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AbstractContext:Salivary antibodies may act as non-invasive marker of systemic immunity enabling assessment of vaccination and protection against bacterial infections.Objective:To assess if levels of anti-pneumococcal (Pn) antibodies in saliva reflect concentrations in serum and determine whether saliva can accurately identify protective concentrations in serum.Methods:IgG, IgA and IgM antibody levels in paired saliva and serum samples were measured against 12 Pn polysaccharide antigens in 72 healthy adults.Results:Antibody levels in saliva correlated positively with serum across immunoglobulin classes, most strongly for IgA. Individuals who had protective antibody levels in serum demonstrated significantly higher IgG and IgA salivary antibody concentrations/secretion rates. Salivary IgG and IgA Pn antibodies were able to distinguish between those with/without protective levels in serum for the majority of serotypes. Salivary IgM antibodies were not able to differentiate protective status. Median IgG and IgA Pn salivary parameters were able to identify individuals who had protective levels in serum on ≥8/12 serotypes with moderate accuracy: median IgA secretion rates provided the best sensitivity (73%) and specificity (71%).Conclusions:These findings suggest that IgG and IgA Pn specific antibodies in saliva may be useful surrogate markers of antibody status in serum.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs), yet incompletely accountable by traditional risk factors. Inflammation is an unconventional cardiovascular risk factor, with gut-derived endotoxemia potentially driving inflammation and endothelial disease. Comparable data are lacking in kidney transplantation. This study investigated the associations of endotoxemia with inflammation, endothelial activation, and 5-year cardiovascular events in KTRs. Determinants of endotoxemia were also explored.

Bereavement, the loss of someone close, is frequently followed by grief and can have serious implications for physical and mental health, from the increased symptoms of depression and anxiety, sleep disturbances and indigestion, and more serious physical health consequences such as cardiovascular and immune related illness. Another key factor associated with a deterioration of the body’s defence mechanisms, such as the immune system, is ageing. This review has as its focus the combined effects of bereavement and ageing on immune function. First, the relationship between bereavement and increased mortality is examined, followed by its link to various physical and mental health morbidities. Second, the effects of ageing per seon immune functions are considered. Finally, the joint impact of both ageing and bereavement are discussed, focussing on recent studies of immune function after bereavement in young and older adults.

Social evaluative threat is an important factor in the cardiovascular response to mental stress. This study examined whether Type D personality, characterized by social inhibition and negative affectivity, is associated with an adverse cardiovascular response to a non-social and social evaluative threat.

The prevalence and consequences of hypervolemia in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) have not been investigated. Specifically, its impact on blood pressure (BP) and relationship with N-terminal fragment of prohormone B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) are unknown. The objectives of this study were to establish the prevalence of hypervolemia among clinically stable KTRs, investigate the predictors of posttransplant hypervolemia, assess its impact on blood pressure, and determine its relationship with NT-proBNP.

Kidney transplantation is the preferred modality of renal replacement therapy. Long-term patient and graft survival have only improved marginally over the recent decade, mainly because of the development of cardiovascular disease after transplantation. Obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is common before and after transplantation. This article reviews the literature assessing the role of pre- and post-transplant obesity on patient and graft survival, discusses the underlying obesity-related mechanisms leading to inferior kidney transplant outcomes, and explores the role of nutritional intervention on improving long-term outcomes of transplantation. Although the role of pretransplant obesity remains uncertain, post-transplant obesity increases the risk of graft failure and mortality. Nutritional intervention is effective in achieving post-transplant weight loss, but the effect on long-term outcomes has not been established. Future research should focus on conducting nutritional intervention studies aiming to improve long-term outcomes of kidney transplantation.

Fatigue has been underinvestigated in stable kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). The objectives of this study were to investigate the nature, severity, prevalence, and clinical awareness of fatigue in medically stable KTRs, examine the impact of fatigue on quality of life (QoL), and explore the underlying causes of posttransplantation fatigue.

Psychological factors such as the stress of caregiving are emerging as predictors of telomere length, an index of biological aging. However, although lifetime major depressive disorder is associated with shorter telomeres, less is known about depressive symptoms. Depression and depressive symptoms are associated with a range of morbidities and mortality, but the extent to which they predict biological aging is unclear. The present study examined participants in the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study across three age cohorts and four waves of data collection from 19921993 to 20072008.

In recent analyses of data from a large community sample, negative cross-sectional and prospective associations between cardiac stress reactivity and obesity were observed. The present study reexamined the association between cardiovascular reactivity and adiposity in the Dutch Famine Birth Cohort, with the additional aim of examining the association between cortisol reactivity and adiposity.

To test the reactivity hypothesis using blood pressure data collected 12 years after baseline. This study examined whether blood pressure reactions to acute mental stress predicted future blood pressure resting levels, as well as the temporal drift in resting blood pressure, and whether the prediction was affected by sex, age, and socioeconomic status.

There is no clear consensus in the few studies to have explored the relationship between major mental health disorders and lung function. The present study examined the cross-sectional associations of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) with lung function in a large study of male US veterans.

To examine the effects of an acute laboratory psychological stress task on neutrophil function, specifically phagocytosis of Escherichia coli and stimulated superoxide production in human neutrophils. There is mounting evidence that acute stress is associated with short-term increases in a number of immune indices.

To examine the cross-sectional associations between generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), their comorbidity, and hypertension.

How we react physiologically to stress has long been considered to have implications for our health. There is now persuasive evidence that individuals who show large cardiovascular reactions to stress are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, particularly hypertension. By implication, low reactivity is protective or benign. However, there is recent evidence that low reactivity may predict elevated risk for a range of adverse health outcomes, such as depression, obesity, poor self‐reported health and compromised immunity. In addition, low cortisol and cardiovascular reactivity may be a characteristic of individuals with addictions to tobacco and alcohol, as well as those at risk of addiction and those who relapse from abstinence. Our ideas about reactivity may have to be revised in the light of such findings.

To examine whether the 1-year prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and their comorbidity were associated with subsequent all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality during 15 years in Vietnam veterans.

Older spousal caregivers of dementia patients have been found to show a relatively poor antibody response to medical vaccination. In the present case control study in a different caregiving environment, we sought to compare antibody responses to vaccination in parents of children with disabilities and parents of typically developing children.

To examine the association between adiposity and the magnitude of cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress cross-sectionally and prospectively in a large community sample.

The aim of this study was to seek opinions regarding the perceived advantages and disadvantages of the two main models of clinical education used in Australia. A questionnaire was designed specifically for this study and distributed to physiotherapists involved in clinical education at health units throughout Australia. There were 343 respondents (giving an approximate response rate of 74.5%). In most health units (78.4%) the model of clinical education currently used involves a number of physiotherapists sharing responsibility for the clinical education of students (SR model). Only a minority reported employing a designated clinical educator (DCE) to provide clinical education. Overall, respondents preferred the DCE model to the SR model. The perceived advantages of the DOE model included an increased time to devote to clinical education, improved consistency of supervision and decreased stress levels for staff.