Lifestyle and demographic associations with 47 inflammatory and vascular stress biomarkers in 9876 blood donors.

BACKGROUND: The emerging use of biomarkers in research and tailored care introduces a need for information about the association between biomarkers and basic demographics and lifestyle factors revealing expectable concentrations in healthy individuals while considering general demographic differences. METHODS: A selection of 47 biomarkers, including markers of inflammation and vascular stress, were measured in plasma samples from 9876 Danish Blood Donor Study participants. Using regression models, we examined the association between biomarkers and sex, age, Body Mass Index (BMI), and smoking. RESULTS: Here we show that concentrations of inflammation and vascular stress biomarkers generally increase with higher age, BMI, and smoking. Sex-specific effects are observed for multiple biomarkers. CONCLUSION: This study provides comprehensive information on concentrations of 47 plasma biomarkers in healthy individuals. The study emphasizes that knowledge about biomarker concentrations in healthy individuals is critical for improved understanding of disease pathology and for tailored care and decision support tools.

Blood-based biomarkers are circulating molecules that can help to indicate health or disease. Biomarker levels may vary depending on demographic and lifestyle factors such as age, sex, smoking status, and body mass index. Here, we examine the effects of these demographic and lifestyle factors on levels of biomarkers related to activation of the immune system and cardiovascular stress. Measurements of 47 different proteins were performed on blood samples from nearly 10,000 healthy Danish blood donors. Measurement data were linked with questionnaire data to assess effects of lifestyle. We found that immune activation and vascular stress generally increased with age, BMI, and smoking. As these measurements are from healthy blood donors they can serve as a reference for expectable effects and inflammation levels in healthy individuals. Knowledge about the healthy state is important for understanding disease progression and optimizing care.

Exposure to air pollution and risk of respiratory tract infections in the adult Danish population-a nationwide study.

OBJECTIVES: The association between air pollution and risk of respiratory tract infection (RTI) in adults needs to be clarified in settings with low to moderate levels of air pollution. We investigated this in the Danish population between 2004 and 2016. METHODS: We included 3 653 490 persons aged 18-64 years in a nested case-control study. Exposure was defined as the average daily concentration at the individual's residential address of CO, NOX, NO2, O3, SO2, NH3, PPM2.5, black carbon, organic carbon, mineral dust, sea salt, secondary inorganic aerosols, SO42-, NO3-, NH4+, secondary organic aerosols, PM2.5, and PM10 during a 3-month exposure window. RTIs were defined by hospitalization for RTIs. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and 95% CIs were estimated comparing highest with lowest decile of exposure using conditional logistic regression models. RESULTS: In total, 188 439 incident cases of RTI were identified. Exposure to most air pollutants was positively associated with risk of RTI. For example, NO2 showed an IRR of 1.52 (CI: 1.48-1.55), and PM2.5 showed an IRR of 1.45 (CI: 1.40-1.50). In contrast, exposure to sea salt, PM10, NH3, and O3 was negatively associated with a risk of RTIs. DISCUSSION: In this nationwide study comprising adults, exposure to air pollution was associated with risk of RTIs and subgroups hereof. Sea salt, PM10, NH3, and O3 may be proxies for rural areas, as the levels of these species in Denmark are higher near the western coastlines and/or in rural areas with fewer combustion sources.

Monocyte phenotype and extracellular vesicles in HIV-1, HIV-2, and HIV-1/2 dual infection.

OBJECTIVE: AIDS-defining illness develops at higher CD4 + T-cell counts in individuals infected with HIV-2 compared with HIV-1-infected, which suggests that the two types of HIV may have different effects on other compartments of the immune system. We here investigate monocyte phenotype, activation and macrophage-derived extracellular vesicles in individuals with different HIV types. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. METHODS: ART-naive HIV-1 ( n  = 83), HIV-2 ( n  = 63), and HIV-1/2 dually positive ( n  = 27) participants were recruited in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, together with HIV-negative controls ( n  = 26). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated and analyzed by flow cytometry for monocyte phenotype and activation, and plasma was analyzed for extracellular vesicle forms of CD163 and CD206. RESULTS: Compared with HIV-negative controls, all groups of HIV-positive participants had a skewed monocyte phenotype with a higher proportion of intermediate monocytes, increased CD163 expression and elevated serum levels of the inflammatory biomarkers soluble (s)CD163 and sCD206. HIV-2-positive participants had lower CD163 monocyte expression than HIV-1-positive participants, regardless of HIV RNA or CD4 + cell count. Levels of sCD206 extracellular vesicles were increased in all HIV groups, and higher in HIV-1 compared with HIV-2-positive participants. CONCLUSION: The monocyte phenotype of HIV-2-positive participants deviated less from healthy controls than did HIV-1 participants. HIV-2-positive participants also had a lower concentration of extracellular CD206 vesicles compared with HIV-1-positive participants. This does not explain the difference in AIDS development.

Medium term moderate to low-level air pollution exposure is associated with higher C-reactive protein among healthy Danish blood donors.

Air pollution is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease with a plethora of associated health effects such as pulmonary and systemic inflammation. C-reactive protein (CRP) is associated with a wide range of diseases and is associated with several exposures. Studies on the effect of air pollution exposure on CRP levels in low to moderate pollution settings have shown inconsistent results. In this cross-sectional study high sensitivity CRP measurements on 18,463 Danish blood donors were linked to modelled air pollution data for NOx, NO2, O3, CO, SO2, NH3, mineral dust, black carbon, organic carbon, sea salt, secondary inorganic aerosols and its components, primary PM2.5, secondary organic aerosols, total PM2.5, and total PM10 at their residential address over the previous month. Associations were analysed using ordered logistic regression with CRP quartile as individuals outcome and air pollution exposure as scaled deciles. Analyses were adjusted for health related and socioeconomic covariates using health questionnaires and Danish register data. Exposure to different air pollution components was generally associated with higher CRP (odds ratio estimates ranging from 1.11 to 1.67), while exposure to a few air pollution components was associated with lower CRP. For example, exposure to NO2 increased the odds of high CRP 1.32-fold (95%CI 1.16-1.49), while exposure to NH3 decreased the odds of high CRP 0.81-fold (95%CI 0.73-0.89). This large study among healthy individuals found air pollution exposure to be associated with increased levels of CRP even in a setting with low to moderate air pollution levels.

Smoking is associated with infection risk in healthy blood donors.

OBJECTIVES: There is a gap in knowledge about the effects of smoking on overall infection risk in otherwise healthy populations, possibly leading to underestimation of the dangers of smoking. The present study aimed to examine the association of smoking with the risk of infections in a large cohort of healthy blood donors. METHODS: This cohort study used questionnaire and health register data from 127 831 Danish blood donors. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis was applied to estimate the association of current smoking with the risk of all-cause infection defined as hospital-based treatment for infection or filled prescriptions of antimicrobials stratified for age and adjusted for relevant confounders. RESULTS: Among 18 272 current smokers, 12 272 filled an antimicrobial prescription and 2035 received hospital-based treatment for infections. Among 101 974 non-smokers, 65 117 filled a prescription and 8501 received hospital-based treatment for infections. Smokers had a higher risk of all-cause infection than non-smokers (hazard ratio estimates were 1.27 in males and 1.33 in females for hospital-based treatment and 1.11 in males and up to 1.20 in females for filled prescriptions). Smoking was most strongly associated with an increased incidence of respiratory tract infection, abscesses, skin infection, and prescriptions for these ailments (hazard ratio up to 2.29). Furthermore, smokers' risk of filled prescriptions of broad-spectrum penicillin was increased (hazard ratio up to 1.96). CONCLUSIONS: Current smoking was strongly associated with the risk of hospital-based treatment of infection and filled prescriptions of antimicrobials in a large cohort of healthy individuals. These findings warrant an increased focus on infectious disease risk among smokers.

HTLV infected individuals have increased B-cell activation and proinflammatory regulatory T-cells.

Human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) affects the human immune system in many ways, most notably by inducing proliferation of infected CD4 + T cells, but several other cell types are also affected. To characterize the effects of HTLV infection, we analysed blood samples from HTLV-infected individuals by flow cytometry. Samples were collected from visitors at the HIV clinic in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. These samples were tested for HTLV and HIV, and 199 were analysed by flow cytometry using panels for B cells, T-cell maturation and activation, regulatory T cells (Tregs) and monocytes. CD80+ cell proportions were significantly higher in HTLV infected than in HTLV uninfected in all B cell subsets. Among T cells, there was no change in cell distribution between maturation stages, but a higher CD25+ proportion among Tregs (61.1 % vs 36.3 %, p < 0.001) in HTLV infected than in HTLV uninfected. The level of CD49d on individual cells was also higher (MFI 2734.5 vs 1,041, p < 0.001). In HTLV infected individuals, CD8 + T cells had a lower proportion of CTLA-4+ (2.5 % vs 3.5 %, 0.048) and higher PD1+ proportion on the CD45RO + subset (81.6 % vs 77.1 %, p < 0.001). Together, these findings point toward reduced regulation in HTLV + patients, which leads to immune activation. This study corroborates previous findings and offers new insight into the effects of HTLV by providing a broad flowcytometric analysis of immune cells in HTLV + individuals.

Discriminatory rapid tests cause HIV-type misclassification-evaluation of three rapid tests using clinical samples from Guinea-Bissau.

BACKGROUND: Discrimination among HIV types is important because HIV-2 is naturally resistant to some of the first-line drugs used in the treatment of HIV-1. We evaluated three assays for HIV-type discriminatory capacity: SD Bioline HIV 1/2 3.0 (Bioline), First Response HIV 1-2-0 Card Test (First Response) and Genie III HIV-1/HIV-2 (Genie III). METHODS: Based on results from the Bioline assay, samples from 239 HIV-infected patients from the Bissau HIV cohort in Guinea-Bissau were retrospectively selected for evaluation. Genie III and First Response were scored by three independent readers and compared with a reference test (INNO-LIA HIV I/II Score) confirmed by HIV RNA as well as DNA detection. RESULTS: The best performing test was Genie III, with an average agreement with the reference test of 93.4%, followed by First Response (86.1%) and Bioline (72.4%). First Response and Bioline were scored with a false high number of HIV-1/2 dual infections. For both First Response and Genie III, there were discrepancies among independent readers, and some tests were scored as HIV non-reactive. CONCLUSIONS: Using these rapid tests with a suboptimal performance will presumably result in a high rate of false HIV-1/2 dual diagnoses, depriving patients of alternative treatment options in cases of treatment failure.

Performance of Bio-Rad HIV-1/2 Confirmatory Assay in HIV-1, HIV-2 and HIV-1/2 dually reactive patients - comparison with INNO-LIA and immunocomb discriminatory assays.

BACKGROUND: Being able to discriminate between HIV-1, HIV-2 and HIV-1/2 dual infection is imperative for the appropriate selection of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in regions with high HIV-2 endemicity. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate Bio-Rad Geenius HIV-1/2 Confirmatory Assay against INNO-LIA HIV 1/2 Score and ImmunoComb HIV 1/2 BiSpot with an emphasis towards ability to discriminate between HIV-1, HIV-2 and HIV-1/2 dual infection. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 131 samples from ART naïve HIV infected patients in Guinea-Bissau were selected retrospectively and tested with Geenius, INNO-LIA and Immunocomb. HIV-1/2 RNA were measured in all samples and HIV-1/2 DNA in 59 samples. RESULTS: The Geenius reader typed 62 samples as HIV-1 reactive, 37 samples as HIV-2 reactive and 32 samples as HIV-1/2 dually reactive. Geenius manual reading classified 10% more samples as HIV-1/2 dually reactive (n = 35). INNO-LIA typed 63 samples as HIV-1 reactive, 36 samples as HIV-2 reactive and 32 samples as HIV-1/2 dually reactive while Immunocomb classified a large proportion of samples as HIV-1/2 dually reactive (n = 45). The measurement of agreement of the Geenius reader compared with INNO-LIA and Immunocomb was 92.4% and 84.0% respectively while the measurement of agreement of Geenius manual reading compared with INNO-LIA and Immuncomb was 93.1% and 89.3% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Geenius has similar performance characteristics as INNO-LIA, and performs considerably better than Immunocomb, for differentiating between HIV types. This is especially true when using the Geenius reader while manual reading of the Geenius assay seemed to overestimate the numbers of HIV-1/2 dually reactive samples.

T-cell and B-cell perturbations are similar in ART-naive HIV-1 and HIV-1/2 dually infected patients.

BACKGROUND: HIV-2 may slow progression of a subsequently acquired HIV-1 infection through cross-neutralizing antibodies and polyfunctional CD8 T cells. We hypothesized that HIV-1/2 dually infected patients compared with HIV-1-infected patients had more preserved immune maturation subsets and less immune activation of T and B cells. METHODS: ART-naive patients with HIV-1 (n = 83) or HIV-1/2 dual (n = 27) infections were included in this cross-sectional study at an HIV clinic in Guinea-Bissau. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were analyzed by flow cytometry according to T-cell maturation and activation, regulatory T-cell fraction, and B-cell maturation and activation. RESULTS: HIV-1/2 dually infected patients had lower levels of HIV-1 RNA compared with patients with HIV-1 infection, but the levels of total HIV RNA (HIV-1 and HIV-2) were similar in the two patient groups. T-cell maturation, and proportions of regulatory T cells (FoxP3+) were also similar in the two groups. HIV-1/2 dually infected patients had higher proportions of CD4 and CD8 T cells positive for the activation marker CD38, but there was no difference in other T-cell activation markers (CD28, CTLA-4, PD-1). HIV-1/2 dually infected patients also had higher proportions of IgM-only B cells and plasmablasts. CONCLUSION: HIV-1/2 was not associated with less immune perturbations than for HIV-1 infection.

T-cell and B-cell perturbations identify distinct differences in HIV-2 compared with HIV-1-induced immunodeficiency.

BACKGROUND: For unknown reasons, HIV-2 is less pathogenic than HIV-1, and HIV-2-induced immunodeficiency may be different from that caused by HIV-1. Previous immunological studies have hinted at possible shifts in both T-cell and B-cell subsets, which we aimed to characterize further. METHODS: From an HIV clinic in Guinea-Bissau, 63 HIV-2, 83 HIV-1, and 26 HIV-negative participants were included. All HIV-infected participants were ART-naive. The following cell subsets were analysed by flow cytometry; T cells (maturation and activation), regulatory T cells, and B cells (maturation and activation). RESULTS: After standardizing for sex, age, and CD4 T-cell count HIV-2 had 0.938 log10 copies/ml lower HIV RNA levels than the HIV-1-infected patients. Whereas T-cell maturation and regulatory T-cell profiles were similar between patients, HIV-2-infected patients had higher proportions of CD8CD28 and lower proportions of CD8PD-1+ T cells than HIV-1-infected patients. This finding was independent of HIV RNA levels. HIV-2 was also associated with a more preserved proportion of naive B cells. CONCLUSION: HIV-2 is characterized by lower viral load, and lower T-cell activation, which may account for the slower disease progression.

HTLV prevalence is no longer following the decreasing HIV prevalence - 20 years of retroviral surveillance in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa.

BACKGROUND: The HIV-2 and HTLV-1 prevalences in Bissau have followed similar trends in surveys from 1996 and 2006 with HTLV-1 prevalences of 3.6% and 2.3%, respectively. However, following the introduction of antiretroviral treatment (ART) and informative campaigns about HIV, the epidemics may have shifted. To evaluate the current HTLV prevalence and the continued association with HIV, we performed a third survey. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was performed from November 2014 to February 2016. In total, 2583 participants were interviewed, tested for HIV, and had blood samples collected. Samples were analysed for anti-HTLV using chemiluminescence and immunoblot assays. We calculated the HTLV prevalence for 2016 and examined risk factors for HTLV and associations with HIV using binominal regression. RESULTS: The prevalence of HTLV was 2.8% (71/2583), 1.5% (16/1,089) for men and 3.7% (55/1,494) for women. Old age, female sex, HIV-2 infection and sharing a house with a HTLV- infected person were strong risk factors for HTLV. In contrast to previous studies, we found a non-significant increase in prevalence among the 15-24 year-olds since 2006, supporting ongoing transmission. CONCLUSIONS: The HTLV prevalence in Bissau showed a non-significant increase. We found evidence supporting continuous vertical and horizontal routes of transmissions.

Phylogeny of human T-lymphotropic virus-1 subtypes in Guinea-Bissau.

Background: Human T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma virus type 1 (HTLV-1) was the first human retrovirus discovered and there is an estimate of 15-20 million infected worldwide. Endemic areas are Japan, West Africa, Central Africa, South America, the Caribbean, Middle East, Australia and the Pacific Islands. In Guinea-Bissau, adult HTLV-1 prevalence is 2-3%, and higher among HIV-infected patients. Materials and methods: Blood samples were collected in a recent HIV/HTLV survey in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau. Initially, participants were tested for HTLV serologically. The p24 and LTR regions of the proviral genome were then attempted sequenced. Sequences were analysed phylogenetically and compared with reference sequences for HTLV-1. Results: A total of 3% (78/2583) participants were positive on chemiluminesent assay, six additional samples came from another study. Of the 84 seropositive participants we successfully performed sequencing on samples, from 66 participants, 17 were positive for LTR only, one for p24 only and 48 for both. Sequences were in subgroup D of HTLV-1a cosmopolitan, while HTLV-1g was present in one participant. Conclusion: HTLV-1a subgroup D and, to a lesser extent HTLV-1g, is present in Guinea-Bissau and sequences are very similar, especially within households. Presence of HTLV-1g indicates monkey-to-man zoonotic events and at least two circulating HTLV strains in Guinea-Bissau. New sequences accession numbers: MG387979-MG388043 for LTR and MG388044-MG388092 for p24.