Physiological aspects of toll-like receptors 2 and 4 in malnourished children and their relation to some micronutrients deficiency / Hanan Said Ali Kiwan ; Supervised Shebl Abdelmonem Shaalan , Salwa Mahmoud Saleh

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Science - Department of Zoology

Malnutrition and micronutrients deficiency increase the risk of the immune system dysfunctions which in turn were found to be implicated in the progression of numerous diseases. The mechanisms underlying the malnutrition induced immunity disorders and the resulting diseases continue to be unclear. The discovery of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) has opened a new era of research that may give the benefit to understand and control the course of diseases progression and development. TLR2 and TLR4 are important TLRs members which were implicated in many diseases and their inducers were shown to be widely distributed in our environment even in common foods. Aim of the work: this work aimed to assess the effect of malnutrition and associated deficiencies in some micronutrients in Egyptian school-age children on the function of TLR2 and TLR4. Subjects and methods: The nutritional status of the children was assessed by anthropometric measurements, dietary analysis and measuring their plasma levels of the micronutrients. PAM3CSK4 and LPS were used to stimulate TLR2 and TLR4, respectively in heparinized blood samples and the released amounts of TNF-Ü and IFN-Ý were measured. Results: TLR2-induced production of TNF-Ü was down regulated by protein malnutrition (PM) (p<0.05) and Fe deficiency (ID) (p=0.05) and up-regulated by deficiencies in Vitamin D (VDD) (p<0.001) and vitamin B12 (VBD) (p<0.005). TLR4-induced production of IFN-Ý was down regulated by VDD (p<0.001) and up-regulated by VBD (p<0.001)

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