Thus, plexinA1 (plexA1) and NP-1 were implicated in DC migration through endothelial layers and lymphatic entry 29, yet also in T-cell activation by murine or

human DC 30–32, though neither their co-segregation at the IS nor their ligands there clearly identified. In contrast, the plexA1/NP-1 complex relays repulsive signals when exposed to soluble SEMA3A thereby causing loss of thymocyte adhesion, impairing actin cytoskeletal reorganization and activation of essential components of TCR signalling, or controlling Fas-mediated apoptosis 33–37. Apparently, timely regulated IS recruitment and the respective interaction molecule essentially determine the ability of plexA1/NP-1 to promote or terminate T-cell activation. In line with this hypothesis, repulsive SEMA3A is produced only late in DC/T-cell co-cultures 34. The role of plexA1/NP-1 and their ligands in viral immunomodulation Selleck Doxorubicin has not yet been addressed. Based on the hypothesis that signalling to conjugating T cells might contribute to MV interference with IS stability and function, we addressed the role of plexA1/NP-1 and their ligand SEMA3A in this system. We found that levels of plexA1/NP-1 on MV-exposed T cells or MV-infected DC did not differ from those measured on controls. In T cells, however, contact to the viral gps abrogated translocation of both plexA1 and NP-1 towards stimulatory interfaces as required

for their ability to enhance IS efficiency. As a second STA-9090 ic50 level of IS interference, MV-DC released high Thalidomide levels of repulsive SEMA3A early after infection and this accounted for loss of filamentous actin and actin-based protrusions of T cells, altogether indicating that MV affects plexA1/NP-1 signalling in the IS. PlexA1/NP-1 supports IS stability and function, both of which are impaired if these involve MV-infected DC (MV-DC), or T cells pre-exposed to the MV gp complex. To analyze the role of plexA1/NP-1 in destabilization of the MV-DC/T-cell IS, we first

analyzed whether MV affected surface expression of these molecules within the experimental conditions used throughout our study. These involved MV-infected DC (to evaluate effects of direct infection as occurring in vivo 6) and T cells exposed to UV-inactivated MV to mimic T-cell surface contact-dependent signalling elicited by the viral gp complex (displayed by MV-infected DC) in the presence of fusion inhibitory peptide (to avoid MV uptake). In line with the published data, both plexA1 and NP-1 were expressed to very low levels on freshly isolated human primary T cells, and this was not altered upon UV-MV exposure (or mock exposure; both applied for 2 h) (Fig. 1A). In permeabilized T cells, especially plexA1 was efficiently detected indicating it mainly resides in intracellular compartments (not shown here, and Fig. 2C).

Although NK cells can produce IFN-γ directly after the interaction with a tumor cell and although T-cell cytokine secretion depends on WASp, the requirements for NK-cell IFN-γ release at the synapse are not well

understood [16]. It should be remembered that NK-cell IFN-γ production is also induced by IL-12 and IL-18 derived from mature DCs. Furthermore, mature DCs secrete type I IFN, which enhances the cytotoxic function of NK cells and also mediates NK-cell survival and proliferation through IL-15 transpresentation [23]. Thus, crosstalk with DCs is crucial for NK-cell priming and activation and has also been implicated in immunosurveillance of transformed cells [24], including Selleckchem MI-503 the B16 model [25]. Interestingly, it has been shown that DC–NK cell interactions require the formation of a synapse, termed the regulatory IS, that polarizes DC cytokine release and surface

marker expression [26, 27]. siRNA silencing of WAS in human DCs leads to the formation of fewer conjugates between NK and DCs [27]. Thus, the compromised NK-cell-mediated control of tumor development observed in Was−/− mice could also be a consequence of a defect in the DC–NK cell regulatory IS. DC–NK cell crosstalk can take place both in secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs) as well as in nonlymphoid peripheral sites of inflammation [23]. Although it still remains to be determined the location at which the relevant DC–NK cell interactions occur in their system, Catucci this website et al. demonstrate that Was−/− DCs failed to induce IFN-γ by WT NK cells upon in vitro and in vivo activation with LPS [11]. In contrast to these data, it was previously shown that conjugate formation by human NK cells and

WAS-silenced DCs results in as much IFN-γ production from NK cells as with WT DCs [27]. Thus, the extent to which the impairment of the NK–DC regulatory IS actually contributes to tumor Phosphoglycerate kinase progression in Was−/− mice needs further investigation. In addition, Catucci et al. show that, after B16 injection, transfer of Was−/− DCs in DC-depleted mice resulted in lower frequencies of tumor infiltrating NK, but not NKT or CD8+ T, cells. The authors suggest that this effect might be due to a defect in Was−/− DCs to chemoattract NK cells [11]. The nature of the proposed DC-derived chemoattractant factor responsible for impaired NK-cell migration at the tumor site remains to be identified; however, a defect in NK-cell migration can be observed, at least in vitro using NK cells from WAS patients [28], and this might contribute to the overall altered control of tumor development in Was−/− mice. Moreover, DCs from WAS patients show defects in phagocytosis [29, 30] and in their ability to form podosomes and lamellipodia, resulting in defective migratory responses [31, 32] and therefore also contribute to the effect. Although in the study by Catucci et al.

There appeared to be higher worm counts at day 10 than day 5 in both of the current experiments, which may reflect the relative inefficiency of recovering day 5 larvae from the gastric mucosa, as observed previously (4). It would also appear that the overall ‘take’ of the worms in Experiment 5 was lower than in Experiment 6 (day 10 worm counts: Expt 5, 9080; Expt 6, 15 332). In both experiments, the percentage of arrested early L4s recovered at day 10 was

higher in previously infected lambs than in controls (Figure 2b), but this difference was not statistically significant due to the large degree of individual variation. In Experiment 6 significantly (P < 0·005) shorter developing male and female worms were recovered from previously infected compared to control lambs on day 10 (Figure 2c). Due to the small group

sizes and the finding that the parasitology Osimertinib outcome was very High Content Screening similar within Experiments 5 and 6, lymph data of previously infected and control sheep were pooled, regardless of experiment. Lymph flow was maintained in five previously infected and eight control animals until day 10. Three controls produced lymph until day 21 but flow ceased between days 10 and 14 in the remaining 5. All data was included in the group means for the available time points. At the time of challenge, the group mean lymph flow rates of control and previously infected lambs were 11·3 ± 2·7 and 8·0 ± 2·4 mL/h respectively, (P > 0·05). There was a trend towards increased lymph flow in both groups after

challenge; however, this was only significant (P < 0·01) in the control group from day 6, when it reached 18·8 ± 3·5 mL/h. Prior to challenge the group mean total cell output for both previously infected and control lambs was in the range of 1·6–2·2 × 108 cells/h (Figure 3a). This increased significantly (P < 0·05) after challenge in the previously infected group, peaking at 3·06 ± 0·5 × 108 cells/h on day 3 before Clostridium perfringens alpha toxin returning to pre-challenge levels. In the control group, the total cell output was slower to increase, peaking on day 6 at 2·72 ± 0·4 × 108 cells/h (P = 0·01), but the increase was more sustained and did not decline to pre-challenge levels until day 10. The percentage of large or blasting cells in the lymph was measured by Coulter counter (Figure 3b) and FACS (Figure 3c). Both methods showed that both treatment groups responded with an increase in the proportion of blast cells following challenge, but this occurred faster in the previously infected group, peaking at days 3–5 following challenge, whereas not becoming apparent until days 6–8 in the control group. Total cell output and the percentage lymphoblasts measured by FACS were combined to give the absolute lymphoblast output per hour (Figure 3d).

In addition, several studies have indicated that the in vivo function of Tregs is dependent on their migration into sites of inflammation 16–19. click here Although compartmentalization of Tregs is not a new phenomenon 20, the concept that Tregs migrate into allografts and inhibit rejection is a very recent observation 16–18, 21. An emerging model is that tolerance to alloantigens can only be achieved if Tregs are allowed to migrate in an appropriate pattern within allografts and within lymph

nodes 16, 18. It has been reported that Tregs express multiple chemokine receptors 22; some studies have identified that the majority of human Tregs express CD62L 23, CCR4 22, 24 and CCR7 25. These combinations should allow Tregs to migrate into lymph nodes and into the periphery. Nevertheless, most studies have been performed in rodents 18, 20, 24, and few studies have evaluated expression of these receptors in human Treg subsets. The CXC chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3) is classically expressed on activated human CD4+ T cells, and is well

established to mediate effector cell trafficking 26–28. Consistent with these findings, the expression of CXCR3 28–30 and its chemokine ligands, monokine induced by IFN-γ (Mig or CXCL9), IFN-γ-inducible protein Selleck DMXAA of 10 kDa (IP-10 or CXCL10) and IFN-γ-inducible T-cell α-chemoattractant (or CXCL11) have been reported to be associated with both cardiac and renal allograft rejection 28, 30–37. However, paradoxically, some recent studies have suggested that CXCR3 may also be expressed on Tregs 22, 38–41, and blockade of CXCR3 is reported to have variable functional effects in different animal models 32, 42, 43. Nevertheless, little is known about its expression pattern or its association with Treg subsets and their immunoregulatory function(s). In this study, we characterized the expression of CXCR3 on human CD25hi FOXP3+ CD4+ T regulatory cells, and we demonstrate that CXCR3hi Tregs are functional to suppress effector Resminostat alloimmune responses. Furthermore, we demonstrate that levels of CXCR3 increase on Tregs following activation, and that CXCR3hi Tregs are enriched in cell culture

in the presence of rapamycin. We initially analyzed the co-expression of CXCR3 and CD25 on CD4+ T cells by four color flow cytometry. Consistently, we observed two subpopulations of CD25hi cells that were either CXCR3hi or CXCR3lo/neg (Fig. 1A). As illustrated in Fig. 1B and C, we also found that FOXP3 was expressed within both populations and, further, that the level of FOXP3 expression in each subset was similar. We gated on CD25hi, CD25int/lo and CD25neg CD4+ T-cell subsets, and we assessed the relative expression of CXCR3 on each population. As illustrated in Fig. 2A, we found that CXCR3 is expressed by all subsets, irrespective of CD25 expression; but notably, double positive CXCR3+CD25hi populations co-express significant levels of FOXP3.

2A and BB shows that MxA protein expression was clearly observed in the epithelial layer of periodontal tissue. Epithelial MxA immunoreactivity seemed to be stronger in basal and spinous layers than outermost layer of oral epithelium. Using semiquantitative scoring, there

was a significantly higher score of epithelial MxA in healthy group than periodontitis group (Table 1) (p = 0.012), thus highlighting the role of MxA protein in healthy perio-dontal tissue. Since MxA protein is known to be induced by type I and type III IFN [[27-29]], we then investigated the presence of type I and type III IFN in periodontal tissue. The mRNA expression of IFN-α, IFN-β, and IFN-λ in healthy Veliparib mw periodontal tissue was negligible (n = 10, data not shown). The findings led us to hypothesize that other local mediators may be responsible for the observed MxA protein expression in healthy periodontal

tissue. Antimicrobial peptides including α-defensin, β-defensin, and LL-37 are constitutively expressed in healthy periodontal tissue [[30]] and these mediators could conceivably play a role in MxA expression. Furthermore, a recent study described a fish homologue of MxA protein which was induced by human α-defensin [[31]]. Doramapimod supplier Therefore, we stimulated primary HGEC cultures with nontoxic concentrations of α-defensin-1, -2, and -3, β-defensin-1, -2, and -3, and LL-37. Fig. 3A shows that α-defensin-1, -2, and -3 markedly induced MxA protein in HGECs. There seemed to be stronger MxA staining in HGECs treated with α-defensin-1 than in those treated with α-defensin-2 and α-defensin-3. In contrast, β-defensin-1, -2, -3 and LL-37 induced only negligible MxA protein expression. IFN-α was used as positive control and induced strong MxA protein expression. The results of MxA protein expression induced by α-defensin-1, -2, and -3, β-defensin-1, -2, and -3, and LL-37 agree with mRNA expression using real-time RT-PCR (Fig. 3B). α-defensin-1 was also able to stimulate MxA protein expression in other cells including normal human bronchial epithelial cells and primary

human microvascular endothelial cells (Fig. 3C). Addition of neutralizing antibodies against type I IFN (IFN-α and IFN-β) into the cultures of α-defensin-1-treated HGECs had no effect on MxA expression whereas these neutralizing antibodies markedly inhibited MxA expression in IFN-α-treated HGECs (Fig. Urease 3D). The IFN-α-induced MxA protein expression was likely to be independent on α-defensins since no detection of α-defensin production was observed in cultures of IFN-α-treated HGECs (Supporting Information Fig. 1). In addition, no production of type I IFN (IFN-α and IFN-β) was observed at both the mRNA and protein levels in α-defensin-treated HGECs (data not shown). Collectively, these data suggest that α-defensin and type I interferon use different triggering pathways to induce MxA expression. The antiviral activity of MxA against influenza A virus is well recognized [[25]].

Additionally, CTLA-4-Ig has been shown to induce production of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase

(IDO) from APCs, which would inhibit T cell activation by tryptophan depletion [27, 28]. Another potential immunosuppressive mechanism has been suggested by which CTLA-4-Ig can induce and increase the population of regulatory T cells both in LBH589 purchase vitro [29] as well as in collagen-induced arthritis in mice [30]. In this study, we have shown further that activation and proliferation of T cells in the sensitized draining lymph node are inhibited after treatment with CTLA-4-Ig and that infiltration of activated effector CD8+ T cells in the inflamed tissue is reduced after challenge. The effect in the draining lymph node is in accordance with a study performed by Platt et al. [26], who demonstrated that in an ovalbumin (OVA)-specific T cell activation model, CTLA-4-Ig treatment leads to a reduced proliferation of T cells and reduced down-regulation of CD62L on OVA-specific T cells 3 days post-immunization together with a reduced expression of CD69 1 day post-immunization [26]. Less efficient down-regulation of CD62L on T cells in CTLA-4-Ig-treated mice is consistent with a reduced infiltration of effector cells into

the inflamed ear tissue, as down-regulation of selleck chemical CD62L is needed for lymphocytes to Dichloromethane dehalogenase exit the draining lymph node and to enter the site of inflammation [31]. Further, our data suggest that CTLA-4-Ig binds primarily to DCs but also mediates a strong inhibition of CD86 expression on B cells. Cytokines IL-4 and IL-1β, together with chemokines MIP-2 and IP-10, were suppressed after CTLA-4-Ig treatment. In the skin, a major source of both MIP-2 and IP-10 is keratinocytes

[32, 33] and it is currently not known how CTLA-4-Ig may suppress production of these two chemokines. It has been suggested that IP-10 production from keratinocytes attracts CD8+ T cells, which subsequently secrete IFN-γ, further stimulating keratinocytes to produce more IP-10 and thereby completing a positive feedback loop [34]. Because CTLA-4-Ig inhibits infiltration of CD8+ T cells into the challenged ear it is possible that the reduced infiltration of CD8+ T cells could lead to decreased release of IP-10, as found in our analysis. The data in the adoptive transfer studies show that both IP-10 and MIP-2 are suppressed when CTLA-4-Ig is present only in the sensitization phase – this is expected, as the presence of CTLA-4-Ig in the sensitization phase only also results in a reduced ear swelling and reduced influx of CD8+ T cells (Figs 4 and S2). However, it was surprising that MIP-2 but not IP-10 was suppressed when CTLA-4-Ig was present in the challenge phase alone, which does not reduce ear swelling (Fig. S2).

Although renal prognosis and mortality is different among the underlying glomerulonephritides, corticosteroid-based immunosuppressive therapy is their main treatment modality and, therefore, they face the same clinical target, how to maximize the benefit of immunosuppressive therapy and minimize their disadvantages. The aims of the multicenter prospective cohort study, Japan Nephrotic Syndrome Cohort Study (JNSCS), are to provide the basic epidemiological date in primary ERK inhibitor nephrotic syndrome in Japan, including the renal

prognosis and all-cause mortality, the response to the modern immunosuppressive practice patterns, and adverse events associated with these immunosuppressive therapy. JNSCS started in 2008 and 396 patients with primary nephrotic syndrome in 57 hospitals were enrolled during 3 years’ entry

period between 2008 and 2010. Diagnosis of glomerular diseases are minor change disease (MCD, n = 165 [41.6%]) and membranous nephropathy (MN, n = 158 [39.9%]), check details focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS, n = 38 [9.6%]), IgA nephropathy (n = 15 [3.8%]), membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (n = 9 [2.3%]), non-IgAN mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (n = 7 [1.8%]), extracapillary proliferative glomerulonephritis (n = 2 [0.5%]) and intracapillary proliferative glomerulonephritis (n = 2 [0.5%]). Median age was 42 (interquartile range 26, 61) years in MCD, 66 (59, 75) years in MN, 62 (29, 73) in FSGS, and 58 (45, 71) in others. Male gender was 57.6%, 53.8%, 65.8%, and 57.1% in MCD, MN, FSGS, and others, respectively. Until December 2012, 359 (90.7%) patients received immunosuppressive therapy, including 162 MCD patients (98.2%), 136 MN patients (86.1%), 35 FSGS patients (92.1%), and 26 other patients (74.3%). Besides oral prednisolone (PSL), major initial immunosuppressive agents within 1 month of the immunosuppressive therapy were intravenous methylprednisolone (29.0%, 18.5%, 28.6%, and 50.0% in MCD, MN, FSGS, and others, respectively) Glycogen branching enzyme and cyclosporin (14.8%, 45.2%, 42.9%, and 23.1% in MCD, MN, FSGS, and others, respectively). In contrast, only a few patients received cyclophosphamide

(0.6%, 4.4%, 0.0%, and 11.5% in MCD, MN, FSGS, and others, respectively), which KDIGO guideline 2012 recommended as the first-line immunosuppressive agent for MN. Interestingly, use of immunosuppressive agents were substantially different geographically. During median 2.3 years (interquartile range, 1.9–3.0) of observational period, cumulative probabilities of complete remission of proteinuria defined as <0.3 g/day of urinary protein, <0.3 urinary protein/urinary creatinine ratio, or negative or trace of dipstick urinary protein after initiation of immunosuppressive therapy (n = 359 [90.7%]) or kidney biopsy if no immunosuppressive therapy (n = 39 [9.3%]) were 0.85, 0.89, 0.93, and 0.95 at 2, 6, 12, and 24 months in MCD, 0.08, 0.27, 0.53, and 0.68 in MN, 0.32, 0.46, 0.58, and 0.65 in FSGS, and 0.09, 0.21, 0.42, and 0.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class-I H-2kd-restricted cognate antigenic peptides islet-specific glucose-6-phosphatase

catalytic subunit-related protein (IGRP206–214) (VYLKTNVFL) and its mimotopes NRP (KYNKANWFL; agonist), NRP-V7 (KYNKANVFL; super agonist) and TUM (KYQAVTTTL; non-agonist) MG-132 cost were custom synthesized by Genscript (Piscataway, NJ, USA). Expression of cell surface markers was evaluated by flow cytometry using fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS)Canto flow cytometer (Becton Dickinson Flow Cytometry Systems, San Jose, CA, USA) and the data were analysed using FlowJo software (Tree Star Inc., Ashland, OR, USA). Total lymph node cells (2 × 105 cells) or purified CD8+ T cells (2·5 × 104 cells) were cultured in 96-well culture plates with the indicated peptides using irradiated splenocytes as antigen-presenting cells (APCs)

(1 × 105 cells) or with anti-CD3/CD28-coated beads for 72 h. Cell proliferation was measured by [3H]-thymidine incorporation [34]. To measure antigen-induced proliferation in vivo, 8.3 CD8+ T cells were labelled with mTOR inhibitor carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE), as described previously [35], and injected intravenously. Bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) cultured with granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and IL-4 were pulsed with IGRP206–214 or the control peptide TUM for 1 h at 37°C, washed, resuspended in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and injected

subcutaneously in hind footpads. Donor cells recovered from the draining inguinal lymph node were evaluated to measure proliferation. CTL activity was measured using RMA-S-Kd target cells loaded with the cognate peptide, as described previously [1, 32]. The amount of IL-2 in the culture supernatants was determined by sandwich ELISA using antibody pairs purchased from BD Pharmingen Biosciences (Palo Alto, CA, USA). Onset of T1D was monitored by measuring urine glucose levels using Keto-Diastix (Bayer, Canada). selleck chemicals llc Animals with two consecutive readings of >3 were considered diabetic. At the time of euthanasia, pancreatic tissues were processed for histopathology analysis. At least three non-overlapping (200 μm apart) 5-μm sections were evaluated for insulitis [32]. Cumulative incidence of T1D was analysed using Prism software (GraphPad Software Inc., La Jolla, CA, USA). For diabetes incidence, significance was calculated using log-rank (Mantel–Cox) test. For all other parameters, statistical significance was calculated by Student’s t-test. The 8.3-NOD mouse expresses a highly pathogenic, MHC class I-restricted, transgenic 8.3 TCR specific to a peptide derived from the IGRP206–214 [33, 36]. In these mice, the 8.3 TCR transgenic CD8+ T cells (8.3 T cells) infiltrate pancreatic islets from 3 weeks of age [33]. Female 8.

As aforementioned, CCL3 and CCL4 are two structurally and functionally related CC chemokines. CCL3 and CCL4 were both discovered in 1988, when Wolpe et al. purified a protein doublet from the supernatant of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated murine macrophages [57]. Because of its inflammatory properties in vitro as well as in vivo, the protein mixture was called macrophage inflammatory protein-1 (MIP-1). Further biochemical separation and characterization of the protein doublet yielded

two distinct, but highly related proteins, MIP-1α and MIP-1β[58]. From 1988 to LY294002 supplier 1991, several groups reported independently the isolation of the human homologues of MIP-1α and MIP-1β[59–61]. As Cobimetinib a consequence, alternate designations were used for MIP-1α (LD78α, AT464·1, GOS19-1) and MIP-1β (ACT-2, AT744·1), similar to other members of chemokine superfamily. In an attempt to clarify the confusing nomenclature associated with chemokines and their receptors, a new nomenclature was introduced by Zlotnik and Yoshie in 2000 [37]. MIP-1α and MIP-1β were renamed as CCL3 and CCL4. The non-allelic

copies of CCL3 and CCL4 were designated as CCL3L (previously LD78β, AT 464·2, GOS19-2) and CCL4L (previously LAG-1, AT744·2). CCL3 and CCL4 precursors and mature proteins share 58% and 68% identical amino acids, respectively (Fig. 2). Both chemokines are expressed upon stimulation by monocytes/macrophages, T and B lymphocytes and dendritic cells (although they are inducible in most mature haematopoietic cells). Functionally, CCL3 and CCL4 are potent chemoattractants of monocytes, T lymphocytes, dendritic cells and natural killer cells [47]. Despite these similarities, CCL3 and CCL4 differ in the recruitment of specific T cell subsets: CCL3 preferentially very attracts CD8 T cells

while CCL4 preferentially attracts CD4 T cells [62]. Interestingly, Bystry and co-workers demonstrated that B cells and professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) recruit CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells via CCL4 [63]. This role of CCL4 in immune regulation was reinforced later by Joosten et al. [64], who identified a human CD8+ regulatory T cell subset that mediates suppression through CCL4 but not CCL3. CCL3 and CCL4 also differ in their effect on stem cell proliferation: CCL3 suppresses proliferation of haematopoietic progenitor cells [65]. CCL4 has no suppressive or enhancing activity on stem cells or early myeloid progenitor cells by itself, but has the capacity to block the suppressive actions of CCL3 [66]. A different receptor usage may help to explain, at least in part, why these molecules have overlapping, but not identical, bioactivity profiles: CCL3 signals through the chemokine receptors CCR1 and CCR5.

Results: The average thiamine level was 50.1 ng/mL (normal range, 24–66 ng/mL). Of the 100 patients included in the analysis, 15 were found to have reduced serum thiamine levels (<24 ng/mL). The patients were dichotomized according to the median serum thiamine level into a high-thiamine group (≥35.5 ng/mL) and a low-thiamine group (<35.4 ng/mL), and the clinical characteristics were compared between the two groups. The former group exhibited higher serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and exhibited Alisertib in vivo lower C-reactive protein (CRP) than the latter group. We found a significant correlation

between the serum thiamin levels and the serum levels of AST and ALT (p < 0.0001, r = 0.44, p = 0.0002, r = 0.63). In addition, 18 patients showed a decrease from the baseline of the serum thiamine level post

hemodialysis. We divided these 18 patients into two groups, namely, the decrease group (n = 18) and the increase group (n = 82), and compared the clinical characteristics between the two groups. The comparison, however, revealed no significant difference in the Kt/V or type of dialyzer between the two groups. Conclusion: We conclude that thiamine deficiency did not occur in our regular dialysis patients, with the exception Ulixertinib ic50 of a few cases. The serum AST or ALT may be used as a marker of thiamine deficiency in dialysis patients. TONGPAE almost PINCHART1, NONGNUCH ARKOM2 1M.D., Fellow Nephrology Division, Medicine Department,

Ramathibodi Hospital; 2M.D. Nephrology Division, Medicine Department, Ramathibodi Hospital Introduction: There are many techniques used in vascular access surveillance for hemodialysis with the goal to detect access stenosis before thrombosis occurs. The ideal technique is that easy to perform, cost-effective, widely available and highly accurate. The purpose of this study is to determine sensitivity and specificity of three diagnostic tests including Venous Static Pressure (VP), Ultrasound Dilution Test (UDT), Duplex Doppler Ultrasound (DDU) or combination tests. Method: Patients with chronic stable hemodialysis via permanent vascular access were recruited and measured static venous pressure, intra-access flow using UDT and DDU. All patients were confirmed by angiography which is the gold standard for diagnosis access stenosis. Each test was performed within two weeks apart. Results: All three tests were evaluated using Receiver Operating Characteristic curve and found that UDT had the AUC of 0.76 (95% CI 0.6 to 0.9), DDU 0.66 (95% CI 0.5 to 0.8) and VP 0.54 (95% CI 0.3 to 0.7). The cutoff value used to predict access stenosis was 750 ml/min for UDT, PSV 290 cm/sec for DDU, and ratio 0.2 for VP. When compared the results of combined VP and DDU to UDT using the same cutoff value as above, the sensitivity and specificity were similar.