Havnes Marianne B, Ahlén Catrine, Brubakk Alf O, Iversen Ole-Jan
Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Microb Ecol Health Dis. 2012 Jan 31;23. doi: 10.3402/mehd.v23i0.10677. eCollection 2012.
Skin and ear infections, primarily caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), are recurrent problems for saturation divers, whereas infections caused by P. aeruginosa are seldom observed in healthy people outside saturation chambers. Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients suffer from pulmonary infections by P. aeruginosa, and it has been demonstrated that CF patients have high levels of autoantibodies against Heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) compared to controls, probably due to cross-reacting antibodies induced by P. aeruginosa. The present study investigated whether rats immunised with P. aeruginosa produced autoantibodies against their own HSP60 and whether diving influenced the level of circulating anti-HSP60 antibodies.
A total of 24 rats were randomly assigned to one of three groups ('immunised', 'dived' and 'immunised and dived'). The rats in group 1 and 3 were immunised with the bacteria P. aeruginosa, every other week. Groups 2 and 3 were exposed to simulated air dives to 400 kPa (4 ata) with 45 min bottom time, every week for 7 weeks. Immediately after surfacing, the rats were anaesthetised and blood was collected from the saphenous vein. The amount of anti-HSP60 rat antibodies in the serum was analysed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.
The immunised rats (group 1) showed a significant increase in the level of autoantibodies against HSP60, whereas no autoantibodies were detected in the dived rats (group 2). The rats both immunised and dived (group 3) show no significant increase in circulating autoantibodies against HSP60. A possible explanation may be that HSP60 is expressed during diving and that cross-reacting antibodies are bound.
皮肤和耳部感染主要由铜绿假单胞菌引起，这是饱和潜水员反复面临的问题，而在饱和舱外的健康人群中很少观察到由铜绿假单胞菌引起的感染。囊性纤维化（CF）患者会遭受铜绿假单胞菌引起的肺部感染，并且已经证明，与对照组相比，CF患者针对热休克蛋白60（HSP60）的自身抗体水平较高，这可能是由于铜绿假单胞菌诱导的交叉反应抗体所致。本研究调查了用铜绿假单胞菌免疫的大鼠是否产生针对自身HSP60的自身抗体，以及潜水是否会影响循环抗HSP60抗体的水平。
总共24只大鼠被随机分为三组（“免疫组”、“潜水组”和“免疫且潜水组”）中的一组。第1组和第3组的大鼠每隔一周用铜绿假单胞菌进行免疫。第2组和第3组大鼠每周接受一次模拟空气潜水，深度为400 kPa（4个绝对大气压），水下停留时间为45分钟，共进行7周。浮出水面后立即将大鼠麻醉，并从隐静脉采集血液。通过酶联免疫吸附测定法分析血清中抗HSP60大鼠抗体的量。
免疫组大鼠（第1组）针对HSP60的自身抗体水平显著升高，而潜水组大鼠（第2组）未检测到自身抗体。免疫且潜水组大鼠（第3组）循环抗HSP60自身抗体没有显著增加。一个可能的解释可能是HSP60在潜水过程中表达，交叉反应抗体被结合。
