thymosin and Pneumonia

The aim of this prospective, double-blinded pilot trial study was to evaluate the effects of Thymosin alpha 1 use in the early phase on immunomodulation and clinical outcomes in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). A total of 24 patients with SAP were randomized to receive either conventional therapy for SAP or immunomodulatory therapy (TA1 group). The patients in the thymosin group were injected with Talpha1 3.2 mg twice per day for 7 days. The serum level of HLA-DR and CD4/CD8 ratio and other immune parameters were measured on admission, the 8th day and the 28th day. There was a low expression of monocyte HLA-DR in both groups on admission, and more rapid alterations in the HLA-DR were found in the TA1 group. The positive rates of blood and abdominal drainage culture were statistically significant during the 28th follow-up period. The duration of ICU stay was shorter after TA1 treatment. Improves cell-induced immunity and reduces infection rate in severe acute pancreatitis patients.

Topics: Adjuvants, Immunologic; Adult; CD4-CD8 Ratio; Double-Blind Method; Female; HLA-DR Antigens; Humans; Immunity, Cellular; Male; Middle Aged; Monocytes; Pancreatitis; Pneumonia; Sepsis; Thymalfasin; Thymosin; Treatment Outcome

To evaluate the preventive and therapeutic effect of thymosin alpha(1) on lung infections in critical patients with tracheotomy.. Forty-two patients were randomly divided into treatment group and control group to receive daily subcutaneous thymosin injection at 11.6 mg and saline of 2 ml for 7 days, respectively.. Compared with the control group, the infection rate, white blood cell count, C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukiu-6 were significantly lower in the treatment group.. Thymosin alpha(1) can be effective for prevention and treatment of lung infections in critical patients with tracheotomy and may improve the patients' immunity and prognosis.

Topics: Adjuvants, Immunologic; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Brain Injuries; Cerebral Infarction; Critical Illness; Female; Humans; Intensive Care Units; Male; Middle Aged; Pneumonia; Thymalfasin; Thymosin; Tracheotomy

Thymosin β4 (Tβ4) and its amino-terminal fragment comprising N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline (Ac-SDKP) have been reported to act as anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic agents in vitro and in vivo. In recent papers, we have shown that Tβ4 exerts a widely protective role in mice treated with bleomycin, and in particular, we have demonstrated its inhibitory effects on both inflammation and early fibrosis.. In this study, the putative anti-proliferative and anti-fibrogenic effects of Tβ4 and Ac-SDKP were evaluated in vitro. In addition, the effects of Tβ4 up to 21 days were evaluated in the bleomycin mouse model of lung fibrosis.. We utilized both control and TGF-β-stimulated primary human lung fibroblasts isolated from both idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and control tissues. The in vivo effects of Tβ4 were assessed in CD1 mice treated with bleomycin.. In the in vitro experiments, we observed significant anti-proliferative effects of Ac-SDKP in IPF fibroblasts. In those cells, Ac-SDKP significantly inhibited TGF-β-induced α-SMA and collagen expression, hallmarks of fibroblast differentiation into myofibroblasts triggered by TGF-β. In vivo, despite its previously described protective role in mice treated with bleomycin at 7 days, Tβ4 failed to prevent fibrosis induced by the drug at 14 and 21 days.. We conclude that, compared to Tβ4, Ac-SDKP may have greater potential as an anti-fibrotic agent in the lung. Further in vivo experiments are warranted.

Topics: Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Bleomycin; Cells, Cultured; Disease Models, Animal; Fibroblasts; Humans; Lung; Male; Mice; Oligopeptides; Pneumonia; Protein Structure, Tertiary; Pulmonary Fibrosis; Thymosin; Transforming Growth Factor beta

A tritetracontapeptide corresponding to the entire amino acid sequence of endo-Arg38a-deacetylthymosin beta 10 was synthesized by a conventional solution method. Seven peptide fragments were assembled, followed by deprotection with 1 M trifluoromethanesulfonic acid-thioanisole-Me2Se in trifluoroacetic acid. In preliminary experiments the synthetic tritetracontapeptide increased the entire peripheral T-cell population and a helper T-cell subset when incubated in vitro with blood which was obtained from a uremic patient with pneumonia, but a suppressor/cytotoxic T-cell subset was unaffected under these conditions. The synthetic endo-Arg38a-deacetylthymosin beta 10 was as active as synthetic deacetylthymosin beta 10 in this in vitro assay.

Topics: Amino Acid Sequence; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Chromatography, Thin Layer; Humans; Pneumonia; T-Lymphocytes; Thymosin; Uremia

Topics: Amino Acid Sequence; Humans; In Vitro Techniques; Lymphocyte Activation; Molecular Sequence Data; Peptide Fragments; Pneumonia; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; T-Lymphocytes; Thymosin; Uremia