1. Comparison of neonatal T regulatory cell function in Papua New Guinean and Australian newborns.
- Author
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Lisciandro, Joanne G., Prescott, Susan L., Nadal-Sims, Marie G., Devitt, Catherine J., Pomat, William, Siba, Peter M., Holt, Patrick G., Strickland, Deborah, and van den Biggelaar, Anita H.J.
- Subjects
ALLERGY in children ,AUTOIMMUNE diseases ,CELLULAR control mechanisms ,T cells ,NEONATAL diseases - Abstract
To cite this article: Lisciandro JG, Prescott SL, Nadal-Sims MG, Devitt CJ, Pomat W, Siba PM., Holt PG, Strickland D, van den Biggelaar AHJ. Comparison of neonatal T regulatory cell function in Papua New Guinean and Australian newborns. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2011: Doi: 10.1111/j.1399-3038.2011.01242.x. Abstract Background: Environmental changes, including declining microbial exposure, have been linked with the rising incidence of allergic and autoimmune diseases in 'western' populations. This potentially occurs by altering early development of immuno-regulatory pathways including T regulatory cells (T
reg ). There is now increasing evidence that such conditioning begins in utero. Methods: We compared neonatal Treg from children born under typical western conditions (Australia, AUS) with those of neonates born under more traditional conditions of high microbial burden (Papua New Guinea, PNG). Results: The frequency of neonatal Treg , defined as CD4+ Foxp3+ CD127− CD25+/high was found to be higher in the cord blood of AUS compared to PNG newborns. However, cord Treg suppressive function in a small subset of children was qualitatively similar between PNG and AUS newborns in both a Treg depletion assay and a Treg supplementation assay. Conclusions: These findings do not support the hypothesis that living in a 'western' versus more traditional environment leads to poor induction or suppressive function of neonatal Treg . However, environmentally-induced immuno-regulation may potentially occur via alternative mechanisms in PNG newborns that should now be investigated further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2012
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