Identification of distinct immune activation profiles in adult humans

Renaud Cezar (1, 2) , Audrey Winter (3) , Delphine Desigaud (3) , Manuela Pastore (4, 5) , Lucy Kundura (3) , Anne-Marie Dupuy (6, 7) , Chantal Cognot (6) , Thierry Vincent (6, 8) , Christelle Reynes (5, 4) , Catherine Dunyach-Remy (2, 9) , Jean-Philippe Lavigne (2, 9) , Robert Sabatier (5, 4) , Patricia Le Merre (10) , Elisabeth Maggia (10) , Pierre Corbeau (2, 3)

1 Cellules Souches, Plasticité Cellulaire, Médecine Régénératrice et Immunothérapies (IRMB)
2 CHU Nîmes - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nîmes
3 IGH - Institut de génétique humaine
4 BCM - BioCampus
5 IGF - Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle
6 CHRU Montpellier - Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire [Montpellier]
7 PSNREC - Neuropsychiatrie : recherche épidémiologique et clinique
8 INM - Institut des Neurosciences de Montpellier
9 VBMI - Virulence bactérienne et maladies infectieuses
10 CPAM - Caisse primaire d'assurance maladie

Latent infectious agents, microbial translocation, some metabolites and immune cell subpopulations, as well as senescence modulate the level and quality of activation of our immune system. Here, we tested whether various in vivo immune activation profiles may be distinguished in a general population. We measured 43 markers of immune activation by 8-color flow cytometry and ELISA in 150 adults, and performed a double hierarchical clustering of biomarkers and volunteers. We identified five different immune activation profiles. Profile 1 had a high proportion of naïve T cells. By contrast, Profiles 2 and 3 had an elevated percentage of terminally differentiated and of senescent CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells, respectively. The fourth profile was characterized by NK cell activation, and the last profile, Profile 5, by a high proportion of monocytes. In search for etiologic factors that could determine these profiles, we observed a high frequency of naïve Treg cells in Profile 1, contrasting with a tendency to a low percentage of Treg cells in Profiles 2 and 3. Moreover, Profile 5 tended to have a high level of 16s ribosomal DNA, a direct marker of microbial translocation. These data are compatible with a model in which specific causes, as the frequency of Treg or the level of microbial translocation, shape specific profiles of immune activation. It will be of interest to analyze whether some of these profiles drive preferentially some morbidities known to be fueled by immune activation, as insulin resistance, atherothrombosis or liver steatosis.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Renaud Cezar, Audrey Winter, Delphine Desigaud, Manuela Pastore, Lucy Kundura, et al.. Identification of distinct immune activation profiles in adult humans. Scientific Reports, 2020, 10 (1), ⟨10.1038/s41598-020-77707-6⟩. ⟨hal-03052544⟩