Munkmahler5890
To assess the kinetics of the humoral and cell-mediated responses after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with different immunosuppressive therapies.
Following vaccine completed schedule, health care workers (HCWs, n = 49) and RA patients (n = 35) were enrolled at 5 weeks (T1) and 6 months (T6) after the first dose of BNT162b2-mRNA vaccination. Serological response was assessed by quantifying anti-receptor-binding domain (RBD)-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies, while cell-mediated response was assessed by a whole-blood test quantifying the interferon (IFN)-γ response to spike peptides. B-cell phenotype and IFN-γ-specific T-cell responses were evaluated by flow cytometry.
After 6 months, anti-RBD antibodies were still detectable in 91.4% of RA patients, although we observed a significant reduction of the titer in patients under Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Antigen 4 (CTLA-4)-Ig [median 16.4se was mainly detected in the CD4
T-cell compartment.
In this study, in RA patients after 6 months from COVID-19 vaccination, we show the kinetics, waning, and impairment of the humoral and, to a less extent, of the T-cell response. Similarly, a reduction of the specific response was also observed in the controls. Therefore, based on these results, a booster dose of the vaccine is crucial to increase the specific immune response regardless of the immunosuppressive therapy.
In this study, in RA patients after 6 months from COVID-19 vaccination, we show the kinetics, waning, and impairment of the humoral and, to a less extent, of the T-cell response. Similarly, a reduction of the specific response was also observed in the controls. Therefore, based on these results, a booster dose of the vaccine is crucial to increase the specific immune response regardless of the immunosuppressive therapy.Innate immunity is the first defense system against invading pathogens. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are well-defined pattern recognition receptors responsible for pathogen recognition and induction of innate immune responses. Since their discovery, TLRs have revolutionized the field of immunology by filling the gap between the initial recognition of pathogens by innate immune cells and the activation of the adaptive immune response. TLRs critically link innate immunity to adaptive immunity by regulating the activation of antigen-presenting cells and key cytokines. Furthermore, recent studies also have shown that TLR signaling can directly regulate the T cell activation, growth, differentiation, development, and function under diverse physiological conditions. This review provides an overview of TLR signaling pathways and their regulators and discusses how TLR signaling, directly and indirectly, regulates cell-mediated immunity. In addition, we also discuss how TLR signaling is critically important in the host's defense against infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, and cancer.Strategies to reduce the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reservoir are urgently required. The antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC)-mediating anti-HIV antibodies have shown an association with HIV control. We assessed if such antibodies can be generated in vitro and whether the generated antibodies can facilitate the reduction of reactivated HIV reservoir. We isolated HIV-1-gp140-specific memory B cells from HIV-1-infected long-term non-progressors (LTNPs) with or without plasma ADCC and cultured them to generate anti-HIV antibodies. The ability of the generated antibodies to mediate ADCC and facilitate NK cell-mediated lysis of reactivated HIV reservoir was assessed by the rapid fluorometric antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity assay and a flow-based novel latency reduction assay, respectively. All LTNPs showed the presence of gp140-specific memory B cells [median 0.79% (0.54%-1.225%)], which were successfully differentiated into plasma cells [median 72.0% (68.7-82.2%)] in an in-vitro cultur The important role of these antibodies in the reduction of latent reservoirs needs to be further evaluated as a useful strategy to obtain a functional cure for HIV infection.Recent studies have provided strong evidence indicating that lone star tick bites are a cause of AGS (alpha-gal syndrome, also known as red meat allergy RMA) in humans. AGS is characterized by an increase in IgE antibody production against galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose (aGal), which is a common glycan found in mammalian tissue, except in Old World monkeys and humans. The main causative factor of AGS, the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum), is broadly distributed throughout the east and midwest of the United States and is a vector of a wide range of human and animal pathogens. Our earlier glycomics study of the salivary glands of partially fed male and female ticks revealed relatively high levels of aGal epitopes. In this study, we found that partially fed males of A. americanum on bovine blood, which engage in multiple intrastadial feedings, carry a large amount of aGal in the salivary glands. In our current work, we aimed to test whether ticks mediate the transmission of the aGal sensitizer acquired from nonhuman blood to humans in the intrastadial host switch (referred to as the "transmission" hypothesis). To test this hypothesis, we used an alpha-galactosyltransferase knockout mutant mouse (aGT-KO) model system infested with ticks that were unfed or partially fed on bovine blood. Based on the levels of total IgE and specific IgG and IgE antibodies against aGal after tick feedings, aGT-KO mice significantly responded to tick feeding and injection of aGal (Galα1-3Galβ1-4GlcNAc) conjugated to human serum albumin or mouse serum albumin (aGal-HSA or aGal-MSA) by increasing total IgE and aGal-specific IgE levels compared to those in C57BL/6 control mice. All of the treatments of aGT-KO mice involving the feeding of partially fed and unfed ticks functioned as sensitizers that increased the levels of specific IgE against aGal, with large individual variations. The data in this study do not support the "transmission" component of AGS, although they confirmed that aGT-KO mice can be used as a model for RMA studies.The human body is thoroughly colonized by a wide variety of microorganisms, termed microbiota. Pancreatic cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of cancer, is no exception. The microbiota of pancreatic cancer largely influences and even dominates the occurrence, development and outcome of pancreatic cancer in many ways. Studies have shown that microbiota could change the malignant phenotype and prognosis of pancreatic cancer by stimulating persistent inflammation, regulating the antitumor immune system, changing the tumor microenvironment and affecting cellular metabolism. This is why the association of the microbiota with pancreatic cancer is an emerging area of research that warrants further exploration. Herein, we investigated the potential microbial markers of pancreatic cancer, related research models, the mechanism of action of microbiota in pancreatic cancer, and pancreatic cancer-microbiota-related treatment.Investigating the contributing factors of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) has always been an important topic in the field of traumatic psychology research. The current study explored the influences of pandemic/epidemic experiences, meditation experiences, and trait mindfulness on PTSS and the mediating role of emotional resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 522 participants in Hubei province completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, the Adolescents' Emotional Resilience Questionnaire, and the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5. The results showed that (1) participants who had family or friends diagnosed with COVID-19 scored higher on avoidance. (2) Participants who had family or friends had been diagnosed with SARS or H1N1 scored higher on PTSS. Fluorofurimazine (3) Participants with meditation experience scored significantly higher on all dimensions of PTSS, other than avoidance. (4) The mediating role of recovering from negative emotions in the relationship between trait mindfulness and PTSS was significant (95%CI= [-0.212, -0.094]), while the generating positive emotion was not significant (95%CI= [-0.050, 0.071]). Individuals with pandemic/epidemic experience are more likely to have a high level of PTSS. Individuals who have meditation experience also express a higher level of PTSS, which may be a result of the quality of meditation. Trait mindfulness and the ability to recover from negative emotions were protective factors against PTSS.During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom (UK) government introduced public health safety measures to mitigate the spikes in infection rates. This included stay-at-home orders that prevented people from leaving their homes for work or study, except for urgent medical care or buying essential items. This practice could have both short and long-term implications for health and wellbeing of people in the UK. Using longitudinal data of 10,630 UK adults, this study prospectively examined the association between home confinement status during the stringent lockdown in the UK (March 23-May 13, 2020) and 20 indicators of subjective well-being, social well-being, pro-social/altruistic behaviors, psychological distress, and health behaviors assessed approximately one month after the stringent lockdown ended. All analyses adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics and social isolation status in the beginning of the pandemic. Home confinement during the lockdown was associated with greater subsequent compliance with COVID-19 rules, more perceived major stressors, and a lower prevalence of physical activity. There was modest evidence of associations with lower life satisfaction, greater loneliness, greater depressive symptoms, greater anxiety symptoms, and more perceived minor stressors post-lockdown. However, there was little evidence that home confinement was associated with other indices of subsequent health and well-being. While our study shows that home confinement impacts some indices of subsequent health and wellbeing outcomes even after lockdown, the degree of the psychological adaptation to the difficult confinement behavior remains unclear and should be further studied.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03001-5.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03001-5.The need for recovery after work (NFR) is an important warning of work-related fatigue. NFR is linked to prolonged work-related efforts and depletion of resources, creating a need for temporary respite from work demands. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationships between NFR and the five-factor model (FFM), comprising the personality traits of emotional stability (ES), extraversion (E), agreeableness (A), conscientiousness (C), and openness to experience (O). Perceived job pressure and perceived social support were included as mediators. The study was conducted using structural equation modelling (SEM) on cross-sectional data from a sample of 681 participants from several work sectors (N females = 376, N males = 305; M age = 46.9 years; SD = 11.1). The results showed that NFR was affected both directly and indirectly by FFM traits. High ES and high O contributed directly to reduced and increased NFR, respectively. High perceived social support contributed to reduced NFR, while high perceived job pressure contributed to increased NFR.