Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health (CIIS), Faculty of Dental Medicine, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Viseu, Portugal.
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health (CIIS), Faculty of Health Science and Nursing, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, Portugal.
Front Public Health. 2024 Sep 12;12:1432044. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1432044. eCollection 2024.
Homeless people are continuously facing adverse living conditions as poor access to basic nutrition, hygiene conditions and healthcare services, being at increased risk of severe infectious diseases as HIV and hepatitis as well as cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders. The characterization of homeless people's health is fundamental to identify their health care needs. Considering that the aforementioned diseases are associated with chronic inflammatory processes, the main goal of this study was to characterize the inflammatory profile of a homeless population through quantification in saliva of a panel of inflammatory cytokines.
The inflammatory profile was assessed in 114 individuals residing in two temporary shelters located in Lisbon and that accepted to participated in the study. Inflammatory proteins were quantified using a Multiplex Immunoassay approach. Data analysis was performed using the GraphPad Prism software and statistical significance among the groups was assessed using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test.
Even though some protein levels might be masked by drug treatment, data analysis showed high levels of INF-ϒ, IL-10 and TNF-α in the infectious disease group, critical cytokines for the immune response against viruses and bacteria. Also, cytokines like IL-1β and IL-6 were detected at statistically significant levels in the cardiovascular disease group and all cytokines included in this study were quantified in the mental disorders group.
These findings may help the healthcare services in the evaluation of treatment efficacy and disease monitoring, and in the development of effective public healthcare strategies and policy interventions to improve quality of life of the homeless population.
无家可归者持续面临着恶劣的生活条件，他们难以获得基本的营养、卫生条件和医疗服务，感染艾滋病毒和肝炎等严重传染病以及心血管疾病和精神障碍的风险增加。对无家可归者健康状况的描述对于确定他们的医疗保健需求至关重要。鉴于上述疾病与慢性炎症过程有关，本研究的主要目标是通过定量检测唾液中的一系列炎症细胞因子来描述无家可归者的炎症特征。
本研究评估了居住在里斯本两个临时收容所的 114 名个体的炎症特征，这些个体同意参与研究。使用多重免疫分析方法定量检测炎症蛋白。使用 GraphPad Prism 软件进行数据分析，并使用非参数曼-惠特尼检验评估组间的统计学意义。
尽管药物治疗可能掩盖了某些蛋白质水平，但数据分析显示，传染病组中 INF-γ、IL-10 和 TNF-α 的水平较高，这些细胞因子对于针对病毒和细菌的免疫反应至关重要。此外，心血管疾病组中还检测到 IL-1β 和 IL-6 等细胞因子的水平具有统计学意义，所有纳入本研究的细胞因子在精神障碍组中均被定量检测到。
这些发现可能有助于医疗保健服务评估治疗效果和疾病监测，并制定有效的公共医疗保健策略和政策干预措施，以提高无家可归者的生活质量。
