Publications by authors named "Dirk Bretschneider"
Article Synopsis
- Early life microbial infections pose challenges to the developing immune system, and the study examines how T-helper cell responses vary between age groups and pathogens, particularly in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.* -
- The research highlights that T-cells responding to Staphylococcus species differentiate into Th1-type cells, while T-cells activated by Bifidobacterium longum infantis show a suppressive effect on Staphylococcus-specific T-helper cells through mechanisms like increased IL-10 production.* -
- Bifidobacterium's ability to modulate immune responses may play a role in reducing harmful effects in severely ill COVID-19 patients, suggesting that tailored interventions based on age and immune characteristics could improve infection
Newborns are highly susceptible to infections; however, the underlying mechanisms that regulate the anti-microbial T-helper cells shortly after birth remain incompletely understood. To address neonatal antigen-specific human T-cell responses against bacteria, () was used as a model pathogen and comparatively analyzed in terms of the polyclonal staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) superantigen responses. Here, we report that neonatal CD4 T-cells perform activation-induced events upon /APC-encounter including the expression of CD40L and PD-1, as well as the production of Th1 cytokines, concomitant to T-cell proliferation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prevalence of neural tube defects (NTD) has not decreased in Germany despite longstanding recommendations for folic acid supplementation. To examine the prevalence of periconceptional folic acid supplement use and associated factors among German women of reproductive age.
Methods: Cross-sectional survey was conducted in hospital-based maternity units in rural Germany.
Genetic variants in the adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette subfamily B member 4 () gene, which encodes hepatocanalicular phosphatidylcholine floppase, can lead to different phenotypes, such as progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) type 3, low phospholipid-associated cholelithiasis, and intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. The aim of this multicenter project was to collect information on onset and progression of this entity in different age groups and to assess the relevance of this disease for the differential diagnosis of chronic liver disease. Clinical and laboratory data of 38 patients (17 males, 21 females, from 29 families) with homozygous or (compound) heterozygous mutations were retrospectively collected.
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