Assessment of perceived immune status: comparison of a 1-item question versus the immune function questionnaire

AbstractRecent advances in the immunotherapy field require evaluation of the immune function to adapt therapeutic decisions. Immune functional assays (IFA) are able to reveal the immune status and would be useful to further adapt/improve patient’s care. However, standardized methods are needed to implement IFA in clinical settings. We carried out an independent validation of a published method used to characterize the underlying host response to infectious conditions using an IFA. We evaluate the reproducibility and robustness of this IFA and associated readout using an independent healthy volunteers (HV) cohort. Expression of a 44 genes-signatures and IFNγ protein secretion and gene-expression was assessed after stimulation. We observed a strong host-response correlation between the two cohorts. We also highlight that standardized methods for immune function evaluation exist and could be implemented in larger-scale studies. This IFA could be a relevant tool to reveal innate/adaptive immune dysfunction in immune-related disorders patients.

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Network between Cytokines, Cortisol and Occupational Stress in Gas and Oilfield Workers

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms21031118 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 1118

Author(s):

Marcella Reale ◽

Erica Costantini ◽

Chiara D’Angelo ◽

Luca Coppeta ◽

Rocco Mangifesta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Immune Function ◽

Occupational Stress ◽

Salivary Cortisol ◽

Plasma Levels ◽

Immune Status ◽

Job Strain ◽

Field Work ◽

Workplace Stress ◽

Oil Field ◽

Stress Levels

To test whether gas and oil field work is accompanied by stress and altered immune function, the perception of workplace stress, levels of salivary cortisol, plasma levels, and mononuclear cell production of cytokines were examined in 80 healthy workers recruited among a population of operators on gas and oilfields. Specific questionnaires for determining the perception of anxiety, occupational stress, and subjective symptoms were administered. Salivary cortisol and cytokines plasma levels were evaluated by Elisa and to investigate immune function, both spontaneous and PHA- or LPS-induced expression and production of cytokines were assessed by qRT-PCR. Workers showed medium stress levels at work, with growth and increased motivation for work, and based on salivary cortisol concentrations, were divided into two groups of ≤10 ng/mL (n = 31) or >10 ng/mL (n = 49). Statistically significant higher plasma levels of IL-6, while lower TNFα, were detected in workers with cortisol >10 ng/mL. Also, BMI, DL, JD and Job strain were significantly higher in workers with cortisol >10 ng/mL. Thus, even modest variations of cortisol might have a role in the modulation of immune response and worker’s vulnerability to health imbalance.Thus, the evaluation of immune status, in addition to cortisol levels, could be useful to prevent illnesses; exacerbation of pre-existing conditions; morbidity; and consequent absences from work, with economic repercussions.

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A One-Minute Blood Test Detects Decreased Immune Function and Increased Clinical Risk in COVID-19 Patients

10.21203/rs.3.rs-635353/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Chirajyoti Deb ◽

Allan Salinas ◽

Tianyu Zheng ◽

Aurea Middleton ◽

Katelyn Kern ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Immune Function ◽

Disease Severity ◽

Humoral Immunity ◽

Blood Test ◽

Immune Status ◽

Clinical Severity ◽

Immune Functions ◽

Humoral Immune ◽

Clinical Risk ◽

Negative Controls

Abstract Upon infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, most people will develop no or mild symptoms. However, a small percentage of the population will become severely ill, and some will succumb to death. The clinical severity of COVID-19 has a close connection to the dysregulation of the patient’s immune functions. We previously developed a simple, nanoparticle-enabled blood test that can determine the humoral immune status in animals. In this study, we applied this new test to analyze the immune function in relation to disease severity in COVID-19 patients. From the testing of 153 COVID-19 patient samples and 142 negative controls, we detected a drastic decrease of humoral immunity in COVID-19 patients who developed moderate to severe symptoms, but not in patients with no or mild symptoms. The new test may be potentially used to monitor the immunity change and predict the clinical risk of patients with COVID-19.

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Psychological factors, immune function and recovery from major surgery

Acta Neuropsychiatrica ◽

10.1111/j.1601-5215.2009.00398.x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 169-178 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Ute Vollmer-Conna ◽

Kevin D. Bird ◽

Bryan W Yeo ◽

Philip G. Truskett ◽

Reginald F. Westbrook ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Immune Function ◽

Psychological Factors ◽

Immune Status ◽

Major Surgery ◽

Passive Coping ◽

Before And After ◽

Negative Effect ◽

And Coping ◽

Induced Changes

Objective:This study used a prospective design and the technique of structural modelling to examine the complex interrelations between psychological factors, immune status and complications after major surgery.Methods:Twenty-nine women scheduled for elective cholecystectomy were studied prospectively. Information regarding medical history, health practices, life stressors, and coping strategies was obtained two weeks prior to admission. At this initial meeting, as well as three days after surgery, and at one month follow-up immunological tests were performed and the level of psychological distress was assessed. The study additionally included measures of post-operative complications, and infections and negative effect during follow-up.Results:Pre-operative immune status emerged as a key variable exerting strong effects on subsequent immune function and, thereby producing significant, indirect effects on every recovery variable. Pre-operative distress was directly linked to increased mood disturbance at follow-up. Moreover, distress significantly influenced immune function both before and after surgery, which mediated a significant impact on most recovery variables. Active coping behaviour directly increased the risk of a complicated recovery.Conclusions:The study demonstrated that distress-induced changes in immune functioning have clinical relevance. Overall, the present findings suggest that recovery from surgery is facilitated in patients with a well-functioning immune system, a low-level of pre-operative distress and a passive coping disposition.

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Virulence phenotypes result from an interaction between pathogen ploidy and genetic background

10.1101/672519 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Dorian J. Feistel ◽

Rema Elmostafa ◽

Meleah A. Hickman

Keyword(s):

Candida Albicans ◽

Immune Function ◽

Clinical Relevance ◽

Genetic Background ◽

Fungal Pathogens ◽

Immune Status ◽

Opportunistic Pathogen ◽

Fungal Virulence

AbstractStudying fungal virulence is often challenging and frequently depends on many contexts, including host immune status and pathogen genetic background. However, ploidy has often been overlooked when studying virulence in eukaryotic pathogens. Since fungal pathogens, including the human opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans, can display extensive ploidy variation, assessing how ploidy impacts virulence has important clinical relevance. Here, we assessed how C. albicans ploidy and genetic background impact virulence phenotypes in both healthy and immunocompromised nematode hosts. In addition to reducing overall host survival, Candida negatively impacted host reproduction, which allowed us to survey lethal and non-lethal virulence phenotypes. While we did not detect any global differences in virulence between diploid and tetraploid pathogens, there were significant interactions between ploidy and C. albicans genetic background, regardless of host immune function.

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Effects of Turmeric and Cinnamon Powder on Performance and Immune Traits of Broiler Chickens

International Journal of Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance ◽

10.25258/ijpqa.v9i2.13645 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Kadhim S Kadhim

Keyword(s):

Immune Response ◽

Impact Assessment ◽

Immune Function ◽

Broiler Chickens ◽

Immune Status ◽

The Other ◽

Control Group ◽

Treatment Groups ◽

Commercial Broiler ◽

Immune Traits

This experience was done to impact assessment of turmeric and cinnamon powder added of a commercial broiler fed on the performance and immune response. Three dietary processing (50 chicks per treatment) with (2) duplicate (25chicks perduplicate) of broiler strain (Cobb) at one day old, G1 (as control group) chicks fed on basal nutrition without any supplement. however, G2 and G3 nutrition on feed supplemented with 0.5 and 0.5% cinnamon powder and turmeric powder respectively to the end of the study (35 days) to examine the broiler implementation and immune function. The results of experiment that the two treated groups had a useful effect on the antibody titer against (NDV), (IB), bursa index and spleen index. The rise levels of Immunostimulatory were theorize as the signal of anti-virus action of turmeric and Cinnamon. on the other hand. The results showed significant (p less than 0.05) advance of performance in treatment groups compared with control group. finally, cinnamon powder and turmeric powder complement in broiler feeds was advantageous to chickens performance and immune status.

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Growth, clinical chemistry and immune function in domestic piglets fed varying ratios of arachidonic acid and DHA

British Journal Of Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s000711451100359x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 107 (6) ◽

pp. 809-816 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Cynthia Tyburczy ◽

Kumar S. D. Kothapalli ◽

Woo Jung Park ◽

Bryant S. Blank ◽

Ying-Chun Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Adverse Effect ◽

Arachidonic Acid ◽

Immune Function ◽

Immune Status ◽

Clinical Chemistry ◽

Blood Collection ◽

Chain Pufa ◽

The Usa ◽

Total Fatty Acids ◽

Long Chain

In the USA, infant formulas contain long-chain PUFA arachidonic acid (ARA) and DHA in a ratio of 2:1 and comprise roughly 0·66 g/100 g and 0·33 g/100 g total fatty acids (FA). Higher levels of dietary DHA appear to provide some advantages in visual or cognitive performance. The present study evaluated the effect of physiologically high dietary ARA on growth, clinical chemistry, haematology and immune function when DHA is 1·0 g/100 g total FA. On day 3 of age, formula-reared (FR) piglets were matched for weight and assigned to one of six milk replacer formulas. Diets varied in the ratio of ARA:DHA as follows (g/100 g FA/FA): A1, 0·1/1·0; A2, 0·53/1·0; A3-D3, 0·69/1·0; A4, 1·1/1·0; D2, 0·67/0·62; D1, 0·66/0·33. A seventh group was maternal-reared (MR) and remained with the dam during the study. Blood collection and body weight measurements were performed weekly, and piglets were killed on day 28 of age. No significant differences were found among any of the FR groups for formula intake, growth, clinical chemistry, haematology or immune status measurements. A few differences in clinical chemistry, haematology and immune function parameters between the MR pigs and the FR groups probably reflected a difference in growth rate. We conclude that the dietary ARA level up to 1·0 g/100 g total FA is safe and has no adverse effect on any of the safety outcomes measured, and confirm that DHA has no adverse effect when ARA is at 0·66 g/100 g FA.

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VaccHemInf project: protocol for a prospective cohort study of efficacy, safety and characterisation of immune functional response to vaccinations in haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026093 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. e026093 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Anne Conrad ◽

Mathilde Boccard ◽

Florent Valour ◽

Vincent Alcazer ◽

Aydee-Tamara Tovar Sanchez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Stem Cell ◽

Immune Function ◽

Immune Status ◽

Haematopoietic Stem Cell ◽

Cell Transplant ◽

Serological Response ◽

Vaccine Response ◽

Functional Assays ◽

Prospective Longitudinal

IntroductionImmune reconstitution after haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a complex and dynamic process, varying from a state of nearly complete immunosuppression to an expected full immune recovery. Specific vaccination guidelines recommend reimmunisation after HSCT but data regarding vaccine efficacy in this unique population are scarce. New immune functional assays could enable prediction of vaccine response in the setting of HSCT.Methods and analysisA prospective, longitudinal single-centre cohort study of autologous and allogeneic HSCT recipients was designed in order to determine the vaccine response to five vaccine targets (pneumococcus, hepatitis B virus,Haemophilus Influenzaetype b, tetanus and diphtheria) and to correlate it to immune function parameters. A workflow was set up to study serological response to vaccines and to describe the functional immune status of 100 HSCT recipients (50 autologous and 50 allogeneic) before and 3, 12 and 24 months after primary immunisation. At each time point, ‘basic’ immune status recording (serology, immunophenotyping of lymphocyte subsets by flow cytometry) will be assessed. The immune response will furthermore be evaluated before and 3 months after primary vaccination by two ex vivo immune functional assays assessing: (1) tumour necrosis factor alpha, interferon gamma production and host messenger RNA expression on whole-blood stimulation by lipopolysaccharide orStaphylococcus aureusenterotoxin B and (2) T-lymphocyte proliferation in response to a standard mitogen (phytohaemagglutinin) or to selected recall antigens. Reference intervals will be determined from a cohort of 30 healthy volunteers. This translational study will provide data describing vaccine response, immune functionality of HSCT recipients over time and will allow mapping HSCT recipients with regard to their immune function.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval has been obtained from the institutional review board (no 69HCL17_0769). Results will be communicated at scientific meetings and submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberNCT03659773; Pre-results.

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