Search

Multiple sclerosis is associated with Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection, B-cell dysfunction, gut dysbiosis, and environmental and genetic risk factors, including female sex.

Despite education about the risks of excessive sun exposure, teenagers in Australia are sun-seeking, with sunburn common in summer. Conversely, some regular (time-limited) exposure to sunlight (that avoids sunburn) is necessary for vitamin D and healthy bones and other molecules important for immune and metabolic health. New interventions are thus required to better support teenagers to make healthy and balanced decisions about their sun behaviors.

Once upon a time it was infectious diseases like polio, measles or tuberculosis that most worried parents. With these threats now largely under control, parents face a new challenge – sky-rocketing rates of non-infectious diseases such as asthma, allergies and autism.

Matt Prue Stephanie Cooper Hart Trend BCA Marketing, BSc Statistics and Applied Statistics, PhD BSc (Hons) MSc PhD BSc PhD Manager, Biostatistics

Liz Prue Davis Hart MBBS FRACP PhD BSc (Hons) MSc PhD Co-director of Children’s Diabetes Centre Honorary Research Fellow prue.hart@thekids.org.au

B cells are critical to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), but the mechanisms by which they contribute to the disease are poorly defined. We hypothesised that the expression of CD32b (FcγRIIb), a receptor for the Fc region of IgG with inhibitory activities in B cells, is lower on B cell subsets from people with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) or MS. CD32b expression was highest on post-naive IgM+ B cell subsets in healthy controls. For females with MS or CIS, significantly lower CD32b expression was identified on IgM+ B cell subsets, including naive and IgMhi MZ-like B cells, when compared with control females. Lower CD32b expression on these B cell subsets was associated with detectable anti-Epstein Barr Virus viral capsid antigen IgM antibodies, and higher serum levels of B cell activating factor. To investigate the effects of lower CD32b expression, B cells were polyclonally activated in the presence of IgG immune complexes, with or without a CD32b blocking antibody, and the expression of TNF and IL-10 in B cell subsets was assessed.

Early infancy oral vitamin D supplementation does not appear to reduce the development of early childhood allergic disease

We have identified previously uncharacterised subsets of IgG3 + B cells and shown them to correlate with autoimmune attacks on the central nervous system

When combined with physical activity, low-dose UVR may more effectively limit adiposity and modulate metabolic and immune pathways in iBAT

Neutrophils are the most abundant immune cell in circulation. However, due to a number of technical challenges for researchers, including the neutrophil's short lifespan and difficulties with preservation, they are often discarded during blood processing and thus ignored in cohort studies. As such, the contribution of neutrophils to disease and their involvement in disease mechanisms is less explored compared with other immune cell types.