Background and purpose: Several laboratories have developed culture systems including maturation factors for human DC from peripheral blood monocytes. We comprehensively studied the effect of addition of poly (I-C) to standard maturation stimulus, MCM and TNF-a on maturation of monocyte derived DCs and their ability to elicit T cell responses.Materials and methods: A short (4-day) priming of plastic adherent monocytes with granulocytemacrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) followed by allogenic TUMOR antigen pulsing and addition of MCM and TNF-a with or without poly (I-C) to generate fully mature and stable DCs. Phenotypic and functional analysis were carried out using anti CD14, HLA-DR and CD83 monoclonal antibodies, mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR), phagocytic activity and cytokine release by DC stimulated T lymphocytes.Results: We found that fully matured DCs with large amount cytoplasm and copious dendritic projections were visible at the end of culturing period in the presence of MCM and TNF-a with or without rpoly (I-C). Flow cytometric analysis using anti-CD14, HLA-DR and CD83 revealed that addition of poly (I-C) to conventional maturation factors results in decreased expression of CD14 and increased expression of HLA-DR and CD83. Functionally, MCM and TNF-a with poly (I-C) treated DCs showed a little stronger mixed leukocyte reaction Analysis of phagocytic activity showed that addition of poly (I-C) reduced FITC-conjugated bead uptake and increased mean fluorescent intensity (MFI) of phagocytic DCs. Furthermore our results revealed that additional treatment of DCs with poly (I-C) results in reduction of IL-12: IL-10 and IFN-γ: IL-4 ratios in DC and DC-primed T cell supernatants respectively.Conclusion: Our results support this idea that use of the MCM, TNF-a and poly (I-C) as maturation factor could gnerates more mature monocyte derived DCs that prime T lymphocytes to TH2 type cytokine release.

Introduction: Lichen planus is a skin and mucosal disease with an unknown etiology. However, a number of factors are known to play a role. One of these factors is inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α, which play a key role in inflammation. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum levels of TNF-a in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) and (contact/drug-induced) oral lichenoid reactions (OLR) in comparison with normal controls.Materials and methods: In this descriptive-analytical, cross-sectional study, 10 OLP (mean age 46.84±8.59), 20 OLR patients (mean age 49.18±13.34) and 20 normal controls (mean age 39.86±6.99) were compared and the serum levels of TNF-a were measured by ELISA. Data were analyzed with SPSS 16, using Kruskal-Wallis test (a=0.05).Results: The OLR patients, OLP patients and normal group exhibited no significant differences in the serum levels of TNF-a (p value=0.465). The mean serum levels of TNF-a in OLR and OLP patients and in healthy individuals were 10.45, 30.76 and 50.73, respectively.Conclusion: Under the limitations of the present study, there were no significant differences in the serum levels of TNF-α in patient with OLP and OLR and healthy subjects. Therefore, TNF-a cannot be used to make a distinction between lichen planus and lichenoid reaction lesions.

Background: The pro-inflammatory cytokine, TUMOR NECROSIS factor-alpha (TNF-a), is a pathogenic element for a number of disorders. Previous studies have reported that the -1031 T/C and -238 G/A polymorphisms in the promoter region of the TNF-a gene are important factors in reproductive-related disorders. One of the most common gynecological diseases of women during the reproductive years is endometriosis. This study aims to assess an association between the -1031 T/C, -238 G/A and -308 G/A polymorphisms of the TNF-a gene promoter region to endometriosis.Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, we enrolled 65 endometriosis patients and 65 matched healthy control women by simple sampling. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis was used to analyze -1031 T/C, -238 G/A and -308 G/A polymorphisms in the TNF-a gene promoter region. Statistical analysis was performed using the chi-square test. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: We found a strong association between the -1031 T/C polymorphism in the promoter region of the TNF-a gene with endometriosis (P=0.001). There were no significant associations between the -238 G/A (P=0.243) and -308 G/A (P=1) polymorphisms with endometriosis and again endometriosis stages have no association with these polymorphisms. Conclusion: The -1031 T/C polymorphism and CC genotype can be used as a relevant marker to identify women at risk of developing endometriosis.