Variations In Immunological Parameters Research Articles

Clinical significance of immunological indicators in the remote period after traumatic brain injury

The article describes the clinical significance of immunological indicators in the remote period after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Immunological indicators take a key role in determining the clinical outcomes in the remote period of TBI, as they reflect the state of the body’s immune reactivity and correlate with the body’s ability to recover. Changes in both humoral and cellular immunity have been observed in patients with TBI. Variations in immunological parameters can serve as predictors for assessing the rehabilitative potential of patients after TBI. Key words: traumatic brain injury, consequences, immunology, neuropathophysiology

Comparison of defence ability against the white spot syndrome virus between Fenneropenaeus chinensis and Marsupenaeus japonicus

The defence ability of Fenneropenaeus chinensis and Marsupenaeus japonicus against the intrusion of the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) was compared after injecting WSSV intramuscularly by recording cumulative mortality, diagnosing the virus and examining variations in immunological parameters including the total haemocyte counts (THCs), phagocytic percentage (PP), plasma protein concentration (PPC), phenoloxidase (PO) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity. The results showed that the variations in the immunological parameters of F. chinensis and M. japonicus showed similar trends. The THCs of the two species decreased significantly postchallenge of WSSV. The virus was detected at 78 h in M. japonicus and at 42 h in F. chinensis after infection, which was in correlation with the accumulative mortality, and the variations in PO, PP, NOS and PPC in the two species. All shrimps of F. chinensis in the mortality experiment died within 66 h, much more quickly than M. japonicus, whose cumulative mortality reached 100% after 198 h. In conclusion, the immune system of M. japonicus has a stronger resistant ability to antagonize and endure the invasion of WSSV than that of F. chinensis.

Three-colour flow cytometric detection of PrP in ovine leukocytes

PrP c (cellular prion protein, CD230) expression by subpopulations of lymphoid cells has been widely investigated in a variety of species, possibly because of the possible link between transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) transmission and blood transfusion. However, the role of the immune cells in the transmission of the disease is still unclear. Here we describe the optimisation and standardisation of a three-colour staining procedure to detect PrP in association with phenotypic and activation markers in ovine immune cells. We demonstrate a reproducible, flexible and sensitive method and that the combination of isotype-specific antibodies and Fab fragments is feasible. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such labelling of ovine cells. Using this method, we were able to detect differences in levels of PrP expression between blood and lymph node cells of the same animal, and considerable variability between animals. Moreover, we were able to explore possible associations between PrP expression and cellular activation and to identify cell subsets with different labelling patterns. We are currently employing this approach to evaluate variations in immunological parameters during experimental infection in sheep.

Influence of surgical stress on cellular immunity and the induction of plastic adherent suppressor cells of spleen in mice.

Surgical stress animal models were established by performing laparotomies on mice. It was found that this type of stress could suppress the natural killer (NK) cytotoxicity and the proliferation of spleen cells induced by conA or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Dynamic changes showed that the stress-mediated immunosuppression was reversible, as the responses to conA and LPS would be restored with time. The sensitivity to the stress-mediated suppression was different according to variations in immunological parameters. Furthermore, the macrophages in spleen were tested by isolation by the plastic-adherent procedure. The results showed clearly that these adherent cells (Plastic Adherent Cells, PAC) possessed an immunosuppressive effect on mitogen-induced lymphocyte proliferation in post-operative mice, but not in normal mice. Treatment of mice with indomethacin blocked the PAC-mediated immunosuppression. Surgical stress appeared to increase the level of prostaglandins, which in turn induced the production of suppressor PAC.

34] Use of the nude mouse in immunological research

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews that the nude mouse has been used in studies on immunoparasitology, allergy, autoimmunity, immunity to infectious diseases, transplantation immunity, immunological surveillance, tumor immunobiology, and has also been used to expand various tumor cell lines as well as to maintain hybridomas for monoclonal antibody production. It discusses that the nude mouse, although athymic, is not completely immunologically incompetent. Functional T lymphocytes are practically absent, but the B cell system, while not normal, is present. The chapter reviews that some aspects of the defense system may be more developed in nude mice than in non-nude mice. For example, the nude mouse generally possesses higher titers of immunoglobulin M and greater NK activity than normal mice. Despite the presence of some degree of immunity, nude mice are subject to bacterial, parasitic, and viral infections and have a very short life span if raised in a conventional environment. Even when the mice are raised under specific pathogen-free conditions, the “normal flora” of the mice has a major impact and may cause dramatic variations in immunological parameters or even death of animals subjected to the stress of experimentation.