Analysis of Serum Th1/Th2 Cytokine Levels in Patients with Acute Mumps Infection

Improved Immunogenicity of the Inactivated F Genotype Mumps Vaccine against Diverse Circulating Mumps Viruses in Mice

Mumps is an acute infectious disease caused by the mumps virus (MuV). Despite high global vaccination coverage, mumps outbreaks continue to occur, even in vaccinated populations. Therefore, we aimed to identify candidate vaccines that can induce an immunogenic response against diverse MuV genotypes with greater efficacy than the currently available options. Vaccine candidates were sourced using formalin-inactivated viral strains. The inactivated vaccines were administered to BALB/c mice (through a primer and booster dose administered after a three-week interval). We tested the neutralizing antibodies of the candidate vaccines against various MuV genotypes to determine their overall efficacy. The formalin-inactivated F genotype vaccine was found to have higher cross-neutralizing titers against genotypes F, H, and G as well as significant Th1 cytokines responses, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-2 than the Jeryl Lynn (JL) vaccine. Our findings suggest that the inactivated F genotype mumps vaccine has higher immunogenicity than the JL vaccine against diverse circulating MuVs.

Positive correlation between VCA-IgM and Th1/Th2 immunocytokines in children with infectious mononucleosis

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the correlation between immunoglobulin M (IgM) against viral capsid antigen (VCA) of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and T helper 1 and 2 (Th1/Th2) immunocytokines (ICKs) in children with infectious mononucleosis (IM).

METHODS

This is a retrospective study. A total of 40 children with IM treated in our hospital from August 2019 to August 2021 were included in the research group, and another 42 children with upper respiratory tract infection treated during the same period were selected as the control group. The VCA-IgM positive (+) rate and Th1/Th2 ICKs in two groups were detected, and the correlation of VCA-IgM with Th1/Th2 ICKs in IM patients was analyzed.

RESULTS

The research group was found to have an evidently higher VCA-IgM+ rate than the control group. Moreover, the accuracy of VCA-IgM in detecting IM was as high as 91.46%. In addition, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10 presented markedly elevated levels in the research group than in the control group, and in VCA-IgM negative (-) patients compared with VCA-IgM+ patients. There was a positive connection between VCA-IgM and Th1/Th2 ICKs.

CONCLUSIONS

IM children showed high VCA-IgM+ rate and imbalance of Th1/Th2 ICKs, and their VCA-IgM and Th1/Th2 ICKs are positively correlated. In addition, VCA-IgM has certain diagnostic value for IM.

IL-6 and IL-10 Are Associated With Gram-Negative and Gram-Positive Bacteria Infection in Lymphoma

To investigate the Th1/Th2 cytokine profile in patients with lymphoma during the myelosuppression stage of infection. 52 patients with gram-negative bacterial infection (G- group), 49 patients with gram-positive bacterial infection (G+ group), 51 uninfected patients with lymphoma (uninfected group) and 20 healthy controls (healthy group) were enrolled in this study. We evaluated the quantification of Th1/Th2 cytokines with flow cytometry bead assay (CBA) in the sera to explore a rapid diagnostic method to determine the type of infection and anti-infective effect. The levels of procalcitonin (PCT) were also detected simultaneously. The four groups did not differ with regard to IL-2 and IL-4 (P>0.05). The IFN-γ and TNF-α levels of patients with lymphoma were higher than those of healthy controls (P<0.05). There was significantly upregulated IL-6 and IL-10 expression in the G- group (P<0.001). A similar trend was reflected in the IL-6 of the G+ group, which was significantly increased (P<0.001). However, no significant upregulation was observed for IL-10 in the G+ group. According to the different degrees of increased IL-6 and IL-10 levels, We proposed to use the G- Bacterial Infection Cytokine Profile (G- BICP) and the G+ Bacterial Infection Cytokine Profile (G+ BICP) for the first time to differentiate between Gram-negative and Gram-positive (G-/G+) bacterial infection in adults with lymphoma in the myelosuppression stage after chemotherapy. The IL-6, IL-10 and PCT in the G- group and the IL-6, PCT in the G+ group were significantly decreased at day 4 and day 8 compared with those at day 1. IL-6 and IL-10 are closely associated with the severity and treatment efficacy in adults with lymphomas who develop infections after chemotherapy and can help distinguish between G- and G+ bacterial infections at an early stage.