The only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, playing key roles in innate immune defense, wound healing, and modulation of inflammatory responses.
OBJECTIVES: To compare changes in vitamin D status and cathelicidin (LL-37) levels in septic ICU patients treated with placebo versus cholecalciferol. DESIGN: Randomized, placebo-controlled, trial. SETTING: Medical and surgical ICUs of a single teach…
Porphyromonas gingivalis is a peptide-fermenting asaccharolytic periodontal pathogen. Its genome contains several genes encoding cysteine peptidases other than gingipains. One of these genes (PG1055) encodes a protein called Tpr (thiol protease) that…
PURPOSE: Vitamin D is recognized to be an important modulator of the immune system. In the eye, studies have shown that deficiencies and genetic differences in vitamin D-related genes have a significant impact on the development of various ocular dis…
The interaction between arenicin-1, that is an antimicrobial peptide from polychaeta Arenicola marina, and human complement system protein C1q was studied using enzyme-linked receptor sorbent assay and ELISA. We revealed that arenicin-1 and C1q form…
Mechanical ventilation (MV) of patients can cause damage to bronchoalveolar epithelium, leading to a sterile inflammatory response, infection and in severe cases sepsis. Limited knowledge is available on the effects of MV on the innate immune defense…
Adjunctive vitamin D treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis enhances resolution of inflammation but has modest effects on bacterial clearance. Sodium 4-phenylbutyrate (PBA) is in clinical use for a range of conditions and has been shown to synergise wi…
Subantimicrobial doxycycline is an anti-inflammatory drug that decreases cathelicidin, kallikrein 5, reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide, and matrix metalloproteinases. Clinical trials demonstrated a comparable efficacy to 100-mg doxycycline in pap…
OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of two doses of intramuscular cholecalciferol on serial serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin-D levels and on pharmacodynamics endpoints: calcium, phosphate, parathyroid hormone, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and cathelici…
Vitamin D promotes epithelial immunity by upregulating antimicrobial peptides, including LL-37, which have bactericidal activity against Staphylococcus aureus. We found that children with vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency [25-hydroxyvitamin D <30…
The underlying cause of neutropenia may be difficult to determine due to similar clinical presentation in many neutropenic conditions. The neutrophil protein hCAP-18 (pro-LL-37) is a major component of neutrophil secondary granules and in this prospe…
BACKGROUND: Cathelicidin (LL-37) is an endogenous innate immune peptide that is elevated in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). The role of LL-37 in olfactory epithelium (OE) inflammation remains unknown. We hypothesized that: (1) LL-37 topic…
BACKGROUND: Recent evidence about the various effects of vitamin D (vit D) on innate and adaptive immunity has led to a search for the role of vit D in asthma. It is postulated that a decrease in cathelicidin, a multifunctional host defense molecule,…
Cathelicidins are a gene family best known for their antimicrobial action, but the diverse mature peptides they encode also have other host defense functions. The human cathelicidin peptide LL-37 enhances recognition of nucleic acids, an action whose…
The broad recognition specificity exhibited by integrin α(M)β2 (Mac-1, CD11b/CD18) has allowed this adhesion receptor to play innumerable roles in leukocyte biology, yet we know little about how and why α(M)β2 binds its multiple ligands. Within α(M)β…
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are part of the immune system in a wide range of organisms. They generally carry positive charges under physiological conditions, allowing them to accumulate on the negatively charged bacterial membrane as the first step…
The human cathelicidin LL-37 peptide is overexpressed in psoriasis and has been demonstrated to be a multifunctional modulator of innate immune response elements, including monocytes. Monocytes, categorized into three populations based on the cell su…
Five cases of bacterial meningitis treated with ceftaroline (4 Streptococcus pneumoniae and 1 Staphylococcus aureus) are summarized here. The pharmacodynamics of human cathelicidin LL-37 and ceftaroline were evaluated against S. pneumoniae. Patients…
Dectin-2 is a C-type lectin receptor that recognizes high mannose polysaccharides. Cryptococcus neoformans, a yeast-form fungal pathogen, is rich in polysaccharides in its cell wall and capsule. In the present study, we analyzed the role of Dectin-2…
Infiltration by macrophages represents a characteristic morphological hallmark in high-grade lymphatic malignancies such as Burkitt's lymphoma (BL). Although macrophages can, in principle, target neoplastic cells and mediate antibody-dependent cellul…
BACKGROUND: The innate immune response to tuberculosis infection may involve the increased production of nitric oxide and cathelicidin due to the up-regulated expression of the vitamin D receptor (VDR), though this proposed mechanism remains controve…