The Association between Carbohydrate Intake and Periodontal Health in the Elderly

Background and Objective: Periodontal disease is one of the most common chronic oral diseases worldwide. A variety of foods may affect periodontal health. Due to the importance of periodontal health in the old age, this study was designed to investigate the association between carbohydrate intake and periodontal health in the elderly in Amirkola, northern Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study is part of the second phase of the Amirkola Health and Ageing Project (AHAP). The evaluated participants included 400 elderly people (200 men and 200 women). Socio-demographic data of all subjects were recorded in the information form. Periodontal status, including plaque index (PI), periodontal disease index (PDI) and Oral Hygiene Index (OHI) were evaluated. Then, the Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (SQFFQ) was completed in order to receive daily carbohydrates in grams per day for all Participants. Then, the relationship between carbohydrate intake and periodontal health was evaluated. Findings: The participants consumed an average of 316±102.4 gr/day carbohydrates. The mean range of PI, OHI, PDI and in the high carbohydrate intake (>300 gr) group were 2.18±1.39, 2.84±1.51 and 1.51±0.86, respectively, and this rate was lower than the group with low carbohydrate intake (<300 gr) (1.96±1.52, 2.56±1.53 and 1.37±0.91), but the difference between the two groups was not significant. Conclusion: In the present study, there was no relationship between periodontal health indices and carbohydrate intake

Regulatory T Cells Expanded from Hiv-1-Infected Individuals Maintain Phenotype, Tcr Repertoire and Suppressive Capacity

While modulation of regulatory T cell (Treg) function and adoptive Treg transfer are being explored as therapeutic modalities in the context of autoimmune diseases, transplantation and cancer, their role in HIV-1 pathogenesis remains less well defined. Controversy persists regarding their beneficial or detrimental effects in HIV-1 disease, which warrants further detailed exploration. Our objectives were to investigate if functional CD4+ Tregs can be isolated and expanded from HIV-1-infected individuals for experimental or potential future therapeutic use and to determine phenotype and suppressive capacity of expanded Tregs from HIV-1 positive blood and tissue. Tregs and conventional T cell controls were isolated from blood and gut-associated lymphoid tissue of individuals with HIV-1 infection and healthy donors using flow-based cell-sorting. The phenotype of expanded Tregs was assessed by flow-cytometry and quantitative PCR. T-cell receptor ß-chain (TCR-β) repertoire diversity was investigated by deep sequencing. Flow-based T-cell proliferation and chromium release cytotoxicity assays were used to determine Treg suppressive function. Tregs from HIV-1 positive individuals, including infants, were successfully expanded from PBMC and GALT. Expanded Tregs expressed high levels of FOXP3, CTLA4, CD39 and HELIOS and exhibited a highly demethylated TSDR (Treg-specific demethylated region), characteristic of Treg lineage. The TCRß repertoire was maintained following Treg expansion and expanded Tregs remained highly suppressive in vitro. Our data demonstrate that Tregs can be expanded from blood and tissue compartments of HIV-1+ donors with preservation of Treg phenotype, function and TCR repertoire. These results are highly relevant for the investigation of potential future therapeutic use, as currently investigated for other disease states and hold great promise for detailed studies on the role of Tregs in HIV-1 infection.Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (Pediatric HIV Vaccine Program Award MV-00-9-900-1429-0-00)Massachusetts General Hospital. Executive Committee on Research (MGH/ECOR Physician Scientist Development Award)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH NIAID (KO8 AI074405))National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH NIAID AI074405-03S1)Massachusetts General Hospital (William F. Milton Fund)Harvard University. Center for AIDS Research (CFAR Scholar Award)Massachusetts General Hospital. Center for the Study Inflammatory Bowel Disease (P30DK043351)Harvard University. Center for AIDS Research (NIH funded program (5P30AI060354-09

Track A Basic Science

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138319/1/jia218438.pd

Association of Marek's Disease induced immunosuppression with activation of a novel regulatory T cells in chickens.

Marek’s Disease Virus (MDV) is an alphaherpesvirus that infects chickens, transforms CD4+ T cells and causes deadly lymphomas. In addition, MDV induces immunosuppression early during infection by inducing cell death of the infected lymphocytes, and potentially due to activation of regulatory T (Treg)-cells. Furthermore, immunosuppression also occurs during the transformation phase of the disease; however, it is still unknown how the disease can suppress immune response prior or after lymphoma formation. Here, we demonstrated that chicken TGF-beta+ Treg cells are found in different lymphoid tissues, with the highest levels found in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (cecal tonsil: CT), fostering an immune-privileged microenvironment exerted by TGF-beta. Surprisingly, significantly higher frequencies of TGF-beta+ Treg cells are found in the spleens of MDV-susceptible chicken lines compared to the resistant line, suggesting an association between TGF-beta+ Treg cells and host susceptibility to lymphoma formation. Experimental infection with a virulent MDV elevated the levels of TGF-beta+ Treg cells in the lungs as early as 4 days post infection, and during the transformation phase of the disease in the spleens. In contrast to TGF-beta+ Treg cells, the levels of CD4+CD25+ T cells remained unchanged during the infection and transformation phase of the disease. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that the induction of TGF-beta+ Treg cells is associated with pathogenesis of the disease, as the vaccine strain of MDV did not induce TGF-beta+ Treg cells. Similar to human haematopoietic malignant cells, MDV-induced lymphoma cells expressed high levels of TGF-beta but very low levels of TGF-beta receptor I and II genes. The results confirm that COX-2/ PGE2 pathway is involved in immunosuppression induced by MDV-lymphoma cells. Taken together, our results revealed a novel TGF-beta+ Treg subset in chickens that is activated during MDV infection and tumour formation.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Counci

The Relationship between Depression and Periodontal Indices in the Elderly in Amirkola

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Chronic periodontitis is a slow-growing inflammatory disease that often occurs in adults. In the elderly, periodontal indices may also change due to a number of psychological factors, such as depression and consequent changes in cortisol levels. Therefore, this study was performed to investigate the relationship between depression and periodontal indices in the elderly in Amirkola, Northern Iran. METHODS: This case-control study, which is part of the second phase of the Amirkola Health and Ageing Project (AHAP) to investigate the health status of the elderly in this city, was performed on 300 elderly people. After examination, subjects were divided into two groups: periodontitis (n=100) and control (n=200). In both groups, the presence of depressive symptoms was assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), in which a score of 5 or higher is a sign of depression, and periodontal indices including OHIS and PDI were examined based on PDI≥4 periodontitis criterion. Then, the two groups were compared in terms of the association between periodontal indices and depression. FINDINGS: In this study, 133 were female (44.3%) and 167 were male (55.7%). 35 patients (35%) in the case group and 61 patients (30.5%) in the control group had symptoms of depression. The mean GDS score in patients with periodontitis (3.70±3.68) was slightly higher than healthy individuals (3.49±3.40), but no significant correlation was observed between GDS and PDI. Old age, male gender, lower level of education and smoking were higher in patients with periodontitis, which was statistically significant only in smoking and level of education (p=0.042 and p=0.009, respectively). In this study, a positive and weak relationship was observed between age and PDI (r=0.19 and p=0.001). CONCLUSION: The results showed that there is a relationship between periodontal indices and depression. Although it was not statistically significant, it is clinically noteworthy