scholarly journals Nutrition, immunity and COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip C Calder
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Trace Elements ◽  
Immune System ◽  
Severe Infection ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Cytokine Storm ◽  
Human Immune System ◽  
Functional Responses ◽  
Essential Nutrients ◽  
Human Immune

The immune system protects the host from pathogenic organisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites). To deal with this array of threats, the immune system has evolved to include a myriad of specialised cell types, communicating molecules and functional responses. The immune system is always active, carrying out surveillance, but its activity is enhanced if an individual becomes infected. This heightened activity is accompanied by an increased rate of metabolism, requiring energy sources, substrates for biosynthesis and regulatory molecules, which are all ultimately derived from the diet. A number of vitamins (A, B6, B12, folate, C, D and E) and trace elements (zinc, copper, selenium, iron) have been demonstrated to have key roles in supporting the human immune system and reducing risk of infections. Other essential nutrients including other vitamins and trace elements, amino acids and fatty acids are also important. Each of the nutrients named above has roles in supporting antibacterial and antiviral defence, but zinc and selenium seem to be particularly important for the latter. It would seem prudent for individuals to consume sufficient amounts of essential nutrients to support their immune system to help them deal with pathogens should they become infected. The gut microbiota plays a role in educating and regulating the immune system. Gut dysbiosis is a feature of disease including many infectious diseases and has been described in COVID-19. Dietary approaches to achieve a healthy microbiota can also benefit the immune system. Severe infection of the respiratory epithelium can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), characterised by excessive and damaging host inflammation, termed a cytokine storm. This is seen in cases of severe COVID-19. There is evidence from ARDS in other settings that the cytokine storm can be controlled by n-3 fatty acids, possibly through their metabolism to specialised pro-resolving mediators.

scholarly journals Comprehensive multi-omics single-cell data integration reveals greater heterogeneity in the human immune system

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Congmin Xu ◽  
Junkai Yang ◽  
Astrid Kosters ◽  
Benjamin R Babcock ◽  
Peng Qiu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Cell Receptor ◽  
Surface Proteins ◽  
Cell Type ◽  
Human Immune System ◽  
Receptor Repertoire ◽  
Human Immune

Single-cell transcriptomics enables the definition of diverse human immune cell types across multiple tissue and disease contexts. Still, deeper biological understanding requires comprehensive integration of multiple single-cell omics (transcriptomic, proteomic, and cell receptor repertoire). To improve the identification of diverse cell types and the accuracy of cell-type classification in our multi-omics single-cell datasets, we developed SuPERR-seq, a novel analysis workflow to increase the resolution and accuracy of clustering and allow for the discovery and characterization of previously hidden cell subsets. We show that by incorporating information from cell-surface proteins and immunoglobulin transcript counts, we accurately remove cell doublets and prevent widespread cell-type misclassification. This approach uniquely improves the identification of heterogeneous cell types in the human immune system, including a novel subset of antibody-secreting cells in the bone marrow.

scholarly journals Natural Immunomodulators Treat the Cytokine Storm in SARS-CoV-2

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heba S Abbas ◽  
Mona M Abd-elhakeem ◽  
Rania M Abd El Galil ◽  
Omar A. Reyad ◽  
Heba A Mohamed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Host Cell ◽  
Viral Entry ◽  
Water Extract ◽  
Cell Receptor ◽  
Cytokine Storm ◽  
Emerging Viruses ◽  
Human Immune System ◽  
The World ◽  
Human Immune

Recently, the world has been dealing with a destructive global pandemic COVID-19 infection, since 2020; there were millions of infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. With sequencing generations of the virus, around 60 % are expected to become infected during the pandemic. Unfortunately, no drug or vaccine has been approved because no real evidence from clinical trials in treatment was reached. According to current thinking, SARS-COV-2 mortality is caused by a cytokine storm syndrome in patients with hyper-inflammatory conditions, resulting in acute respiratory distress and finally death. In this review, we discuss the various types of natural immune-modulatory agents and their role in the management of SARS-COV-2, and cytokine storm syndrome. For example, Polyphenols as natural products can block the binding of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to host cell receptor ACE2, stop viral entry into the host cell and block viral RNA replication. Also, Saikosaponins (A, B2, C, and D), triterpene glycosides, which are isolated from medicinal plants exert antiviral action against HCoV-22E9, and Houttuynia cordata water extract has antiviral effects on SARS-CoV. Moreover, eucalyptus oil has promising potential for COVID-19 prevention and treatment. There is an urgent need for research to improve the function of the human immune system all over the world. As a result, actions for better understanding and improving the human immune system are critical steps toward mitigating risks and negative outcomes. These approaches will be strongly recommended for future emerging viruses and pathogens.

scholarly journals Human immune system adaptations to simulated microgravity revealed by single-cell mass cytometry

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Spatz ◽  
M. Hughes Fulford ◽  
A. Tsai ◽  
D. Gaudilliere ◽  
J. Hedou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Cell Mass ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Immune Defense ◽  
Mass Cytometry ◽  
Human Immune System ◽  
Functional Responses ◽  
Human Immune

AbstractExposure to microgravity (µG) during space flights produces a state of immunosuppression, leading to increased viral shedding, which could interfere with long term missions. However, the cellular mechanisms that underlie the immunosuppressive effects of µG are ill-defined. A deep understanding of human immune adaptations to µG is a necessary first step to design data-driven interventions aimed at preserving astronauts’ immune defense during short- and long-term spaceflights. We employed a high-dimensional mass cytometry approach to characterize over 250 cell-specific functional responses in 18 innate and adaptive immune cell subsets exposed to 1G or simulated (s)µG using the Rotating Wall Vessel. A statistically stringent elastic net method produced a multivariate model that accurately stratified immune responses observed in 1G and sµG (p value 2E−4, cross-validation). Aspects of our analysis resonated with prior knowledge of human immune adaptations to µG, including the dampening of Natural Killer, CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses. Remarkably, we found that sµG enhanced STAT5 signaling responses of immunosuppressive Tregs. Our results suggest µG exerts a dual effect on the human immune system, simultaneously dampening cytotoxic responses while enhancing Treg function. Our study provides a single-cell readout of sµG-induced immune dysfunctions and an analytical framework for future studies of human immune adaptations to human long-term spaceflights.

721 AT1412, a patient-derived CD9 antibody in preclinical development promoting tumor immune infiltration and inducing tumor rejection

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (Suppl 3) ◽  
pp. A763-A763
Author(s):  
Remko Schotte ◽  
Julien Villaudy ◽  
Martijn Kedde ◽  
Wouter Pos ◽  
Daniel Go ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Immune System ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Tumor Rejection ◽  
Human Immune System ◽  
Preclinical Development ◽  
High Affinity ◽  
Human Immune ◽  
A375 Melanoma

BackgroundAdaptive immunity to cancer cells forms a crucial part of cancer immunotherapy. Recently, the importance of tumor B-cell signatures were shown to correlate with melanoma survival. We investigated whether tumor-targeting antibodies could be isolated from a patient that cured (now 13 years tumor-free) metastatic melanoma following adoptive transfer of ex vivo expanded autologous T cells.MethodsPatient‘s peripheral blood B cells were isolated and tested for the presence of tumor-reactive B cells using AIMM’s immmortalisation technology. Antibody AT1412 was identified by virtue of its differential binding to melanoma cells as compared to healthy melanocytes. AT1412 binds the tetraspanin CD9, a broadly expressed protein involved in multiple cellular activities in cancer and induces ADCC and ADCP by effector cells.ResultsSpontaneous immune rejection of tumors was observed in human immune system (HIS) mouse models implanted with CD9 genetically-disrupted A375 melanoma (A375-CD9KO) tumor cells, while A375wt cells were not cleared. Most notably, no tumor rejection of A375-CD9KO tumors was observed in NSG mice, indicating that blockade of CD9 makes tumor cells susceptible to immune rejection.CD9 has been described to regulate integrin signaling, e.g. LFA-1, VLA-4, VCAM-1 and ICAM-1. AT1412 was shown to modulate CD9 function by enhancing adhesion and transmigration of T cells to endothelial (HUVEC) cells. AT1412 was most potently enhancing transendothelial T-cell migration, in contrast to a high affinity version of AT1412 or other high affinity anti-CD9 reference antibodies (e.g. ALB6). Enhanced immune cell infiltration is also observed in immunodeficient mice harbouring a human immune system (HIS). AT1412 strongly enhanced CD8 T-cell and macrophage infiltration resulting in tumor rejection (A375 melanoma). PD-1 checkpoint blockade is further sustaining this effect. In a second melanoma model carrying a PD-1 resistant and highly aggressive tumor (SK-MEL5) AT1412 together with nivolumab was inducing full tumor rejection, while either one of the antibodies alone did not.ConclusionsThe safety of AT1412 has been assessed in preclinical development and is well tolerated up to 10 mg/kg (highest dose tested) by non human primates. AT1412 demonstrated a half-life of 8.5 days, supporting 2–3 weekly administration in humans. Besides transient thrombocytopenia no other pathological deviations were observed. No effect on coagulation parameters, bruising or bleeding were observed macro- or microscopically. The thrombocytopenia is reversible, and its recovery accelerated in those animals developing anti-drug antibodies. First in Human clinical study is planned to start early 2021.Ethics ApprovalStudy protocols were approved by the Medical Ethical Committee of the Leiden University Medical Center (Leiden, Netherlands).ConsentBlood was obtained after written informed consent by the patient.

scholarly journals Transplacental priming of the human immune system with environmental allergens can occur early in gestation

2000 ◽  
Vol 106 (3) ◽  
pp. 530-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsolt Szépfalusi ◽  
Josefa Pichler ◽  
Stefan Elsässer ◽  
Katalin van Duren ◽  
Christof Ebner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Human Immune System ◽  
Human Immune

scholarly journals Antimicrobial peptides: The ancient arm of the human immune system

Virulence ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
pp. 440-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jochen Wiesner ◽  
Andreas Vilcinskas
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Antimicrobial Peptides ◽  
Human Immune System ◽  
Human Immune

On the use of multiple heterogeneous devices to speedup the execution of a computational model of the Human Immune System

2015 ◽  
Vol 267 ◽  
pp. 304-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.M. do Nascimento ◽  
J.M. de Oliveira ◽  
M.P. Xavier ◽  
A.B. Pigozzo ◽  
R.W. dos Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Computational Model ◽  
Human Immune System ◽  
Heterogeneous Devices ◽  
Human Immune

Al-Muddaththir of the Quran Linked to the Covid-19 and Spanish Flu Pandemics: Circumstantial Evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol 02 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
Baback Khodadoost ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Circumstantial Evidence ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Human Immune System ◽  
Main Emphasis ◽  
Spanish Flu ◽  
Human Immune

Recently there have been speculations concerning a possible link between the covid-19 pandemic and al-Muddaththir, the 74th chapter of the Quran. An examination of this chapter presented in this article shows further evidences in support of these speculations. It is shown that indications of not only the current Covid-19 pandemic, but also the horrific 1918 Spanish flu can be detected in chapter 74. The main emphasis of this article will be to demonstrate the timings of the pandemic events as they appear to have been encoded in four of the chapter verses. The concept of Translational-Coding and in particular, its use in decoding one of the time-informing verses will be explained. A remarkable scheme of al-Muddaththir to announce the exact occurring years of the two major pandemics, will also be exposed. Coincidences of the Super Moon occurrences with major events of both, Covid-19 and Spanish flu pandemics, will be shown as the possible reason for “by the moon” swearing in verse 74:32. In connection with these observed coincidences, possible effect of the moon’s differential gravity on suppression of the human immune system during a Super Moon occurrence will be addressed. Some other verses in al-Muddaththir with possible relevance to the pandemic perspective of this chapter will also be discussed.

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