Immunoprofiling of older persons

描述（由申请人提供）： 摘要：自身免疫性疾病和免疫系统减弱的老年人是主要的公共卫生问题;例如，约有200万人患有RA，即约占美国人口的1%。同样，有数百万老年人患有心血管疾病。需要更好地了解老年人的免疫状况。 拟议的I期研究的具体目标是研究两组老年妇女的年龄依赖性变化：健康和心脏问题。最后一组将分为两个亚组：接受β受体阻滞剂治疗的患者和未接受治疗的患者。具体而言，目标是： 目标1：开发针对老年人细胞因子的超灵敏检测方法;即进一步改进促炎细胞因子（TNF-α、IFN-γ、IL-1 β和IL-6）和抗炎细胞因子（IL-4、IL-10、IL-11）的免疫检测; 目的2：建立IL-8和IL-18的超灵敏检测方法; 目的3：研究健康女性和心脏疾病女性之间免疫谱的差异。 第二阶段将继续对第一阶段开发的检测方法进行临床验证，例如，我们将开发针对五种额外细胞因子的超灵敏检测方法。MPD增强的P-芯片（P-芯片/MPD）将用于以低成本、超灵敏的方式同时测量所有相关的生物标志物。我们将优化P-chip/MPD的灵敏度、准确度和用户友好性。同时定量细胞因子和其他低水平生物标志物将允许研究免疫系统和心输出量之间的相关性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Abstract: Autoimmune diseases and older people with weakened immune system are a major public health problem; for example, there are about 2 million individuals with RA, i.e. about 1 % of population of USA. Similarly, there are millions of older people with cardiovascular diseases. Better information is needed about the immunoprofiles of older persons. The specific aims of the proposed Phase I studies are to study the age dependent changes in two cohorts of older women: healthy and with cardiac problems. The last group will be divided into two sub-groups: those treated with beta blockers and those not treated. More specifically, the aims are: Aim 1: Develop the supersensitive panel of assays targeting cytokines in older persons; i.e. further improve immunoassays for pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, IL-1 beta and IL-6) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-10, IL-11); Aim 2: Develop the super-sensitive assay for IL-8 and IL-18; Aim 3: Study the differences in immunoprofiles between women who are healthy and who have cardiac disorders. Phase II will continue the clinical validation of assays developed in the Phase I effort, e.g. we will develop supersensitive assays targeting five additional cytokines. MPD enhanced P-chips (P-chips/MPD) will be used to measure all relevant biomarkers concurrently in a low cost, supersensitive modality. We will optimize the sensitivity, accuracy and user-friendliness of the P-chip/MPD. Concurrent quantitation of cytokines and other low level biomarkers will permit studies of correlation between the immune system and cardiac output.