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Published on: March 6, 2018
Association between the human immune response and body mass index
Silvia Ilavská1, Mira Horváthová, Michaela Szabová
1Department of Immunology and Immunotoxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Slovak Medical University in Bratislava, Limbova 12, 833 03 Bratislava, Slovak Republic. silvia.ilavska@szu.sk
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to determine the strength of the association between the human immune response and body mass index (BMI) and whether differences exist in the effects of obesity on selected immune parameters between men and women. Two hundred ninety participants were divided into groups according to sex and BMI. Parameters CD3, CD4, CD8, CD16+56, CD19, HLADR, CD11b, CD11c, and CD54 were quantified. Leukocyte and differential counts were performed. We observed elevation with regard to the normal weight group in the parameters of white blood cells, neutrophils, monocytes, CD3, CD4, CD19, and CD11b for the whole study group. A decrease was observed in the expression of CD16+56. The effect of BMI on the immune system was much more apparent in women. BMI was correlated with the majority of the measured parameters, reflecting a strong association between BMI and the human immune system.
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