Cytokine Profiles in Obese African Americans following Influenza Vaccination
Public Deposited- Last Modified
- February 26, 2019
- Creator
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Ahmad, Hussein Ahmad
- Affiliation: Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Nutrition
- Abstract
- Obesity is one of modern day’s most serious public health concerns, costing billions of dollars and claiming millions of lives every year. In addition to being a co-morbidity for significant health concerns and diseases, obesity has been proven to have significant negative effects on the effectiveness of vaccination for the influenza virus. The influenza virus is responsible for killing more than 5% of those who contract it. This study looks at IL-6 and CRP, inflammation cytokines, to look at the whether increased serum levels of IL-6 and CRP in subjects with higher BMI values result in reduced responses to vaccination. Results showed that there was no significant correlation between IL-6 levels and CRP levels and response to vaccination. Obese subjects did have higher levels of these cytokines than literature values for healthy weight individuals. Older individuals and high responders to the vaccination were both linked to lower levels of IL-6 within the serum. Although no significant results were found, this study should be performed again with a larger and more diverse sample size that includes healthy weight subjects to better understand the links between serum cytokine levels and response to vaccination.
- Date of publication
- spring 2015
- Keyword
- DOI
- Resource type
- Rights statement
- In Copyright
- Note
- Funding: None
- Advisor
- Beck, Melinda A.
- Degree
- Bachelor of Science in Public Health
- Honors level
- Highest Honors
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Extent
- 32
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