Ecology of inflammation in lowland Bolivia

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Inflammation is an important part of immune defenses against infectious disease, but inflammation may also contribute to the development of chronic degenerative diseases, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Historically, humans have lived in environments characterized by high levels of microbial exposure and high rates of mortality due to infectious disease, yet current understandings of inflammation are based primarily on research in industrialized settings with low levels of infectious disease. Methodological obstacles associated with blood collection in non-clinical settings contribute to the limited range of current research. This project is investigating levels of inflammation in an Amazonian population experiencing high levels of infectious disease and validating "field-friendly" methods for measuring pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in non-clinical settings. Health-related information and dried blood spot (DBS) samples (drops of whole blood collected on filter paper following a simple finger stick) are collected repeatedly over an 8 week period from fifty adults in remote lowland Amazonia. These samples are measured for C-reactive protein, a key biomarker of inflammation, in order to document levels and patterns of inflammatory activity. In phase two of this project, the researchers are developing methods for quantifying cytokines in the DBS samples taken from these fifty individual.Results from this project directly address current scientific debates regarding the links among ecology, inflammation, and disease, and advance anthropological research in human ecological immunology. In addition, the development of minimally-invasive methods for measuring cytokines in a single drop of blood will promote future research on inflammation internationally, as well as in community-based settings in the United States. A better understanding of the factors that shape the regulation of inflammation may have significant implications for the prevention and treatment of disease.