We provide a solid description and validation of a novel and rapid method for the flowcytometric enumeration of basophil in whole blood. The fact that the most heavily used Hematology autoanalyzer gives completely erroneous results could explain why basophils counts have not yet received recognition as a clinically useful diagnostic marker.

BackgroundMany studies investigating the impact of individual risk factors on cord blood immune cell counts may be biased given that cord blood composition is influenced by a multitude of factors. The aim of this study was to comprehensively investigate the relative impact of environmental, hereditary and perinatal factors on cord blood cells.MethodsIn 295 neonates from the prospective Basel-Bern Infant Lung Development Cohort, we performed complete blood counts and fluorescence-activated cell sorting scans of umbilical cord blood. The associations between risk factors and cord blood cells were assessed using multivariable linear regressions.ResultsThe multivariable regression analysis showed that an increase per 10μg/m3 of the average nitrogen dioxide 14 days before birth was associated with a decrease in leukocyte (6.7%, 95% CI:-12.1,-1.0) and monocyte counts (11.6%, 95% CI:-19.6,-2.8). Maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with significantly lower cord blood cell counts in multiple cell populations. Moreover, we observed sex differences regarding eosinophilic granulocytes and plasmacytoid dendritic cells. Finally, significantly increased numbers of cord blood cells were observed in infants exposed to perinatal stress. Cesarean section seems to play a significant role in Th1/Th2 balance.ConclusionsOur results suggest that all three: environmental, hereditary and perinatal factors play a significant role in the composition of cord blood cells at birth, and it is important to adjust for all of these factors in cord blood studies. In particular, perinatal circumstances seem to influence immune balance, which could have far reaching consequences in the development of immune mediated diseases.

Maternal smoking in pregnancy is associated with respiratory diseases in the offspring, possibly due to prenatal influences on the developing immune system. We investigated whether maternal smoking in pregnancy was associated with cord blood leukocyte numbers, including precursor dendritic cells, adjusting for concomitant factors. In a prospective healthy birth cohort study, total leukocyte counts were reduced in neonates of smoking mothers [10.7 (8.4 -13.0 E nvironmental tobacco smoke exposure is associated with an increased risk of infections, impaired lung development, and respiratory morbidity and mortality in children (1). Specifically, smoking during pregnancy has been shown to act as an independent risk factor for wheezing disorders when compared with postnatal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (2). Whereas inhaled tobacco smoke is known to have an effect on leukocyte numbers in the blood and to induce inflammatory responses in the airways of human adults, the effects of maternal smoking on blood counts and early immune responses of the offspring are poorly understood.Studies showing a decrease in leukocyte counts, especially neutrophilic granulocytes, in cord blood of neonates of smoking mothers have lead to the conclusion that this decrease might contribute to the susceptibility to infections and therefore increased respiratory morbidity in these children (3,4). However, these studies used only univariate statistical methods and were therefore not able to determine whether the decreased leukocyte counts were independently associated with maternal smoking, or whether they could be explained by other factors (e.g. maternal age or perinatal stress) that might be associated with both, maternal smoking and neonatal cell counts.The decrease in the number of neutrophilic granulocytes might contribute to an increased susceptibility to bacterial infections, whereas it is unlikely to be the major cause for the increased susceptibility to viral infections that are associated with symptoms of wheeze. Not neutrophils but other leukocytes such as lymphocytes and antigen-presenting dendritic cells play a more important role in the defense against most viral infections. Dysregulation of these cells may furthermore contribute to the development of allergy and asthma (5,6). Nicotine, one of the main constituents of cigarette smoke, has a suppressive effect on myeloid dendritic cells (7-9). As a consequence, these cells may be particularly affected in children of smoking mothers.The aim of this study was to investigate whether maternal smoking in pregnancy was associated with a decrease of lymphocytes and dendritic precursor cells in the cord blood of the neonates and whether these differences in leukocyte subtypes remained after adjustment for other determinants of neonatal leukocyte counts, such as maternal age, infections, atopic diseases, and perinatal stress. MATERIALS AND METHODSSubjects and protocol. In a prospective birth cohort study, 97 Caucasian infants were prenatally recruited from seven mat...

Background: Anti-sperm antibodies (ASA) have been described to be involved in immunological infertility. A possible antigen for ASA is the human cysteine-rich secretory protein 2 (CRISP-2), a sperm surface protein important in sperm-oocyte interaction. Furthermore, anti-CRISP-2 antibodies were shown to decrease fertility rates in vitro. Recently, we have reported cross-reacting antibodies recognizing CRISP-2 and antigen 5 from yellow jacket venom (Ves v 5) in human serum. Methods: Here, we investigated anti-Ves v 5 and CRISP-2 antibodies in sera from two groups of donors: MAR+ and MAR– patients. Results: A higher incidence of allergy against hymenoptera venom was found in MAR+ patients. Interestingly, affinity-purified ASA from MAR+ patients’ sera reacted against both Ves v 5 and CRISP-2, leading to sperm immobilization. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that ASA bound to the sperm surface, including the head part where CRISP-2 is localized. Conclusion: Taken together, these results showed a higher incidence of antibodies cross-reacting with Ves v 5 and CRISP-2 in MAR+ patients. This leads to the hypothesis that MAR+ patients may have a higher risk to develop wasp allergy.