von Hertzen L, Surcel H M, Kaprio J, Koskenvuo M, Bloigu A, Leinonen M, Saikku P
National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
J Med Microbiol. 1998 May;47(5):441-6. doi: 10.1099/00222615-47-5-441.
This study investigated whether gender or smoking has an impact on immune responses to Chlamydia pneumoniae in generally healthy adults. A total of 129 twins (46 twin pairs and 37 single twins) from the Finnish Twin Cohort who had previously reported the highest discordance for smoking with their co-twins participated. C. pneumoniae-specific serum IgA and IgG antibody levels were measured by the micro-immunofluorescence test (micro-IF) at admission and 3 months later if the IgA level in the first sample was elevated. Cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses to C. pneumoniae and control antigens from heparinised blood samples were assessed by the lymphoproliferation (LP) assay. When all the subjects were pooled and analysed by gender and smoking status, marked differences in the humoral immune response between the genders were observed, irrespective of smoking status. When twin pairs solely were analysed, significantly elevated IgA antibody levels suggestive of persistent infection were found among the currently or formerly smoking men compared to their non-smoking co-twins. The CMI response showed a reciprocal trend with respect to humoral immunity. In conclusion, specific antibody levels were found to be higher in men than in women irrespective of smoking status, although smoking may further enhance the humoral response and depress the CMI response in men.
本研究调查了在一般健康的成年人中，性别或吸烟是否会对肺炎衣原体的免疫反应产生影响。共有129名来自芬兰双胞胎队列的双胞胎（46对双胞胎和37名单胎双胞胎）参与了研究，他们之前报告称与同卵双胞胎在吸烟方面存在最大差异。入院时通过微量免疫荧光试验（微量IF）测量肺炎衣原体特异性血清IgA和IgG抗体水平，如果第一个样本中的IgA水平升高，则在3个月后再次测量。通过淋巴细胞增殖（LP）试验评估来自肝素化血样对肺炎衣原体和对照抗原的细胞介导免疫（CMI）反应。当将所有受试者按性别和吸烟状况汇总并进行分析时，无论吸烟状况如何，均观察到两性之间体液免疫反应存在显著差异。当仅对双胞胎对进行分析时，发现目前或以前吸烟的男性与其不吸烟的同卵双胞胎相比，IgA抗体水平显著升高，提示存在持续感染。CMI反应与体液免疫呈相反趋势。总之，无论吸烟状况如何，男性的特异性抗体水平均高于女性，尽管吸烟可能会进一步增强男性的体液反应并抑制CMI反应。
