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Comparative Study
. 2021 May 26;11(1):10948.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89538-0.

Cytokine expression patterns in hospitalized children with Bordetella pertussis, Rhinovirus or co-infection

Elisabetta Pandolfi  1 , Nadia Panera  2 , Anna Alisi  2 , Emanuela Carloni  3 , Luisa Russo  3 , Ilaria Campagna  3 , Caterina Rizzo  3 , Carlo Concato  4 , Giulia Linardos  4 , Livia Piccioni  4 , Sally Jackson  3 , Alberto Villani  5 , Fabio Midulla  6 , Alberto E Tozzi  3
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Cytokine expression patterns in hospitalized children with Bordetella pertussis, Rhinovirus or co-infection

Elisabetta Pandolfi et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Mechanisms of interaction between Bordetella pertussis and other viral agents are yet to be fully explored. We studied the inflammatory cytokine expression patterns among children with both viral-bacterial infections. Nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA) samples were taken from children, aged < 1 year, positive for Rhinovirus, Bordetella pertussis and for Rhinovirus and Bordetella pertussis. Forty cytokines were evaluated in NPA by using human cytokine protein arrays and a quantitative analysis was performed on significantly altered cytokines. Forty cytokines were evaluated in NPA by using human cytokine protein arrays and a quantitative analysis was performed on significantly altered cytokines. Our results show that co-infections display a different inflammatory pattern compared to single infections, suggesting that a chronic inflammation caused by one of the two pathogens could be the trigger for exacerbation in co-infections.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Inflammatory pattern by antibody array. (A) Layout of the antibodies as spotted on the membrane. The abbreviated names for 40 different cytokine probes are reported. (B) Representative photographs of cytokine arrays in which each cytokine is represented by duplicate spots on a single membrane.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Identification of pattern expression of inflammatory proteins by antibody arrays. Heatmap representation of the mean of semi-quantitative expression of the 40 inflammatory proteins in controls, RV patients, Bp patients, and Bp + RV patients.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pattern of undifferentiated inflammatory proteins in the screening cohort. The histogram reported the mean ± SD of semi-quantitative expression in controls (C), RV patients, Bp patients, and Bp + RV patients of undifferentiated inflammatory molecules screened by antibody-array.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Differentially expressed inflammatory proteins in the screening cohort analysed by antibody array. The histograms reported the mean ± SD of semi-quantitative expression in controls (C), RV patients, Bp patients, and Bp + RV patients of Eotaxin (A), Eotaxin-2 (B), GM-CSF (C), ICAM-1 (D), I-309 (E), IP-10 (F), MIP-1α (G), and MIP-1β (H). *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01, by ANOVA.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Quantitative changes of specific inflammatory proteins in the validation cohort. The box plots reported the median ± SD of semi-quantitative expression in controls (C), RV patients, Bp patients, and Bp + RV patients of MIP-1α (A), MIP-1β (B), IP-10 (C), I-309 (D), and LPS (E).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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