Synergistic immune response to leptospira infection among smokers

• Main Authors: Adriano, Athena A., So, Jenny Carmina G., Sumalapao, Derick Erl P.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2018
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/18566
• Institution: De La Salle University

As a result of the continuous heavy rain, poor road construction and poor sewage system, oods have been occuring in many areas of the Philippines. As a consequence, leptospirosis becomes one of the major health poblems in the Philippines. Exposure of an individual to leptospiral infection activates the immune system which includes macrophages and T-cells. Macrophages serve as the rst line of defense and these are phagocytic cells responsible in detecting, engul ng, and destroying pathogens and apoptotic cells. T-cells, on the other hand, are the second line of defense responsible for recognition and elimination of pathogens. Exposure to smoking impairs multiple organ systems including the human immune system resulting in numerous smoking-induced diseases. In this paper, a system of ordinary di erential equations was constructed in describing the synergy of leptospiral infection and smoking in the impairment of human immune system. We calculated di erent rate capacities of macrophages and T-cells in response to leptospiral infection based on the parameters collected. In the disease-free model, using the rates taken from the literature, the result had shown the population of macrophages are greater compared to T-cells. In the results of the study, the predominance of macrophages over T-cells were observed as well in the synergistic immune response to smoking and leptospiral infection. Since the e ect of leptospiral infection in human immune cells is dose-dependent, the leptospiral infection rate in smoking-impaired cells is more rapid compared in normal cells.