Ekaterina Kurteva

University Hospital St. Ivan Rilski · Department of Clinical immunology Medical University of Sofia

Autoimmune diseases represent a severe personal and healthcare problem that seeks novel therapeutic solutions. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells with interesting cell biology and promising therapeutic potential. The immunoregulatory effects of secretory factors produced by umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) were asses...

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common glomerulonephritis worldwide and a leading cause of chronic kidney disease and renal failure. However, the Bulgarian population has limited epidemiological data and biomarkers for IgAN. In this retrospective monocentric analysis, we investigated all the patients with biopsy-proven IgAN over 10 years in a te...

Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a chronic large-vessel vasculitis characterized by immune-mediated panarteritis, which predominantly affects the aorta and its main branches and is most prevalent in young women. TA is unusually associated with the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. We present a case report of a 48-year-old Caucasian woman with acut...

The pathogenesis of COVID-19 involves both humoral and cellular immunological responses, with cell-mediated immunity being discussed as the primary and most effective immune response to viral infection. It is supposed that COVID-19 vaccines also elicited effective cell immune response, and specifically IFNγ secreted by SARS-CoV-2-specific T-helper...

Background Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is a representative of vasculitides associated with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies. “Classical” antibodies directed against proteinase 3 are involved in the pathogenesis and are part of the GPA diagnosis at the same time. Along with them, however, antibodies against Lysosomal-Associated...

Background Assessment of disease activity and quality of life are one of the main indicators for determining the effectiveness of treatment with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. In recent years, a new group has entered the market - target synthetic DMARDS, which prove their effectiveness in treating RA comparable to that of biological product...

Background Emerging data have demonstrated that mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are well endowed with a broad repertoire of immunosuppressive tools and they could modulate the immune response on several levels via production of a plethora of soluble factors and contact-dependent mechanisms. For these reasons, mesenchymal stem cells-based protocols wer...

Background Systemic sclerosis (SSc, scleroderma) is a rare systemic connective tissue disease characterized by deposition of connective tissue in the skin and internal organs, microvascular impairment and shift in cellular and humoral immune response. More than 95% of the patients produce antinuclear autoantibodies (ANA) years before the first clin...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) possess immunosuppressive properties and have been described in the tumor microenvironment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). This manuscript has two major topics—first, to describe isolated and cultured MSCs derived from GBM (GB-MSCs) and second, to examine their in vitro immunosuppressive capacity. Our results display...

We aimed to assess the immunoregulatory effects of secretory factors produced by adipose tissue-derived MSC (AT-MSC) on Th17 and Treg subsets from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). 17 patients with active disease matching the ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria for RA were included. Patients’ peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were cultured in AT...

Background: The role of IL-17A in celiac disease and refractory celiac disease remains elusive. Aim: In this pilot study, we aimed to follow-up serologically (autoantibodies and IL-17A levels) twelve celiac disease patients on a gluten-free diet. Methods: Twelve patients with histologically proven celiac disease were tested for anti-tissue transglu...

We aimed to evaluate a multiparametric test system for diagnosing autoimmune liver diseases in a Bulgarian cohort of patients. Methods: We investigated serum samples of 67 consecutive patients: twenty with autoimmune liver diseases (autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), fourty-seven w...

Background Tregs are cells with well-known immunosuppressive functions realised by contact-dependent mechanisms (expression of CTLA-4 and PD-L1) and cytokine secretion (TGFβ and IL-10). These cells are often found on the bowel mucosa, where they suppress excessive T-cell mediated immune reactions. The aim of our study was to investigate the dynamic...

Objective: We aimed to compare four methods for fecal calprotectin (FC) measurement in view of technical/performance characteristics, diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative predictive value, coincidence and correlations between tests, and clinical usefulness, in both adults and children. Patients and methods: We examined the...

Objective. We aimed to compare four methods for fecal calprotectin (FC) measurement in view of technical/performance characteristics, diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative predictive value, coincidence and correlations between tests, and clinical usefulness, in both adults and children. Patients and methods: We examined the...

C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), also called monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a key β-chemokine involved in the migration of monocytes and macrophages, playing a significant role in the inflammatory responses in the airways. We aimed to assess the serum levels of MCP-1/CCL2 in a pilot cross-sectional study of Bulgarian children wit...

The case report presented here describes the culturing and characterization of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from a primary indolent B-cell lymphoma, located in the CNS of an immunocompetent patient. The presence of such cells in the tumor mass can further elucidate the pathogenesis of the disease and reveal possible future approaches for...

Background Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a heterogeneous population of fibroblast-like progenitor cells that may be isolated and expanded from bone marrow, umbilical cordand other tissues. Moreover, MSCs display the capacity to self-renew and differentiate into various mesodermal cell lineages. They also have drawn considerable attention for th...

Biochemical markers reflecting joint remodeling in osteoarthritis (OA) are a promising diagnostic tool. The aim of this study was to investigate serum levels of candidate biomarkers in subjects with and without knee OA and assess their correlation with clinical parameters and knee structural damage. 56 patients with primary knee OA and 31 healthy c...

We aimed to evaluate a multiparametric test system for diagnosing autoimmune liver diseases in a Bulgarian cohort of patients. Methods: We investigated serum samples of 67 consecutive patients: twenty with autoimmune liver diseases (autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), fourty-seven w...

C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), also called monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a key β-chemokine involved in the migration of monocytes and macrophages, playing a significant role in the inflammatory responses in the airways. We aimed to assess the serum levels of MCP-1/CCL2 in a pilot cross-sectional study of Bulgarian children wit...

Background. Fecal and immunological biomarkers can be used in the diagnosis and management of Crohn`s disease (CD) patients. Anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents should be evaluated additionally by biomarkers to determine response to therapy. Objective. We aimed to follow up fecal calprotectin (FC), perinuclear anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibo...

Celiac disease (CD) is an inflammatory disorder of the small intestines which serological diagnosis has come to the forefront with the development of the immunological testing. We aimed to explore the performance characteristics of a panel of serological tests in patients with CD. We assessed the serum levels of anti-tissue transglutaminase (anti-t...

Background Fecal and immunological biomarkers can be used to diagnose and manage patients with Crohn’s disease (CD). Anti - tumor necrosis factor (TNF) should be evaluated in addition to biomarkers to determine the response to therapy. Objectives The current study aimed at following up fecal calprotectin (FC), perinuclear anti - neutrophil cytopla...

Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is an oligomeric tissue-specific glycoprotein synthesized by chondrocytes. It represents structural damage in knee OA observed by imaging modalities such as radiography and MRI. The purpose of this study was to correlate serum COMP levels with MRI-detected structural damage of different joint elements in p...

Along with the development of evidence based medicine, the so-called „Medicine in cooperation with the patient” has emerged recently due to the need to satisfy not only the medical needs of the patients but also their psychological needs. A convenient approach to monitoring these requirements of patients is the QoL. The purpose of the present study...

Aim: To investigate T-cell activation, the percentage of peripheral T regulatory cells (Tregs), Th17 cells and the circulating cytokine profile in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods: We enrolled a total of 24 SSc patients and 16 healthy controls in the study and divided the patients as having diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc, n = 13) or limited cutan...

Background Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare, debilitating connective tissue disease characterized by immunological alterations, vasculopathy and progressive skin and multiorgan fibrosis. The autoimmune dysregulation in SSc comprises lymphocyte activation that leads to autoantibody production, abnormal production of cytokines and chemokines, and i...

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic progressive autoimmune disease characterized by skin and multiorgan involvement with alterations in both the innate and adaptive immunities. The hallmark of the disease is widespread fibrosis engaging the skin and multiple internal organs, as well as the musculoskeletal system. There is mounting evidence that T...

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a major factor in disabling the human population and they are associated with signiÞ cant decrease in the quality of life (QoL) in these patients. The aim of the study was to assess the QoL of patients with CVDs and to analyze the aspects that can be improved. The subjects of this cross-sectional study were 215...

In the analysis of the quality of life (QoL) in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD), different approaches can be applied. The subjective approach involves perceiving, understanding and assessing the impact of the disease on a patient basis due to the fact that objective factors are subjectively interpreted by the patient with chronic dise...

Glioblastoma multiforme is the most malignant tumor of the central nervous system which causes the death of the patients shortly after the diagnosis. Data have been published that strongly suggest that the major event in its development is the transformation of the normal neural stem cells into cancer stem cells. In vitro cultures of cells isolated...

Several studies have shown the protective function of trefoil factors in the gastrointestinal tract and their up-regulated expression at the site of mucosal damage. However, the role of trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) still needs to be clarified. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the role of serum human TFF3 a...

Aim: To optimize the immunological diagnostics of various forms of systemic sclerosis (SSc) using a wide panel of autoantibodies (AAbs) directed against different antigens (Scl-70, CENPA, CENP B, RP11, RP155 (RNA polymerase III), U3-RNP, NOR90, ThiTo, PM/Scl-100, PM/Scl-75, Ku, PDGFR, Ro52) and to determinate their frequency distribution and diagno...