Immunobiology

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the changes and significance of circulating Helios-associated T cell subsets in patients with early-stage lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). METHODS: Blood samples were collected from 35 healthy controls and 34 patients with early-stage LUAD. Flow cytometry was used to analyze various CD4+ T cell subsets, including regulatory T(Treg) cells, follicular regulatory T(Tfr) cells, follicular helper T (Tfh) cells, and conventional T (con-T) cells...

BACKGROUND: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a common inflammatory arthritis without a reliable biomarker. The role of methylation and mRNA expression of PRICKLE1 promoter in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis remains unclear. METHODS: A two-stage case-control design was used to detect the characteristics of methyl group and transcriptome of PRICKLE1 gene in Ankylosing spondylitis. The methylation degree of PRICKLE1 gene promoter region was tested by phosphate-sequencing, and further analyzed whether there was significant difference in methylation level of PRICKLE1 gene...

The present study aimed to inspect the serum levels of the soluble receptors, sTNFR1 and sTNFR2, in patients with COVID-19. The large production of inflammatory cytokines is an essential process in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. TNF is a multifaceted proinflammatory cytokine which has soluble and membrane receptors. Thus, knowing the role of these receptors will help better understand this disease's immunopathogenesis. We included 131 patients confirmed for SARS-CoV-2, separated into three groups: ward patients without O2 support, group A (n = 14); ward patients with O2 support, group B (n = 85), and patients in an intensive care unit (ICU), group C (n = 32), making up the receptors dosed by flow cytometry...

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a global problem associated with several conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, arthritis and cardiovascular diseases. With the increase in the prevalence of obesity in recent years, mostly in developing countries, it is important to study its impact on various diseases, including infectious illnesses, such as Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. Considering that a diet rich in salt, sugar, and fat is associated with obesity, this study aimed to evaluate the influence of cafeteria diet (CAF)-induced obesity on immune responses in T...

Ex vivo activation of dendritic cells (DCs) has been widely explored for targeted therapies, although these treatments remain expensive. Reducing treatment costs while enhancing cell activation could help to make immunotherapies more accessible. Cells can be activated by both internal and external forces including fluid shear stress (FSS). FSS activates cells via opening of mechanosensitive ion channels. In this study, dendritic cells were activated by sustained exposure to circulatory levels of fluid shear stress using a cone-and-plate flow device and analyzed for activation markers...

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) can damage the function of metabolic tissues, including the liver. Liver macrophages are the first responders to tissue damage or exercise. We sought to determine whether eight weeks of interval training (HIIT & MIIT) protect against diabetes-induced modulation of hepatic CD86 and CD206 expression associated with the amelioration of insulin resistance and inflammation in rats. Thirty rats were divided into six groups, including a control group, MIIT, HIIT, DM, DM + MIIT, and DM + HIIT (n = 5 in each group)...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the transforming growth interacting factor (TGIF) gene with bone metabolism markers and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility. METHODS: Three SNPs were genotyped in 155 RA patients and 168 healthy controls using high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis. The serum levels of osteocalcin, bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP), and β type I collagen-crosslinked C telopeptide (β-CTX) were detected using electrochemical luminescence in 108 patients randomly selected from the RA group...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

PDE4D (Phosphodiesterase 4D) gene encodes a hydrolase of cyclic AMP. PDE4D genetic variants have been associated with asthma susceptibility. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between PDE4D variants (and haplotypes) with asthma and atopy in a Brazilian population. The study comprised 1,246 unrelated participants from the SCAALA (Social Changes Asthma and Allergy in Latin America) program. Genotyping was performed using the Illumina 2.5 Human Omni bead chip. Multivariate logistic regression was used to investigate the association between PDE4D variants and asthma/atopy phenotypes in PLINK 1...

Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 (HTLV-1) affects 5-10 million individuals worldwide. Most of those infected with this virus remain asymptomatic; however, 0.25%-4% of individuals develop HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), while 2%-4% develop adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL). Understanding the immune response inherent in this infection is extremely important. The role of T helper type 1 (Th1) and Th2 cells in HTLV-1 infection is well known; however, exploring the different subtypes of immune responses is also necessary...

Food allergies, which lead to life-threatening acute symptoms, are considered an important public health problem. Therefore, it is essential to develop efficient preventive and treatment measures. We developed a crude peanut protein extract (PPE)-induced allergy mouse model to investigate the effects of lycopene on peanut allergy. Mice were divided into four groups: 5 mg/kg lycopene, 20 mg/kg lycopene, no treatment, and control groups. Serum inflammatory factors were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay...

BACKGROUND: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with multi-organ involvement, and some studies have found that SLE has a reduced risk of breast cancer (BRCA). So, we tried to find prognostic genes for BRCA related to SLE by integrated analysis and machine learning. METHOD: First, we downloaded 2 SLE datasets from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and BRCA data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Subsequently, we performed differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and functional enrichment analysis by Metascape in SLE...

With the recent advancement in omics and molecular techniques, a wealth of new molecular biomarkers have become available for the diagnosis and classification of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) patients. However, whether these biomarkers are universal is of great interest to us. In this study, we used various methods to obtain shared biomarkers derived from multiple tissue in pSS patients and to explore their relationship with immune microenvironment alterations. First we identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between pSS and healthy controls utilizing nine mRNA microarray datasets obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO)...

BACKGROUND: In this retrospective study, our aim was to find the effect of leucodepleted (LD) blood transfusions on the formation of anti-HLA-antibodies when compared to non-leucodepleted (non-LD) transfusions using Luminex-based method. METHODS: In this study, Luminex single antigen bead assay (L-SAB) and HLA typing were performed on 310 patients. Test positivity rates (as MFI - Mean florescence intensity) were analyzed according to the different sensitization events and gender...

COVID-19 patients demonstrating hyperactive immunologic response appear to have a severe illness with a poor prognosis. This study hypothesizes that the pro-inflammatory Annexin A2 (ANXA2) has role in COVID-19 pathogenesis. In thisobservational study, serum levels of ANXA2 along with interleukin 1 beta (IL1β), IL6, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα), and anti-inflammatory ANXA1 were determined by sandwich ELISA in 20 each control, mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 subjects.The ANXA2 levels (130 ng/mL, p < 0...

Most of the existing Leishmania-related research about TLR-2 agonists was focusing on their role as adjuvants in the vaccine, few studied its therapeutic effect. This paper aims to explore the therapeutic effect of TLR-2 agonist Pam3CSK4 on Leishmania-infected mice and the underlying immune molecular mechanisms. In L. donovani-infected BALB/c mice, one group was treated with Pam3CSK4 after infection and the other group was not treated. Normal uninfected mice treated with Pam3CSK4 or untreated were used as controls...

INTRODUCTION: Treatment of severe COVID-19 disease can be challenging in immunocompromized patients due to newly emerging virus variants of concern (VOC) escaping the humoral response. Thus, T cells recognizing to date unmutated epitopes are not only relevant for patients' immune responses against VOC, but might also serve as a therapeutic option for patients with severe COVID-19 disease in the future, e.g. following allogenic stem cell transplantation. METHODS: To this purpose, the activation, cytokine profile and specificity of T-cell clones against unmutated and omicron Spike (S)-protein was analyzed, HLA restriction was determined and most promising T-cell receptor (TCR) was introduced into allogeneic T cells via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated orthotopic TCR replacement...

The pathogenesis of primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) has not been fully elucidated. We explored differentially expressed proteins and metabolic pathways in pSS using proteomics and metabolomics. 456 named proteins in total were identified, among which 50 were significantly changed in the pSS. Altered proteins were significantly associated with signaling pathways such as antigen processing and presentation, human immunodeficiency virus 1 infection, and FC gamma R-mediated phagocytosis. Meanwhile, 12 proteins, such as SH3BGRL3, TPM4, and CA1, can be used as potential clinical molecular markers...

BACKGROUND: Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) is a collective name, covering an emerging spectrum of autoimmune-mediated neurological diseases related to antibodies and synaptic or intracellular proteins. Anti-NMDAR, anti-LGI1, and anti-GABABR are three types of neuronal cell surface antibodies. Autonomic dysfunction represents a frequently occurring clinical manifestation. This observational study purposes to investigate comparisons between two groups with or without autonomic dysfunction and detect the autonomic dysfunction and other indexes in anti-NMDAR, anti-LGI1, and anti-GABABR cohorts...