RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: As logistical access for space research becomes more limited and NASA prepares for exploration-class missions, ground-based spaceflight analogs will increase in importance for biomedical countermeasures development. A monitoring of immune parameters was performed during the NASA Flight Analogs Project bed rest study (without countermeasure); to establish 'control' data against which future studies (with countermeasure) will be evaluated. Some of the countermeasures planned to be evaluated in future studies may impact immune function. METHODS: The immune assessment consisted of: leukocyte subset distribution, early T cell activation, intracellular cytokine profiles, latent viral reactivation, virus specific T cell levels and function, stress hormone levels, and a behavioral assessment using stress questionnaires. RESULTS: In general, subjects did not display altered peripheral leukocyte subsets, constitutive immune activation, altered T cell function, or significant latent viral reactivation (EBV, VZV). Levels of constitutively activated T cells (CD8+/CD69+) and virus-specific T cells (CMV and EBV) decreased during the study. Cortisol levels (plasma and saliva) did not vary significantly during 90-d bed rest. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate the absence of significant immune system alteration and physiological stress during 90-d bed rest, and establish control data against which future studies (including countermeasures) may be compared.
Asunto(s)
Reposo en Cama , Inclinación de Cabeza/efectos adversos , Sistema Inmunológico/inmunología , Vuelo Espacial , Estrés Fisiológico , Virosis/inmunología , Adaptación Fisiológica , Adulto , Citocinas/análisis , ADN Viral/análisis , Femenino , Estado de Salud , Humanos , Masculino , Estudios Prospectivos , Psicometría , Estrés Fisiológico/inmunología , Estrés Psicológico/inmunología , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Linfocitos T/inmunología , Factores de Tiempo , Estados Unidos , United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration , Activación Viral/inmunología , Ingravidez/efectos adversosRESUMEN
Fifty-four patients with herpes zoster were treated with valacyclovir. On treatment days 1, 8, and 15, pain was scored and saliva examined for varicella-zoster virus (VZV) DNA. VZV DNA was found in every patient the day treatment was started and later disappeared in 82%. There was a positive correlation between the presence of VZV DNA and pain and between VZV DNA copy number and pain (P <.0005). VZV DNA was present in 1 patient before rash and in 4 after pain resolved and was not present in any of 6 subjects with chronic pain or in 14 healthy subjects. Analysis of human saliva has potential usefulness in the diagnosis of neurological disease produced by VZV without rash.