[Source: PLoS ONE, full page: (LINK). Abstract, edited.]
Open Access / Peer-Reviewed / Research Article
Severe H7N9 Infection Is Associated with Decreased Antigen-Presenting Capacity of CD14<SUP>+</SUP> Cells
Hongyan Diao, Guangying Cui, Yingfeng Wei, Jianing Chen, Jian Zuo, Hongcui Cao, Yu Chen, Hangping Yao, Zhigang Tian, Lanjuan Li
Published: March 24, 2014 - DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0092823
Abstract
The outbreak of H7N9 human infection has caused concern worldwide, but the immunological characteristics of infected patients and the determinants of diverse outcomes remain to be thoroughly understood. In this study, twenty-three patients with H7N9 infections were classified into severe and mild cases. We found that severe patients were commonly lymphopenic with significantly lower levels of T cells, monocytes and related cytokine levels compared to the mild cases. The expression of HLA-DR on CD14<SUP>+</SUP> cells were significantly lower in the severe infection group compared to the mild group (in acute phase: 34.65?4.88 vs. 10.37?1.69, p<0.001). Importantly, the expression of HLA-DR on CD14<SUP>+</SUP> cells was negatively correlated with H7N9 infection severity. Furthermore, although the phagocytosis capabilities of monocyte were similar between two groups, the monocytes of severe infection patients had a lower antigen-presenting capacity. And some in vitro experiments suggested that the impaired antigen-presenting function is associated with lower activation of T cells in responses to immune stimulation. Our present study suggested that the severe H7N9 patients were in a state of immune decrease which presented with general lymphopenia and low antigen-presenting capacity resulting in impaired T cell response. Additionally, HLA-DR levels of CD14<SUP>+</SUP> cells may be a potential biomarker for predicting H7N9 disease progression.
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Citation: Diao H, Cui G, Wei Y, Chen J, Zuo J, et al. (2014) Severe H7N9 Infection Is Associated with Decreased Antigen-Presenting Capacity of CD14<SUP>+</SUP> Cells. PLoS ONE 9(3): e92823. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092823
Editor: Xia Jin, University of Rochester, United States of America
Received: November 12, 2013; Accepted: February 23, 2014; Published: March 24, 2014
Copyright: ? 2014 Diao et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81271810), the China National Mega-projects for Infectious Diseases (2012ZX10004-210), and Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education of China (20120101110009). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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Open Access / Peer-Reviewed / Research Article
Severe H7N9 Infection Is Associated with Decreased Antigen-Presenting Capacity of CD14<SUP>+</SUP> Cells
Hongyan Diao, Guangying Cui, Yingfeng Wei, Jianing Chen, Jian Zuo, Hongcui Cao, Yu Chen, Hangping Yao, Zhigang Tian, Lanjuan Li
Published: March 24, 2014 - DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0092823
Abstract
The outbreak of H7N9 human infection has caused concern worldwide, but the immunological characteristics of infected patients and the determinants of diverse outcomes remain to be thoroughly understood. In this study, twenty-three patients with H7N9 infections were classified into severe and mild cases. We found that severe patients were commonly lymphopenic with significantly lower levels of T cells, monocytes and related cytokine levels compared to the mild cases. The expression of HLA-DR on CD14<SUP>+</SUP> cells were significantly lower in the severe infection group compared to the mild group (in acute phase: 34.65?4.88 vs. 10.37?1.69, p<0.001). Importantly, the expression of HLA-DR on CD14<SUP>+</SUP> cells was negatively correlated with H7N9 infection severity. Furthermore, although the phagocytosis capabilities of monocyte were similar between two groups, the monocytes of severe infection patients had a lower antigen-presenting capacity. And some in vitro experiments suggested that the impaired antigen-presenting function is associated with lower activation of T cells in responses to immune stimulation. Our present study suggested that the severe H7N9 patients were in a state of immune decrease which presented with general lymphopenia and low antigen-presenting capacity resulting in impaired T cell response. Additionally, HLA-DR levels of CD14<SUP>+</SUP> cells may be a potential biomarker for predicting H7N9 disease progression.
_____
Citation: Diao H, Cui G, Wei Y, Chen J, Zuo J, et al. (2014) Severe H7N9 Infection Is Associated with Decreased Antigen-Presenting Capacity of CD14<SUP>+</SUP> Cells. PLoS ONE 9(3): e92823. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092823
Editor: Xia Jin, University of Rochester, United States of America
Received: November 12, 2013; Accepted: February 23, 2014; Published: March 24, 2014
Copyright: ? 2014 Diao et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81271810), the China National Mega-projects for Infectious Diseases (2012ZX10004-210), and Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education of China (20120101110009). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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