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. 2018 May 24;13(5):e0198174.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198174. eCollection 2018.

Persistent high plasma levels of sCD163 and sCD14 in adult patients with measles virus infection

Claudia Mascia  1 , Irene Pozzetto  1   2 , Blerta Kertusha  1   2 , Raffaella Marocco  2 , Cosmo Del Borgo  2 , Tiziana Tieghi  1   2 , Serena Vita  2 , Stefano Savinelli  1 , Marco Iannetta  3 , Vincenzo Vullo  1 , Miriam Lichtner  1   2 , Claudio Maria Mastroianni  1
Affiliations

Persistent high plasma levels of sCD163 and sCD14 in adult patients with measles virus infection

Claudia Mascia et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background and aims: Measles is an infectious disease that represents a serious public health problem worldwide, being associated with increased susceptibility to secondary infections, especially in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. The aim of this study was to evaluate sCD163 and sCD14 levels in measles virus (MV) infected patients, as markers of immune activation, in order to better understand their role in the pathogenesis of the disease. TNF-α plasma levels were also evaluated.

Methods: sCD163, sCD14 and TNF-α were measured by ELISA in plasma samples of 27 MV infected patients and 27 healthy donors (HD) included as controls.

Results: At the time of hospital admission, sCD163 and sCD14 levels were significantly higher in MV infected patients than in HD, while a decrease in TNF-α levels were found even if without statistical significance. sCD163 and sCD14 levels were significantly decreased after two months from acute infection compared to hospital admission although they remained significantly higher compared to HD. TNF-α levels increased significantly during the follow-up period. Considering clinical parameters, sCD163 levels positively correlated with aspartate aminotransferase, white blood cell count and neutrophils rate, while negatively correlated with the lymphocyte percentage. sCD14 levels positively correlated with the neutrophil and lymphocyte percentages.

Conclusions: These results indicate that, despite the resolution of symptoms, an important macrophage/monocyte activation persists in measles patients, even after two months from infection.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Plasma levels of sCD163, sCD14 and TNF-α in MV infected patients and healthy controls.
(A) Box plots represent circulating levels of sCD163 in MV infected patients at T0 (n = 27) and in HD (n = 27). (B) Box plots represent circulating levels of sCD14 in MV infected patients at T0 (n = 27) and in HD (n = 27). (C) Box plots represent circulating levels of TNF-α in MV infected patients at T0 (n = 27) and in HD (n = 27). Horizontal bars represent the median values. For TNF-α graph a log10 scale was used. Statistical differences were assessed by the Mann-Whitney test. MV: measles virus; HD: healthy donors.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Longitudinal plasma levels of sCD163, sCD14 and TNF-α in MV infected patients and in HD.
(A) Box plots represent circulating levels of sCD163 in MV infected patients at T0 (n = 27), T1 (n = 20), T2 (n = 7) and in HD (n = 27). (B) Box plots represent circulating levels of sCD14 in MV infected patients at T0 (n = 27), T1 (n = 20), T2 (n = 7) and in HD (n = 27). (C) Box plots represent circulating levels of TNF-α in MV infected patients at T0 (n = 27), T1 (n = 20), T2 (n = 7) and in HD (n = 27). Horizontal bars represent the median values. For TNF-α graph a log10 scale was used. Statistical differences were assessed by the Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests. MV: measles virus; HD: healthy donors; T0: time of admission; T1: after 1 week; T2: 8 weeks of therapy.
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