title: Measuring the immune system: a comprehensive approach for the analysis of immune functions in humans.
abstract: The immune system is essential to provide protection from infections and cancer. Disturbances in immune function can therefore directly affect the health of the affected individual. Many extrinsic and intrinsic factors such as exposure to chemicals, stress, nutrition and age have been reported to influence the immune system. These influences can affect various components of the immune system, and we are just beginning to understand the causalities of these changes. To investigate such disturbances, it is therefore essential to analyze the different components of the immune system in a comprehensive fashion. Here, we demonstrate such an approach which provides information about total number of leukocytes, detailed quantitative and qualitative changes in the composition of lymphocyte subsets, cytokine levels in serum and functional properties of T cells, NK cells and monocytes. Using samples from a cohort of 24 healthy volunteers, we demonstrate the feasibility of our approach to detect changes in immune functions.
authors: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund, IfADo, Ardeystrasse 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany.
authors: Maren
authors: M
authors: Claus
authors: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund, IfADo, Ardeystrasse 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany.
authors: Nicole
authors: N
authors: Dychus
authors: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund, IfADo, Ardeystrasse 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany.
authors: Melanie
authors: M
authors: Ebel
authors: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund, IfADo, Ardeystrasse 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany.
authors: Jürgen
authors: J
authors: Damaschke
authors: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund, IfADo, Ardeystrasse 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany.
authors: Viktoriya
authors: V
authors: Maydych
authors: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany.
authors: Oliver T
authors: OT
authors: Wolf
authors: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund, IfADo, Ardeystrasse 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Kleinsorge
authors: Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund, IfADo, Ardeystrasse 67, 44139, Dortmund, Germany. watzl@ifado.de.
authors: Carsten
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5195-0995
authors: C
authors: Watzl
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology; D015550:Cell Degranulation / Q000276:immunology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D020014:K562 Cells; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D009000:Monocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D055611:Natural Killer T-Cells / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines
keywords: Cytokines; Functional analysis; Human; Immunophenotyping