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Well-Controlled Mucosal Exudation of Undiluted Plasma Proteins Serves Innate and Adaptive Immunity

Persson, Carl LU (2025) In Scandinavian Journal of Immunology 102(1).
Abstract

Distinct from the pulmonary circulation, the human respiratory mucosa is supplied by highly responsive, superficial, systemic microcirculations. In the early symptomatic phase of mucosal infections, circulating peptides-proteins of all sizes are released just beneath the epithelium and will soon appear on the mucosal surface. The traditional view is that mucosal injury must be involved in this plasma exudation process. However, well-controlled human in vivo observations demonstrate that the inflammatory plasma exudation response reflects non-injurious physiologic microvascular-epithelial cooperation. Crucially, although plasma exudation brings unfiltered plasma solutes without size restriction to the mucosal surface this occurs without... (More)

Distinct from the pulmonary circulation, the human respiratory mucosa is supplied by highly responsive, superficial, systemic microcirculations. In the early symptomatic phase of mucosal infections, circulating peptides-proteins of all sizes are released just beneath the epithelium and will soon appear on the mucosal surface. The traditional view is that mucosal injury must be involved in this plasma exudation process. However, well-controlled human in vivo observations demonstrate that the inflammatory plasma exudation response reflects non-injurious physiologic microvascular-epithelial cooperation. Crucially, although plasma exudation brings unfiltered plasma solutes without size restriction to the mucosal surface this occurs without reducing the protective epithelial barrier against inhaled molecules. Plasma exudation starts early and increases until viral or bacterial infections resolve. Plasma exudation therefore has the potential to slow down, or even prevent, progression to pneumonia and beyond. Plasma exudation would boost efficacy of a mature adaptive immunity by delivering circulating pathogen-neutralising antibodies undiluted to infection spots in the upper airways. Early mucosal infections would thus be dampened and development of lower airway infections prevented. Inferentially, this explains how treatment with vaccines still allows upper airway infections but prevent severe respiratory disease with alveolar and pulmonary circulation injury. Plasma exudation may also contribute to real-life protection against severe influenza/Covid-19 in airway mucosal diseases that exhibit plasma exudation hyperresponsiveness. Such hyperresponsiveness is inducible indicating feasibility of finding future treatments that increase the mucosal innate and adaptive immunity. Altogether, the present synthesis of literature suggests that plasma exudation is an important component of human respiratory mucosal antimicrobial immunity.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
adaptive immunity, antimicrobial roles, humans in vivo, innate humoral immunity, plasma exudation, respiratory mucosa infections
in
Scandinavian Journal of Immunology
volume
102
issue
1
article number
e70041
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:105009538354
  • pmid:40589078
ISSN
0300-9475
DOI
10.1111/sji.70041
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Scandinavian Journal of Immunology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Scandinavian Foundation for Immunology.
id
8a733a49-22da-4997-a047-4187d5870bf5
date added to LUP
2025-12-11 14:47:42
date last changed
2025-12-12 03:00:06
@article{8a733a49-22da-4997-a047-4187d5870bf5,
  abstract     = {{<p>Distinct from the pulmonary circulation, the human respiratory mucosa is supplied by highly responsive, superficial, systemic microcirculations. In the early symptomatic phase of mucosal infections, circulating peptides-proteins of all sizes are released just beneath the epithelium and will soon appear on the mucosal surface. The traditional view is that mucosal injury must be involved in this plasma exudation process. However, well-controlled human in vivo observations demonstrate that the inflammatory plasma exudation response reflects non-injurious physiologic microvascular-epithelial cooperation. Crucially, although plasma exudation brings unfiltered plasma solutes without size restriction to the mucosal surface this occurs without reducing the protective epithelial barrier against inhaled molecules. Plasma exudation starts early and increases until viral or bacterial infections resolve. Plasma exudation therefore has the potential to slow down, or even prevent, progression to pneumonia and beyond. Plasma exudation would boost efficacy of a mature adaptive immunity by delivering circulating pathogen-neutralising antibodies undiluted to infection spots in the upper airways. Early mucosal infections would thus be dampened and development of lower airway infections prevented. Inferentially, this explains how treatment with vaccines still allows upper airway infections but prevent severe respiratory disease with alveolar and pulmonary circulation injury. Plasma exudation may also contribute to real-life protection against severe influenza/Covid-19 in airway mucosal diseases that exhibit plasma exudation hyperresponsiveness. Such hyperresponsiveness is inducible indicating feasibility of finding future treatments that increase the mucosal innate and adaptive immunity. Altogether, the present synthesis of literature suggests that plasma exudation is an important component of human respiratory mucosal antimicrobial immunity.</p>}},
  author       = {{Persson, Carl}},
  issn         = {{0300-9475}},
  keywords     = {{adaptive immunity; antimicrobial roles; humans in vivo; innate humoral immunity; plasma exudation; respiratory mucosa infections}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Scandinavian Journal of Immunology}},
  title        = {{Well-Controlled Mucosal Exudation of Undiluted Plasma Proteins Serves Innate and Adaptive Immunity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sji.70041}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/sji.70041}},
  volume       = {{102}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}