Our immune system is made up of white cells in our blood and tissues, and how these cells respond to challenges such as infection varies between different people. This is important as this immune and inflammation response can contribute to health problems.
The first laboratory analysis of immune cells within UKB participants has recently been completed. Here we will use this information to determine how much this immune cell profile varies between people. Furthermore, we will find out which genes we inherited from our parents are particularly important in determining this immune profile. We will also assess the immune profile in relation to our history of infections and lifestyle factors such as our weight, both of which are known to impact on inflammation. This information on immune system profile will also be linked to other data within UKB including assessment of inflammation proteins and imaging studies such as MRI scans.
The aim is to undercover new associations between our immune response and health outcome. Ultimately this may help to understand how we can optimize our immune systems to control infection for best health outcomes.
