant that life changed significantly. Quality of life was affected for these individuals and was stressful in their lives.   Aim: The aim was to describe the experiences of living with inflammatory bowel disease.   Method: A qualitative literature review was chosen to analyze articles that were related to the aim of this study.   Results: Based on the chosen articles five themes were created; Commuting between hope and fear, symptoms of the disease and medication become everyday focus, struggling with  the new identity, desire to control the disease- do I control my illness or does it control me and social relationships are affected.   Conclusion: Inflammatory bowel disease is a distressing disease and can cause limitations in social life due to lack of knowledge by others about the disease. The affected felt a loss of control in their life due to the difficulty in managing the symptoms. They experienced a constant struggle and mixed emotions, such as anxiety, depression, stress, and denial of the disease, trying to feel like a healthy person.

Bibliography: leaves 175-206. / 206 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Evaluates the potential therapeutic application of peptide growth factors, in particular epidermal growth factor, in the treatment of colonic ulcerative conditions. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1993?

Thesis (M.Med.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Also available in print.

Ulcerative colitis (UC), a subset of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), is a chronic uncontrolled inflammatory condition of the intestinal mucosa. As its etiology remains unclear, no specific effective treatment is available. Therefore, development of novel strategies for IBD treatment remains a major medical need. Qing-dai Powder (QDP), an ancient herbal medicinal formula, exerted potent therapeutic effect on intractable UC patients; however, evidence-based support is needed. The aims of this study are: i) to delineate the anti-colitis effect of QDP and its underlying mechanisms in murine colitis; 2) to explore the rationality of QDP formula; 3) to investigate the anti-colitis effects of major component(s) or/and active ingredient(s) of QDP and their underlying mechanisms in murine colitis. In the present study, the therapeutic effect of QDP on UC was investigated on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced acute murine colitis. Results showed that i) QDP dose-dependently attenuated disease activity index (DAI), colon shortening, histological damage and colonic myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity of DSS-treated mice; ii) QDP significantly decreased the infiltration of immune cells, particularly macrophages and CD4+ T cells, colonic levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6, and plasma level of chemokine MCP-1. In RAW 264.7 cells, QDP significantly suppressed lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced the production of TNF-α and IL-6, and the expression levels of COX-2 and iNOS via inhibiting IкB-α degradation and p65 nuclear translocation; Also, in primary CD4+ T cells, QDP significantly suppressed the differentiation of Th1 and Th17 cells. These findings indicate that the anti-colitis effects of QDP might be associated with inhibition of inflammatory responses of colonic macrophages and CD4+ T cells. QDP is composed of Qing-dai and Ku-fan. The comparative study of anti-colitis of QDP, Qing-dai and Ku-fan revealed that QDP is a reasonable TCM formula, and Qing-dai is mainly responsible for the anti-colitis effect of QDP and Ku-fan exhibits a weak beneficial effect. Mechanistically, it was found that Qing-dai significantly suppressed Th1 and Th17 responses, characterized as i) suppressing mRNA expression of Th1 cytokine IFN-γ and Th17 cytokine IL-17A, inhibiting the production of Th1 and Th17-related cytokines IFN-γ, IL-17A/F and TNF-α in the colon of DSS-treated mice; ii) restraining the proportions of Th1 and Th17 cells in mesenteric lymph nodes of DSS-treated mice; iii) suppressing the differentiation of Th1 and Th17 cells in vitro. Indirubin is the principle active component of Qing-dai. It was found that indirubin significantly suppressed the generation of Th17 cells in DSS-treated mice, evidenced by i) suppressing the mRNA expression of IFN-γ, IL-17A, and RORγt, and inhibiting the production of IL-17A/F, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in the colon of DSS-treated mice; ii) reducing Th17 cells in mesenteric lymph nodes of DSS-treated mice through reducing GSK-3β activity and p-STAT3 expression; iii) suppressing the differentiation of Th17 cells through down-regulating the expression of GSK-3β and p-STAT3 in vitro. In summary, the present study provides evidence-based support for the clinical use of QDP in the management of UC, and indicates that indirubin is the main active compound of QDP responsible for its anti-colitis effect.