Immunoregulation /Recognition In non/filarial Infection

利用人类树突状细胞，我们已经能够证明寄生虫抗原深刻地改变了这些细胞的成熟和功能。由于慢性丝虫感染可能改变对其他(非寄生虫)抗原的免疫反应性，而且这些改变可能对世界各地的疫苗计划产生深远的影响，研究表明，活动性盘尾丝虫病的存在显著削弱了对破伤风类毒素的增殖反应以及产生干扰素-γ，并改变了接种后对乙肝和破伤风的抗体反应的同型图谱。第二项更全面的研究是，对严重肠道蠕虫感染的患者接种口服霍乱疫苗，该研究更戏剧性地表明，这些寄生虫诱导的免疫反应不仅改变了口服疫苗的免疫反应，还改变了疫苗的服用。由于系统性蠕虫感染(例如丝虫感染)可以改变周围细胞的细胞因子环境，因此它对艾滋病毒进入和复制的影响是使用体外模型进行的。与正常对照组相比，急性蠕虫感染与HIV体外复制增加有非常明显的相关性。此外，在用抗寄生虫药物明确治疗后，体外观察到的复制增加恢复到正常水平。

Using human dendritic cells we have been able to demonstate that parasite antigen profoundly alters the maturation and function of these cells. Because chronic filarial infections may alter immune reactivity to other (nonparasite) antigens and because these alterations may have profound implications for vaccine programs worldwide studies have shown that thepresence of active onchocerciasis blunts significantly the proliferative response along with IFN-gamma production to tetanus toxoid and changes the isotype profile of the antibody responses postvaccination to hepatitis B and to tetanus. A second, more comprehensive study, in which oral cholera vaccine was administered to patients with heavy intestinal helminth infection, has demonstrated even more dramatically that the immune response induced by these parasites alters not only the immune response to the orally administered vaccine, but also the 'take' of the vaccine. Because systemic helminth infection (e.g., filarial infections) can alter the cytokine milieu of the surrounding cells, its effect on HIV entry and replication was performed using an in vitro model. Acute helminth infection was very clearly associated with increased in vitro HIV replicationcompared to normal controls. Moreover, following definitive treatment with antiparasitic drugs, the increased replication seen in vitro returned to the normal levels.