Background/Objectives: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a disease of premature aging, characterized by airflow limitations in the lungs and systemic chronic inflammation. This systematic review aimed to provide a systematic overview of immunosenescence and inflammation in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Methods: The PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched for studies on markers of immunosenescence. Observational studies comparing patients with COPD to individuals without disease were evaluated, considering the following markers: inflammation and senescence in COPD, naïve, memory, and CD28^null T cells, and telomere length in leukocytes. Results: A total of 15 studies were included, eight of which were rated as high quality. IL-6 production, telomere shortening, and the higher frequencies of CD28^null T cells were more prominent findings in the COPD studies analyzed. Despite lung function severity being commonly investigated in the included studies, the importance of this clinical marker to immunosenescence remains inconclusive. Conclusions: The findings of this systematic review confirmed the presence of accelerated immunosenescence, in addition to systemic inflammation, in stable COPD patients. Further studies are necessary to more comprehensively evaluate the impact of immunosenescence on lung function in COPD.

O objetivo desse estudo foi conhecer a forma de organização da oferta dos serviços de saúde bucal na Estratégia de Saúde da Família de um município da Bahia. Trata-se de pesquisa qualitativa baseada em entrevistas semiestruturadas com usuários, agentes comunitários de saúde e cirurgiões-dentistas. Os resultados permitiram inferir que a oferta da primeira consulta odontológica aproxima-se mais do modelo tradicional de atendimento à demanda espontânea. Constatou-se que a participação da comunidade na organização dos serviços de saúde bucal é ausente. As barreiras de acesso recaíram sobre a falta de materiais e deficiência na manutenção de equipamentos, além da baixa cobertura do serviço.

Leprosy reactions are immune processes that cause neural damage in individuals with leprosy. As periodontitis is an infectious disease related to its development, specific antibodies to periodontal pathogens must be evaluated to better understand the humoral mechanisms underlying this relationship. Therefore, the objective of this study was to standardize an immunoassay to measure IgA specific to P. gingivalis antigens in the saliva of individuals with leprosy. An ELISA checkerboard titration was performed. A validation test involving 53 individuals with leprosy, 24 with and 19 without periodontitis, was conducted and a ROC curve constructed to calculate sensitivity and specificity. The coefficient of the optical densities was 2.21 and 2.66 for P. gingivalis crude extract and the recombinant protein HmuY, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity for the P. gingivalis crude extract were 66.7% and 73.7%, respectively, and for HmuY, were 62.5% and 52.6%, respectively. Specific recognition of P. gingivalis occurred predominantly in individuals with periodontitis, which validates the use of this test for studying periodontitis in individuals with leprosy.Trial registration CAEE 64476117.3.0000.0049, 21/07/2017, retrospectively registered

The Interleukin (IL)-33 is important in several inflammatory diseases and its cellular receptor is the Interleukin 1 receptor-like 1 (IL1RL1), also called suppression of tumorigenicity 2 ligand (ST2L). This study investigated associations between single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in the IL33 gene and in the IL1RL1 (ST2) gene with periodontitis. Additionally, aimed to determine the role of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) relative amount in the subgingival biofilm in these associations. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 506 individuals that answered a structured questionnaire used to collect their health status, socioeconomic-demographic, and behavioral characteristics. Periodontal examination was performed to determine the presence and severity of periodontitis, and subgingival biofilm samples were collected to quantify the relative amount of Aa by real time polymerase chain reaction. Human genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood cells and SNV genotyping was performed. Logistic regression estimated the association measurements, odds ratio (OR), and 95% confidence interval (95%CI), between the IL33 and ST2 genes with periodontitis, and subgroup analyses assessed the relative amount of Aa in these associations. 23% of individuals had periodontitis. Adjusted measurements showed a statistically significant inverse association between two SNVs of the ST2; rs148548829 (C allele) and rs10206753 (G allele). These two alleles together with a third SNV, the rs11693204 (A allele), were inversely associated with moderate periodontitis. One SNV of the IL33 gene also showed a statistically significant inverse association with moderate periodontitis. Nine SNVs of the ST2 gene were inversely associated with the relative amount of Aa. In the high Aa subgroup, there was a direct association between 11 SNVs of the ST2 gene and moderate periodontitis and two SNVs of the ST2 gene and severe periodontitis, and eight SNVs of the ST2 gene and periodontitis. These exploratory findings of genetic variants in IL-33/ST2 axis support the concept that the different tissue responses among individuals with periodontitis may be modulated by the host’s genetics, influencing the physiopathology of the disease.

Introduction: studies have highlighted the importance of gut microbiota (GM) to the host immune defenses, influencing the hostdevelopment and physiology. Changes in the composition and diversity of GM have been detected in some disease and could beimplicated in the pathophysiological mechanisms of them. Objective: the purpose of this study was to show an overview of thecurrent knowledge about the GM of patients with airway diseases (AD). Methodology: the literature search was performed in fourdatabases, using a combination of the descriptors: “Gastrointestinal Microbiome”, “Gut Microbiome”, “Gut Microbiota”, “Cystic Fibrosis”(CF), “Asthma”, “Pulmonary Hypertension” (HP) and/or “Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease” (COPD). Results: fifteen studieswere herein included: ten of CF and five of asthma. No study about other AD matched the inclusion criteria. In all studies about CF,changes were detected in GM, particularly quantitative and qualitative microbial changes. For asthma, data showed changes in GMalso including a reduction of microbial richness, evenness and diversity and in the Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratio. Conclusions: thecurrent data indicate the existence of GM changes in AD. However, due to the few studies for asthma and the lack of investigationson HP and COPD, it was not possible to confirm whether these GM changes are observed in other AD. Furthermore, this review showsthe necessity of more studies in this area to characterize dysbiosis and which alterations are more frequent observed in AD patients.

Objective To determine the association between the presence of periodontal pathogens and low birthweight. Methods This observational and case-control study consisted of mothers of infants weighing ABSTRACT Objective To determine the association between the presence of periodontal pathogens and low birthweight. Methods This observational and case-control study consisted of mothers of infants weighing