Association Between Serum IgE Levels and the CTLA4 +49A/G and FCER1B -654C/T Polymorphisms in Korean Children With Asthma

NMR spectroscopy spotlighting immunogenicity induced by COVID-19 vaccination to mitigate future health concerns

In this review, the disease and immunogenicity affected by COVID-19 vaccination at the metabolic level are described considering the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for the analysis of different biological samples. Consistently, we explain how different biomarkers can be examined in the saliva, blood plasma/serum, bronchoalveolar-lavage fluid (BALF), semen, feces, urine, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and breast milk. For example, the proposed approach for the given samples can allow one to detect molecular biomarkers that can be relevant to disease and/or vaccine interference in a system metabolome. The analysis of the given biomaterials by NMR often produces complex chemical data which can be elucidated by multivariate statistical tools, such as PCA and PLS-DA/OPLS-DA methods. Moreover, this approach may aid to improve strategies that can be helpful in disease control and treatment management in the future.

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NMR analysis of various bio-samples can explore disease course and vaccine interaction.

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Immunogenicity and reactogenicity caused by COVID-19 vaccination can be studied by NMR.

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Vaccine interaction alters metabolic pathway(s) at a certain stage, and this mechanism can be probed at the metabolic level.

Genetic association study of CTLA4 and FCεRIα polymorphisms in asthmatic patients in the southwestern region of Iran

Asthma is a heterogeneous chronic pulmonary disease that develops due to the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. This study aimed to investigate the polymorphisms of CTLA4(SNP-318C > T, SNP + 49A > G) and FCεRIα(SNP-344T > C) genes in asthmatic patients in Southwest Iran. The study enrolled 200 patients with asthma of Arab and Bakhtiary descent and 200 healthy controls, where asthmatic patients and healthy controls were selected based on a spirometry test. Genomic DNA from whole blood samples using the TaqMan assay was used to study the genotypes of patients and healthy controls.The results indicated no statistically significant difference between cases and controls for the SNP-344C > T of the FCεR1α gene and the SNP + 49A > G, SNP-318C > T of the CTLA4 gene. There was a significant correlation between the CTLA4-318C > T allele frequency in both the case and control groups (OR = 1.83; 95%CI, 1.14-2.94; P = 0.01). We stratified genotypes according to age, gender, ethnicity, and smoking status and discovered a significant suggestive association between the SNP + 49A > G of the CTLA4 gene and smoking. Additionally, SNP + 49A > G was found to be associated with gender and age. The results indicated that the SNP-318C > T polymorphism in the CTLA4 gene might contribute to the development of asthma in the studied population. Meanwhile, smoking can exacerbate asthma in individuals with SNP + 49A > G of the CTLA4 gene.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15257770.2021.1964525 .

Integrative Metabolomics to Identify Molecular Signatures of Responses to Vaccines and Infections

Approaches to the identification of metabolites have progressed from early biochemical pathway evaluation to modern high-dimensional metabolomics, a powerful tool to identify and characterize biomarkers of health and disease. In addition to its relevance to classic metabolic diseases, metabolomics has been key to the emergence of immunometabolism, an important area of study, as leukocytes generate and are impacted by key metabolites important to innate and adaptive immunity. Herein, we discuss the metabolomic signatures and pathways perturbed by the activation of the human immune system during infection and vaccination. For example, infection induces changes in lipid (e.g., free fatty acids, sphingolipids, and lysophosphatidylcholines) and amino acid pathways (e.g., tryptophan, serine, and threonine), while vaccination can trigger changes in carbohydrate and bile acid pathways. Amino acid, carbohydrate, lipid, and nucleotide metabolism is relevant to immunity and is perturbed by both infections and vaccinations. Metabolomics holds substantial promise to provide fresh insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the host immune response. Its integration with other systems biology platforms will enhance studies of human health and disease.

A Systems Vaccinology Approach Reveals the Mechanisms of Immunogenic Responses to Hantavax Vaccination in Humans

Hantavax is an inactivated vaccine for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). The immunogenic responses have not been elucidated yet. Here we conducted a cohort study in which 20 healthy subjects were administered four doses of Hantavax during 13-months period. Pre- and post- vaccinated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and sera were analysed by transcriptomic and metabolomic profilings, respectively. Based on neutralizing antibody titers, subjects were subsequently classified into three groups; non responders (NRs), low responders (LRs) and high responders (HRs). Post vaccination differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with innate immunity and cytokine pathways were highly upregulated. DEG analysis revealed a significant induction of CD69 expression in the HRs. High resolution metabolomics (HRM) analysis showed that correlated to the antibody response, cholesteryl nitrolinoleate, octanoyl-carnitine, tyrosine, ubiquinone-9, and benzoate were significantly elevated in HRs, while chenodeoxycholic acid and methyl palmitate were upregulated in NRs and LRs, compared with HRs. Additionally, gene-metabolite interaction revealed upregulated gene-metabolite couplings in, folate biosynthesis, nicotinate and nicotinamide, arachidonic acid, thiamine and pyrimidine metabolism in a dose dependent manner in HR group. Collectively, our data provide new insight into the underlying mechanisms of the Hantavax-mediated immunogenicity in humans.

A meta-analysis of the association between CTLA-4 genetic polymorphism and susceptibility of asthma

BACKGROUND

Numerous studies have reported an association between cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated antigen 4 gene (CTLA4) polymorphism and susceptibility to asthma, in different populations, but the results have been inconsistent. We performed a meta-analysis of 19 published case-control studies to obtain a reasonably accurate estimation of the relationship between CTLA4 polymorphism and asthma.

METHODS

We searched the Pubmed, EMBASE, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang databases and extracted data from 19 independent, eligible studies. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and Egger test were separately used to assess the strength of associations and publication bias.

RESULTS

A total of 19 case-control studies involving 4831 cases and 4534 controls were identified. The combined results revealed that there was significant association between the +49A/G polymorphism and asthma (for GG + GA vs. AA: OR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.70-0.97, P = .02). Stratification by race or age indicated a significant association between the CTLA-4 +49 GA+GG genotype and asthma in Asians (OR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.68-0.95, P = .01) and children (OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.62-0.90, P = .002), but there was no association in whites (OR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.80-1.10, P = .44) and adults (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.68-1.06, P = .15). Additionally, there was a significant association with atopic asthma under the random-effects model (OR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.67-0.98, P = .03). In addition, there was no significant association between the -318 C/T polymorphism and asthma risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Our meta-analysis results suggested that the +49A/G polymorphism in CTLA-4 was an important risk factor for asthma susceptibility, especially in Asian individuals, children, and atopic patients.

Relationship between cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 -318C/T (rs5742909) gene polymorphism and the risk of acute rejection in renal transplantation

Results on the relationship between CTLA4 -318C/T (rs5742909) gene polymorphism and risk of acute rejection in renal transplantation are still conflicting. This meta-analysis was performed to update the association between CTLA4 -318C/T and risk of acute rejection in renal transplantation. The association investigations were identified from PubMed and Cochrane Library, and eligible studies were included and synthesized using meta-analysis method. Twelve reports were included in this meta-analysis for the association of CTLA4 -318C/T gene polymorphism with acute rejection risk in renal transplantation, consisting of 728 acute rejection patients and 1628 non-acute rejection controls. The association between CTLA4 -318C/T gene polymorphism and acute rejection risk in renal transplantation for overall populations was not found in this meta-analysis (T allele: OR=0.96, 95% CI: 0.60-1.54, P=.88; TT genotype: OR=0.90, 95% CI: 0.47-1.71, P=.74; CC genotype: OR=1.00, 95% CI: 0.62-1.59, P=.98). Interestingly, T allele was associated with the risk of acute rejection in renal transplantation in African population. In conclusion, CTLA4 -318C/T gene polymorphism is not associated with the risk of acute rejection in renal transplantation in overall populations.

Association between CTLA-4 exon-1 +49A/G polymorphism and asthma: an updated meta-analysis

The results of studies on association between CTLA-4 exon-1 +49A/G (rs231775) polymorphism and susceptibility to asthma are controversial. To derive a more precise estimation of the relationship between the CTLA-4 exon-1 +49A/G polymorphism and asthma, a meta-analysis of 15 published case-control studies was performed. 15 studies meeting our inclusion criteria comprising 4006 asthma cases and 3729 controls were included. The effect summary odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals were obtained. Publication bias was tested by funnel plot, Egger's test and heterogeneity was assessed. The combined results showed that there were significant differences in genotype distribution between asthma cases and control on the basis of all studies, GG + GA versus AA (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.62-0.93; P = 0.008). When stratifying for the race, the phenomenon was found that asthma cases had a significantly higher frequency of GG/GA versus AA (OR = 0.71; 95% CI: 0.51-0.99; P = 0.04) than control in Caucasian. Stratifying subjects by age indicated an association between CTLA-4 +49 GG + GA genotype and asthma in children (OR = 0.75; 95% CI: 0.62-0.90; P = 0.002), but no association in adults (OR = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.76-1.14; P = 0.48). Furthermore, significant association was observed in atopic asthma under the fixed-effects model (GG + GA vs. AA: P = 0.03, OR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.67-0.98, P heterogeneity = 0.22). Our meta-analysis results suggest that CTLA-4 exon-1 +49A/G polymorphism might be a risk factor for asthma susceptibility, at least in Caucasian, children, and patients with atopy status.

Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated antigen 4 polymorphisms and asthma risk: a meta-analysis

Background

A number of studies assessed the association of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) gene polymorphisms with asthma in different populations. However, the results were contradictory. We performed a meta-analysis to examine the association between CTLA-4 polymorphisms and asthma susceptibility.

Methods

Pubmed, EMBASE, HuGE Navigator, and Wanfang Database were searched. Data were extracted independently by two reviewers. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the strength of associations.

Results

Seventeen studies involving 6378 cases and 8674 controls were included. Significant association between +49 A/G polymorphism and asthma was observed for AA vs. AG+GG (OR = 1.18, 95% CI 1.01–1.37, P = 0.04). There were no significant associations between −318 C/T, −1147 C/T, CT60 A/G, −1722 C/T, or rs926169 polymorphisms and asthma risk.

Conclusions

This meta-analysis suggested that the +49 A/G polymorphism in CTLA-4 was a risk factor for asthma.

The CTLA-4 +49 A/G and -318 C/T polymorphisms and susceptibility to asthma: a meta-analysis

The aim of this study was to explore whether cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) +49 A/G, and -318 C/T polymorphisms confer susceptibility to asthma. A meta-analysis was conducted on the associations between the CTLA-4 +49 A/G, and -318 C/T polymorphisms and asthma using; (1) allele contrast, (2) the recessive model, (3) the dominant model, and (4) the additive model. Eight studies on the CTLA-4 polymorphisms and asthma involving 2,330 patients with asthma and 1,743 control subjects were included in this meta-analysis. The meta-analysis revealed an association between asthma and the CTLA-4 +49 A/G polymorphism under the dominant model in Asians (OR = 0.758, 95 % CI = 0.599-0.958, p = 0.020). Stratification by age indicated an association between the CTLA-4 +49 GG+GA genotype and asthma in children (OR = 0.690, 95 % CI = 0.497-0.957, p = 0.026), but not in adults (OR = 0.837, 95 % CI = 0.598-1.172, p = 0.300). Furthermore, stratification by atopy status indicated an association between the CTLA-4 +49 G allele and atopic asthma (OR = 0.639, 95 % CI = 0.464-0.881, p = 0.006), but not non-atopic asthma (OR = 0.706, 95 % CI = 0.385-1.294, p = 0.266). There was no association between asthma and the CTLA-4 -318 C/T polymorphism for the whole population, or when stratified by ethnicity, age, or atopy status. This meta-analysis demonstrates that the CTLA-4 +49 A/G polymorphism confers susceptibility to asthma in Asians, children, patients with atopy status, but there was no association between the CTLA-4 -318 C/T polymorphism and asthma susceptibility.

The relationship among IL-13, GSTP1, and CYP1A1 polymorphisms and environmental tobacco smoke in a population of children with asthma in Northern Mexico

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) during early childhood increases the risk of developing asthma. The intention of this study was to genotype a population of children from Coahuila state in Northern Mexico and to determine whether polymorphisms of the CYP1A1, GSTP1, and IL13 genes are associated with exposure to ETS and subsequently a higher risk for asthma. IL13 plays an important role in the development of allergic response, particularly those related with airway inflammation. CYP1A1 and GSTP1 are xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes induced by repeated exposure to toxicants. Polymorphisms of these genes have been related with ETS exposure and increased risk for asthma. To assess the effect of IL13 (-1112 C>T and Arg110Gln), GSTP1 (Ile105Val), and CYP1A1 (Ile462Val) on asthma risk and ETS exposure, we recruited 201 unrelated children and classified them into four groups: (1) control without ETS exposure; (2) control with ETS exposure; (3) with asthma and with ETS exposure and (4) with asthma and without ETS exposure. No association among ETS exposure, asthma, and the studied polymorphisms was denoted by multivariate analysis of this population.

Polymorphisms of the CTLA4 gene and kidney transplant rejection in Korean patients

Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4) is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily. CTLA4, which binds to B7 molecules on antigen- presenting cells, is expressed on activated T cells, thereby delivering negative signals that down-regulate T-cell proliferation and cytokine production. Consequently, CTLA4 may be a good candidate gene to evaluate in kidney transplantation rejection. In this study, we investigated whether polymorphisms of the CTLA4 gene were associated with susceptibility to kidney transplantation rejection. We genotyped three selected SNPs in the CTLA4 gene using direct sequencing in 325 renal transplant recipients. Of the SNPs examined, one (rs231775) showed a statistical association with late acute rejection (p=0.026, odds ratio (OR)=0.48, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.23-0.93 in the dominant model). Also, the frequency of the G allele (rs231775) was higher in late acute rejection patients (p=0.013, OR=2.02, 95% CI=1.15-3.52). One CTLA4 gene polymorphism was associated with susceptibility to late acute rejection in kidney transplantation in Korean patients.