Immune response to vaccination in the elderly.

The immune system develops from childhood until the late age. Each of these periods has its own specialities. Aging is typical for immunity, depending on the conversion of hematogenous bone marrow to adipose, involution of the thymus and persistent viral infections (e.g. CMV). In the elderly, whose numbers have been increasing in recent decades, there is a need to understand the changes in the immune system also called as immunosenescence. The substantial remodeling of the immune system during aging leads to a decline in its functional activity in both innate (complement, cytokines, granulocytes, NK cells, macrophages) and adaptive immunity (B lymphocytes and antibody production, T lymphocytes, cytokine production and cytotoxic response, NKT cells, regulatory T lymphocytes with suppressor activity) with advancing age, resulting in increased risk of chronic diseases, infections, autoimmunity and vaccination failure.

Th1, Th2 and Th17 lymphocytes in autoimmune thyreopathies.

Among the most common organ-specific autoimmune diseases are autoimmune thyreopathies. We have focused on the importance of Th1, Th2 and Th17 lymphocytes in autoimmune thyroiditis (AT). The cohort consisted of 136 treated patients in the full clinical course of AT (24 men, mean age 41.0±16.8 years and 112 women, mean age 44.6±17.6 years). The control group consisted of 17 healthy men (mean age 44.0±5.0 years). Box-Cox transformation of the data, t-tests and Pearson correlation analysis were used for statistical calculations. Lymphocyte subpopulations were determined by flow cytometry. We found statistically significant correlations between Th and Tc lymphocytes (r = -0.5605, p = 0.0000), total T and B lymphocytes (r = -0.4877, p = 0.0000), Th1 and Th17 lymphocytes (r = 0.4346, p = 0.0000), Tc and Th1 lymphocytes (r = 0.4124, p = 0.0000), IRI and Th1 lymphocytes (r = -0.4076, p = 0.0000), total T lymphocytes and NK cells (r = -0.8175, p = 0.0000), memory Th and Th1 lymphocytes (r = 0.7982, p = 0.0000), naive Th and Th1 lymphocytes (r = -0.7995, p = 0.0000), Tc lymphocytes and NK cells (r = -0.4014, p = 0.0000), Tc and total T lymphocytes (r = 0.4551, p = 0.0000), Th and total T lymphocytes (r = 0.4135, p = 0.0000). The determination of lymphocyte subpopulations is an aid in the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune diseases, helps to clarify the clinical manifestations of the disease and can complement the interpretation of commonly determined autoantibodies. It can help determine whether the phase is destructive (Th1, Th17, Tc lymphocytes) or protective (Th2 lymphocytes, antibodies).

[Psycho-immuno-endocrinology of the thyroid gland]. / Psycho-imuno-endokrinologie stítné zlázy.

Historically endocrinologists and psychiatrists are aware that disturbances in thyroid disease in beginning or even in clinically intensified states of thyrotoxicosis or hypothyroidism exhibit pathological mental manifestations, masking or potentiating the underlying disease. Immune system disorders cause thyroid organ-specific autoimmune process. This autoimmune thyroid disease binds with a number of disorders in both endocrine or non-endocrine organs. This appears in vascular, neurological, skin, connective tissue, gastrointestinal tract and mental pathology. These disorders are part of autoimmune polyglandular syndromes (APS) type I -III, especially the APS type III. Originally it was assumed that these mental disorders are caused by direct exposure to excess or deficiency of thyroid hormones. Recently, however, it appears that these psycho-immune-endocrine disorders have common etiologic mechanisms of formation and on cellular and molecular level they involve similar, if not in some cases, common mechanisms.Key words: antithyroid peroxidase antibody - autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type I., II., III. - autoimmune thyroid disease - bipolar disorder - depression - Hashimotos encephalopathy - postpartum psychosis - psycho-immuno-endocrinology - schizophrenia.

Histological estimation of age at death from the compact bone of burned and unburned human ribs.

This study describes the estimation of age at death from the compact bone of burned and unburned human ribs. Bone samples came from individuals of known age, sex, and cause of death. Each bone was divided into four sections; three sections were burned at 700, 800, and 1000°C. Undecalcified, unstained ground cross sections were photographed, and 28 variables were analyzed in the bones using SigmaScan Pro 5. Age-related as well as heat-induced microstructural changes were found. These changes were often very similar and made estimating the age at death difficult in the burned bones. Differences between the sexes were found in some variables, caused by both aging and also by the different behavior of some variables during burning. Regression equations were developed to estimate age at death for unburned bones (r² = 0.579 and 0.707), bones burned at 700°C (r² = 0.453 and 0.501), and 800°C (r² = 0.334 and 0.340).

The temperature of cremation and its effect on the microstructure of the human rib compact bone.

The presented study deals with the effect of the cremation temperature on the microstructure and morphology of the human compact bone. The biological material consisted of samples from ribs of recent Central European origin belonging to individuals of known age, sex and cause of death. Each bone sample was divided into several sections. One section remained unburned and the rest were burned at 700, 800 and 1000 degrees C. A few samples were burned also at the temperature of 600 degrees C. The undecalcified unstained ground cross-sections were made from burned and unburned bones; photographed and analysed using the SigmaScan Pro 5 programme. During burning, both the macroscopic and microscopic dimensions of the bone shrink, including the measures of the individual microstructures. The percentual representation of the area of individual microstructures on the area of the cross-section decreases. The number of individual microstructures per mm2 of the compact bone cross-section increases. Most microstructural variables demonstrated statistically significant differences at the individual temperatures of cremation. The burned bones showed a large scale of the colours, especially at 700 degrees C.