ABSTRACT Inulin is an effective prebiotic and its potential in modulating systemic immunity have been proposed. A subpopulation of T cells, named T regulatory cells (Tregs), expressing the Forkhead boxP3 transcription factor are key mediators of peripheral tolerance and suppress undesirable immune responses. These Tregs can be induced by cytokine transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) and interleukin 10 (IL-10). This work aimed to evaluate inulin effects on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in vitro. PBMC were incubated with inulin, and the expression of TGF-(1, FOXP3 and IL-10 was analyzed. Increased supernatant IL-10 levels were observed in PBMC of inulin-treated group (p=0.03). Moreover, FOXP3 gene expression was 7.6 fold higher in inulin-treated PBMC, whereas a trend in TGF-β1 expression was detected (p=0.055). These data suggest that inulin induces an immunosuppressive environment in cultured PBMC by promoting FOXP3 gene expression and IL-10 secretion. These studies offer prospects for further fundamental research in this field.

Torque Teno Virus (TTV) presence was investigated in peripheral blood of 117 brazilian women by nested polymerase chain reaction. TTV DNA was observed in 18.6% of healthy donors and in 24.32% Human Papillomavirus (HPV) patients. TTV presence was also investigated in the HPV positive group for comparison between the cervical cancer and noncancerous patients. TTV DNA prevalence was significantly higher among the HPV positive patients with cervical cancer (57.14%) than in HPV noncancerous patients (16.67%). Thus, the presence of TTV infection could be a risk factor for cancer development in the patients presenting HPV-TTV coinfection. Further studies are required to clarify the TTV influence in HPV pathogenesis.

The aim of this work was to study the plasma concentration of IL-6 by ELISA in the patients with mood disorders and normal healthy donors. The plasma concentration of IL-6 was higher in the patients than in the control healthy group. Results suggested that IL-6 could serve as an immunological marker in mood disorder pathogenesis as well.