p-Cresol sulfate是一種在腸道中由細菌代謝後所產生的毒素,通常會被腎臟中的腎絲球過濾後排除。但在腎臟因疾病而造成功能受損的情況下,會使這些毒素不斷的累積而形成尿毒症,進而使免疫系統失常。對於p-Cresol sulfate如何造成免疫力下降的原因已有一些報告,但對於樹突細胞尚未有研究。由於樹突細胞在啟動免疫反應中扮演重要角色,因此本研究要探討p-Cresol sulfate是否會影響樹突細胞的功能。初步的研究發現,p-Cresol sulfate在高濃度的情況下並不會造成樹突細胞的死亡,但會抑制由脂多醣所誘導的活化過程,包括抑制CD40表現的增強,以及抑制一些細胞激素的產生,在和T細胞共同培養的情況下,不會去影響其增生的能力,但是在IFN-則是有降低的趨勢也到達顯著差異。因此推測p-Cresol sulfate可能會因阻礙樹突細胞的功能而使免疫力降低。目前仍繼續對於p-Cresol sulfate在樹突細胞中的研究做更進一步的探討。
p-Cresol sulfate is a toxin produced by bacteria in the intestine. It is usually filtered by the renal glomerulus in the kidney. However, if the function of the kidney is impaired, these toxins will continuously accumulate to form uremia and the immune system will become abnormal. There are some reports on the cause of the decline in immunity caused by p-Cresol sulfate, but there have been no studies on dendritic cells. Since dendritic cells play an important role in initiating the immune response, we investigated whether p-Cresol sulfate affects the function of dendritic cells. Preliminary studies have found that p-Cresol sulfate does not cause dendritic cell death at high concentrations, but inhibits the activation process induced by lipopolysaccharide, including the inhibition of CD40 expression, and the production of some cell cytokines. In the condition of co-culture with T cells, the ability to proliferate is not affected, whereas IFN- has a tendency to decrease and reach significant differences.It is speculated that p-Cresol sulfate may impair the function of the dendritic cells and reduce the immunity. The research of p-Cresol sulfate in dendritic cells continues to be further explored.