Living in a mentally and physically stimulating environment has been suggested to have a beneficial effect on the immune response. This study investigates these effects, utilizing a 2-week program of environmental enrichment (EE) and 2 models of acute inflammation: zymosan-induced peritonitis (ZIP) and the cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) model of sepsis. Our results revealed that following exposure to EE, mice possessed a significantly higher circulating neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio compared with control animals. When subject to ZIP, EE animals exhibit enhanced neutrophil and macrophage influx into their peritoneal cavity. Corresponding results were found in CLP, where we observed an improved capacity for enriched animals to clear systemic microbial infection. Ex vivo investigation of leukocyte activity also revealed that macrophages from EE mice presented an enhanced phagocytic capacity. Supporting these findings, microarray analysis of EE animals revealed the increased expression of immunomodulatory genes associated with a heightened and immunoprotective status. Taken together, these results provide potentially novel mechanisms by which EE influences the development and dynamics of the immune response.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5374068 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.90723 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Challenges and opportunities of vaccination during pregnancy: perspectives of 20 healthcare professionals.
J Public Health Policy
January 2025
George's School of Health and Medical Sciences, Population Health Research Institute, City St George's, University of London, London, UK.
Vaccination during pregnancy is crucial due to increased maternal vulnerability to infectious diseases. However, uptake of recommended vaccines (influenza, pertussis, COVID-19) remains suboptimal, particularly among disadvantaged groups. This qualitative study explored healthcare professionals' (HCPs) perspectives, selected purposively, on factors influencing maternal vaccination in London.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimicrobial peptide glatiramer acetate targets Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipopolysaccharides to breach membranes without altering lipopolysaccharide modification.
NPJ Antimicrob Resist
February 2024
National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are key components of innate immunity across all domains of life. Natural and synthetic AMPs are receiving renewed attention in efforts to combat the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis and the loss of antibiotic efficacy. The gram-negative pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most concerning infecting bacteria in AMR, particularly in people with cystic fibrosis (CF) where respiratory infections are difficult to eradicate and associated with increased morbidity and mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFirst-line cadonilimab plus chemotherapy in HER2-negative advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma: a randomized, double-blind, phase 3 trial.
Nat Med
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Holistic Integrative Management of Gastrointestinal Cancers, Beijing Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing, China.
Programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) inhibitors plus chemotherapy have been the standard of care in the first-line treatment of advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (G/GEJ) adenocarcinoma; however, the survival benefits are modest in patients with low programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. Here we investigated the efficacy and safety of cadonilimab (PD-1/cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) bispecific antibody) plus chemotherapy as first-line treatment in G/GEJ adenocarcinoma. The prespecified interim analysis is reported here.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTriple-negative breast cancer modifies the systemic immune landscape and alters neutrophil functionality.
NPJ Breast Cancer
January 2025
Division of Tumor Biology & Immunology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Cancer disrupts intratumoral innate-adaptive immune crosstalk, but how the systemic immune landscape evolves during breast cancer progression remains unclear. We profiled circulating immune cells in stage I-III and stage IV triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients and healthy donors (HDs). Metastatic TNBC (mTNBC) patients had reduced T cells, dendritic cells, and differentiated B cells compared to non-metastatic TNBC patients and HDs, partly linked to prior chemotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFitness costs of Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to rifampicin is compensated by rapid Th2 polarization mediated by early and high IL-4 production during mice infection.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Experimental Pathology Department, National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition Salvador Zubiran, Mexico City, Mexico.
It was a general belief that drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) was associated with lesser virulence, particularly rifampicin resistance, which is usually produced by mutations in the RNA polymerase Beta subunit (RpoB). Interestingly, this kind of bacterial mutations affect gene transcription with significant effects on bacterial physiology and metabolism, affecting also the bacterial antigenic constitution that in consequence can produce diverse immune responses and disease outcome. In the present study, we show the results of the Mtb clinical isolate A96, which is resistant to rifampicin and when used to infect BALB/c mice showed hypervirulence, apparently by rapidly polarization of the Th2 immune response through early and high production of IL-4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!