title: Avian influenza virus infection risk in humans with chronic diseases.
abstract: Saliva proteins may protect older people from influenza, however, it is often noted that hospitalizations and deaths after an influenza infection mainly occur in the elderly population living with chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cancer. Our objective was to investigate the expression level of the terminal α2-3- and α2-6-linked sialic acids in human saliva from type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), liver disease and gastric cancer (GC) patients and assess the binding activity of these linked sialic acids against influenza A viruses (IAV). We observed that the expression level of the terminal α2-3-linked sialic acids of elderly individuals with T2DM and liver disease were down-regulated significantly, and the terminal α2-6 linked sialic acids were up-regulated slightly or had no significant alteration. However, in the saliva of patients with GC, neither sialic acid was significantly altered. These findings may reveal that elderly individuals with chronic diseases, such as diabetes and liver disease, might be more susceptible to the avian influenza virus due to the decreased expression of terminal α2-3-linked sialic acids in their saliva.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Functional Glycomics, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Yaogang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Functional Glycomics, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Yannan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Functional Glycomics, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Hanjie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Functional Glycomics, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Jingmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Functional Glycomics, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Haoxiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Functional Glycomics, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Functional Glycomics, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Peixin
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Harbin, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiurong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center of infectious diseases, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhansheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Center of infectious diseases, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Yonghong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Academy of Military Medical Science, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Junjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Academy of Military Medical Science, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Yuxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Institute, University of South China, Hengyang, PR China.
authors.forename: Hailong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Institute, University of South China, Hengyang, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaojie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Functional Glycomics, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005585:Influenza in Birds / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D012306:Risk; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism; D012794:Sialic Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D012794:Sialic Acids