Day length affects immune cell numbers in deer mice: interactions with age, sex, and prenatal photoperiod

1994 ◽  
Vol 267 (2) ◽  
pp. R596-R601 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Blom ◽  
J. M. Gerber ◽  
R. J. Nelson

The extent to which day length affects immune function was examined in the present study. Three goals were pursued: 1) to confirm and extend the observation that the immune systems of adult deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) are responsive to changes in photoperiod, 2) to examine the development of the photoperiod-associated changes in immune function, and 3) to discover whether photoperiodic information transmitted to the young during gestation influences immune function. In experiment 1, adult mice housed in short days had higher white blood cell and lymphocyte numbers than their long-day cohorts. Red blood cell and differential cell counts did not differ between long- and short-day animals. No sex differences were observed in the pattern of immune responses to photoperiod. The effect of photoperiod on immune cells in prepubertal animals was examined in experiment 2; a similar pattern of results was obtained as that for experiment 1, suggesting that the photoperiodic effect on the immune system is not mediated by sex steroid hormones. Prenatal and postnatal photoperiodic effects on immune cells were examined in experiment 3; pups gestated in one day length were cross-fostered to mothers in the same day length conditions or to mothers maintained in the alternative day length. The results of experiment 3 suggested that photoperiodic information transmitted from the mother to the young in utero subsequently affected immune systems of the pups. Animals gestated in short day lengths displayed higher immune status throughout life than mice gestated in long days. These results are discussed from an adaptive functional perspective.

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Andersen ◽  
Christa Palancia Esposito ◽  
Julia Greco ◽  
Allison Sloan ◽  
Aaron Van Dyke

Abstract Objectives We have previously demonstrated that serum lipids can predict clinical immune cell counts at the population level; however, it is unknown whether diet-induced changes in serum lipids correspond to similar shifts in clinical blood cell counts. We hypothesized that whole egg vs. egg white consumption, which is known to differentially affect lipoprotein profiles and inflammatory markers, would induce shifts in clinical immune cells counts that are associated with changes in serum lipids. Methods In this ongoing study, healthy men and women (18–35y, BMI < 30 kg/m2, n = 11) consumed an egg-free diet for 4 weeks, followed by a 4-week diet containing either 3 whole eggs or 3 egg whites per day. Fasting serum lipids and complete blood cell counts were measured at the end of each diet period. Results Following the egg-free diet period, individuals with higher total cholesterol levels had greater absolute lymphocyte counts, and a trend toward greater absolute eosinophils counts. While no significant changes in total cholesterol or LDL-cholesterol were observed between diet periods, HDL-cholesterol was increased in subjects consuming whole eggs only. Similarly, serum triglycerides, alanine aminotransferase, and platelet counts were only decreased by whole egg intake. Interestingly, while egg intake did not alter total white blood counts, there was a trend toward decreased absolute lymphocyte counts in all subjects following consumption of both whole eggs and egg whites, as compared to the egg-free diet period. Across all subjects, a strong positive correlation was observed between changes in HDL-cholesterol vs. changes in absolute monocytes, as well as the percentage of monocytes in total white blood cell counts. Changes in triglycerides were negatively associated with changes in eosinophil levels. Conclusions These findings suggest that egg-induced changes in serum lipids are associated with differential shifts in clinical immune cell counts. Funding Sources This study was funded by an Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.


PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Weise ◽  
Gábor A. Czirják ◽  
Oliver Lindecke ◽  
Sara Bumrungsri ◽  
Christian C. Voigt

BackgroundLeukocyte concentrations follow a circadian pattern in mammals, with elevated values at times of potential contact with pathogens and parasites. We hypothesized that this pattern is disturbed after an immune challenge.MethodsIn Thailand, we captured wrinkle-lipped bats (Chaerephon plicatus), when they returned to their colony at dawn. We challenged half of the animals (experimental group) with bacterial lipopolysaccharides and treated the others only with the carrier liquid (control group). We then compared body mass changes and differences in circulating immune cell counts at 8 h post-treatment.ResultsIn experimental animals, we observed an increase in total leukocyte and neutrophil numbers of 17% and 95%, respectively. In control animals, concentrations of leukocytes decreased by 44% and those of neutrophils remained constant. Experimental treatment had no effect on lymphocytes, yet changes in eosinophil numbers were explained by sex. Eosinophils decreased by 66% in females and by 62% in males. Basophils and monocytes were rarest among all observed cell types and analysis was either impossible because of low numbers or yielded no significant effects, respectively.DiscussionOur findings show that a simulated bacterial infection triggered a neutrophil-associated immune response in wrinkle-lipped bats, indicating a disruption of the diurnal fluctuation of immune cells. Our study suggests that bats exhibit circadian rhythms in immune cell counts. The magnitude of these fluctuations may vary across species according to specific-specific infection risks associated with colony sizes or specific roosting habits.


2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (10) ◽  
pp. 1271-1278 ◽  
Author(s):  
L M Pyter ◽  
Z M Weil ◽  
R J Nelson

Animals use day length (photoperiod) to time seasonal adaptations to annual changes in their environment. Reproductive adjustments in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner, 1845)) from high latitudes are more extensive in response to short days than in deer mice from low latitudes. These adjustments may permit individuals to survive the severe seasonal changes (e.g., temperature and food abundance) in high-latitude environments. Immune function is also affected by photoperiod. Short days were predicted to result in elevated immune and reproductive responses in meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus (Ord, 1815)) from the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada (~62°N), compared with voles from Ohio (OH), USA (~39°N). Male voles from both latitudes were maintained in long or short days for 10 weeks prior to a delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) immune challenge. Both populations displayed similar testicular regression and reduction of testosterone concentrations in short days. DTH immune responses, however, diverged between the two populations. DTH immune responses were enhanced in long-day NWT voles and short-day OH voles, but decreased in short-day NWT voles and long-day OH voles. Total and free corticosterone concentrations did not explain the latitudinal differences in immune responses. These results suggest that photoperiod affects reproductive and immune systems differently and that immune responses may reflect other environmental factors.


eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilana Fox-Fisher ◽  
Sheina Piyanzin ◽  
Bracha Lea Ochana ◽  
Agnes Klochendler ◽  
Judith Magenheim ◽  
...  

Blood cell counts often fail to report on immune processes occurring in remote tissues. Here we use immune cell type-specific methylation patterns in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) for studying human immune cell dynamics. We characterized cfDNA released from specific immune cell types in healthy individuals (N=242), cross sectionally and longitudinally. Immune cfDNA levels had no individual steady state as opposed to blood cell counts, suggesting that cfDNA concentration reflects adjustment of cell survival to maintain homeostatic cell numbers. We also observed selective elevation of immune-derived cfDNA upon perturbations of immune homeostasis. Following influenza vaccination (N=92), B-cell-derived cfDNA levels increased prior to elevated B-cell counts and predicted efficacy of antibody production. Patients with Eosinophilic Esophagitis (N=21) and B-cell lymphoma (N=27) showed selective elevation of eosinophil and B-cell cfDNA respectively, which were undetectable by cell counts in blood. Immune-derived cfDNA provides a novel biomarker for monitoring immune responses to physiological and pathological processes that are not accessible using conventional methods.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e1125
Author(s):  
Rui Li ◽  
Thomas Francis Tropea ◽  
Laura Rosa Baratta ◽  
Leah Zuroff ◽  
Maria E. Diaz-Ortiz ◽  
...  

Background and ObjectivesThere has been growing interest in potential roles of the immune system in the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease (PD). The aim of the current study was to comprehensively characterize phenotypic and functional profiles of circulating immune cells in patients with PD vs controls.MethodsPeripheral blood was collected from patients with PD and age- and sex-matched neurologically normal controls (NCs) in 2 independent cohorts (discovery and validation). Comprehensive multicolor flow cytometry was performed on whole blood leukocytes and peripheral blood mononuclear cells to characterize different immune subsets and their ex vivo responses.ResultsThe discovery cohort included 17 NCs and 12 participants with PD, and the validation cohort included 18 NCs and 18 participants with PD. Among major immune cell types, B cells appeared to be preferentially affected in PD. Proliferating B cell counts were decreased in patients with PD compared with controls. Proportions of B-cell subsets with regulatory capacity such as transitional B cells were preferentially reduced in the patients with PD, whereas proportions of proinflammatory cytokine-producing B cells increased, resulting in a proinflammatory shift of their B-cell functional cytokine responses. Unsupervised principal component analysis revealed increased expression of TNFα and GM-CSF by both B cells and T cells of patients with PD. In addition, levels of follicular T cells, an important B-cell helper T-cell population, decreased in the patients with PD, correlating with their B-cell abnormality.DiscussionOur findings define a novel signature of peripheral immune cells and implicate aberrant Tfh:B-cell interactions in patients with PD.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang Ik Yoon ◽  
So Eun Park ◽  
Yoon Jin Cha ◽  
Soong June Bae ◽  
Chi Hwan Cha ◽  
...  

AbstractTumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) might be associated with host-cell mediated immunity, which could be partly reflected by peripheral blood cell counts. We aimed to investigate whether peripheral blood cell counts are associated with TILs in breast cancer. Between August 2016 and July 2018, we evaluated the percentage of stromal TILs in breast cancer patients who underwent primary surgery, using the standardized methodology proposed by the international TIL Working Group. Lymphocyte-predominant breast cancer (LPBC) was defined as tumors having high TIL levels (≥ 50%). Peripheral blood cell counts including absolute neutrophil counts (ANC), absolute lymphocyte counts (ALC) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was obtained from pretreatment laboratory data. Of the 684 patients, 99 (17.2%) had LPBC, and 478 (82.8%) had non-LBPC. In a comparison of 3 markers of peripheral blood counts, LPBC had a significantly lower mean ANC than non-LPBC (3,330 vs. 3,660; P=0.004), but the other means were not different. Decreasing ANC was an independent clinical factor in predicting LPBC (OR: 0.736, 95% CI: 0.591-0.917; P=0.004). Low peripheral ANC might be linked with LPBC, supporting the hypothesis that systemic immune cell counts might be associated with the tumor-immune microenvironment.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0243062
Author(s):  
Ching-Hung Lin ◽  
Chia-Yi Tseng ◽  
Ming-Wei Chao

PM2.5 causes abnormal immune response and asthma in animals. In this study, a Balb/c mouse animal model was exposed to PM2.5 to induce asthma. Lactobacillus paracasei HB89 was fed at the same time, in order to observe whether L. paracasei HB89 mitigates respiratory tract allergies stimulated by PM2.5. The results showed that PM2.5 stimulated a significant increase in white blood cells and immunoglobulin (IgE) in OVA-induced allergic Balb/c mice, and IgE in the blood further triggered the release of histamine in the lung immune cells. This not only increased overall immune cell counts, but the lymphocyte counts also increased significantly, resulting in significant inhibitions of cytokines INF-r and TGF-β, and induction of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 and IL-17a. After feeding with HB89, apart from the absence of observable changes in body weight, the total white blood cell count in the animal blood and IgE response were also be reduced; the proliferation of immune cells in the lungs caused by PM2.5 was slowed down; and histamine and cytokines INF-r and TGF-β were secreted in large quantities, but IL- 4, IL-5, IL-13, IL-17a were inhibited, which effectively reduced the possibility of asthma induction.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilana Fox-Fisher ◽  
Sheina Piyanzin ◽  
Agnes Klochendler ◽  
Bracha Lea Ochana ◽  
Judith Magenheim ◽  
...  

Blood cell counts often fail to report on immune processes occurring in remote tissues. Here we use immune cell type-specific methylation patterns in circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) for studying human immune cell dynamics. We characterized cfDNA released from specific immune cell types in healthy individuals (N=242), cross sectionally and longitudinally. Immune cfDNA levels had no individual steady state as opposed to blood cell counts, suggesting that cfDNA concentration reflects adjustment of cell survival to maintain homeostatic cell numbers. We also observed selective elevation of immune-derived cfDNA upon perturbations of immune homeostasis. Following influenza vaccination (N=92), B-cell-derived cfDNA levels increased prior to elevated B-cell counts and predicted efficacy of antibody production. Patients with Eosinophilic Esophagitis (N=21) and B-cell lymphoma (N=27) showed selective elevation of eosinophil and B-cell cfDNA respectively, which were undetectable by cell counts in blood. Immune-derived cfDNA provides a novel biomarker for monitoring immune responses to physiological and pathological processes that are not accessible using conventional methods.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. A10.2-A11
Author(s):  
S Salmi ◽  
A Lin ◽  
B Hirschovits-Gerz ◽  
M Valkonen ◽  
N Aaltonen ◽  
...  

BackgroundAlthough Malignant Cutaneous Melanoma (CM) is a highly immunogenic cancer, it can evade the immune system by forming an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). FoxP3+ Regulatory T cells (Tregs) and indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) are a part of the immunosuppressive TME in CM. In previous studies, IDO expression correlates with poor prognosis and greater Breslow’s depth, but results concerning the role of FoxP3+ Tregs in CM have been controversial. Furthermore, the correlation between IDO and Tregs has not been substantially studied in CM, although IDO is known to be an important regulator of Tregs activity. To develop new therapeutic strategies, it is important to understand the role of immunosuppressive factors in CM.Materials and MethodsWe investigated the associations of FoxP3+ Tregs, IDO+ tumor cells and IDO+ stromal immune cells with tumor stage, prognostic factors, and survival in CM. FoxP3 and IDO were immunohistochemically stained from 29 benign and 29 dysplastic nevi, 18 in situ -melanomas, 48 superficial and 62 deep melanomas and 67 lymph node metastases of CM. The number of FoxP3+ Tregs and IDO+ stromal immune cells was analysed quantitatively and the coverage and intensity of IDO+ tumor cells was evaluated semiquantitatively. Tumors were divided into IDO-negative and IDO-positive, containing less or more than 1% IDO+ melanoma cells of all tumor cells, respectively. P values equal to or less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.ResultsIDO+ stromal immune cells and FoxP3+ Tregs mainly accumulated in the areas with lymphocyte infiltration and thus resided mostly in the perilesional stroma. The number of FoxP3+ Tregs and IDO+ stromal immune cells were significantly higher in malignant melanomas compared with benign lesions. The increased expression of IDO in melanoma cells was associated with poor prognostic factors, such as recurrence, nodular growth pattern and increased mitotic count. Furthermore, the expression of IDO in melanoma cells was associated with reduced recurrence-free survival. We further showed that IDO-positive tumors contained significantly higher amounts of FoxP3+ Tregs and IDO+ stromal immune cells than IDO-negative tumors. However, the correlation between FoxP3+ Treg and IDO+ stromal immune cell counts was rather weak.ConclusionsOur results indicate that IDO expression is intimately involved in creating a TME conducive to tumor growth in CM. Thus, targeting IDO enzymatic pathway might be a worth of further studies in CM. Furthermore, we show that FoxP3+ Tregs appear to contribute to the immunosuppressive TME in CM, but their role may not be that critical to melanoma progression. The positive association of FoxP3+ Tregs with IDO+ melanoma cells, but not with IDO+ stromal immune cells, indicates a complex interaction between IDO and Tregs in CM, which demands further studies. Support: Sigrid Juselius Foundation (S.P.-S.), Academy of Finland (S.P.-S.), The Paavo Koistinen Foundation (S.S.), Emil Aaltonen Foundation (S.S.) and North-Savo Cultural Foundation (S.S.).Disclosure InformationS. Salmi: None. A. Lin: None. B. Hirschovits-Gerz: None. M. Valkonen: None. N. Aaltonen: None. R. Sironen: None. H. Siiskonen: None. S. Pasonen-Seppänen: None.


Author(s):  
Eric S. Wohleb

Proper immune function is critical to maintain homeostasis, recognize and eliminate pathogens, and promote tissue repair. Primary and secondary immune organs receive input from the autonomic nervous system and immune cells express receptors for epinephrine, norepinephrine, and/or acetylcholine. Through direct signaling the autonomic nervous system controls immune function by altering immune cell development, initiating redistribution of immune cells throughout the body, and promoting molecular pathways that shift immune cell reactivity. This neuroimmune communication allows the autonomic nervous system to shape immune function based on physiological and psychological demands.


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