Main research areas:
- Effect of dysregulated immune response on the progress of inflammatory disease conditions
- Relationship between chronic inflammation and malignant transformation
- Changes in cellular and microenvironmental factors of chronic inflammation and tissue regeneration and their relationship with the stem cell phenotype
Within the complex process of immune regulation, we study certain cellular and humoral factors of the naïve immune system, with special emphasis on the nature of receptor systems influencing TLR9, IGF, HGF signalling mechanisms and autophagy, and their immunological interactions.
Another topic of our research interest is the study of the further clinical utility of a protein with many biological functions, human fetuin-A, which is present in relatively high amounts in blood serum. Serum concentrations of fetuin-A have been investigated in several diseases. We have shown that in liver cirrhosis, regardless of its origin, a decrease in serum fetuin-A is proportional to the severity of the disease and predicts short-term and one-year mortality in alcoholic origin. Serum fetuin-A concentrations in gestational diabetes mellitus are also higher in the 3rd trimester compared to healthy pregnant women and are in direct proportion to maternal insulin resistance parameters.