Lack of eosinophil peroxidase or major basic protein impairs defense against murine filarial infection.
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Eosinophils are a hallmark of allergic diseases and helminth infection, yet direct evidence for killing of helminth parasites by their toxic granule products exists only in vitro. We investigated the in vivo roles of the eosinophil granule proteins eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) and major basic protein 1 (MBP) during infection with the rodent filaria Litomosoides sigmodontis. Mice deficient for either EPO or MBP on the 129/SvJ background developed significantly higher worm burdens than wild-type mice. Furthermore, the data indicate that EPO or MBP is involved in modulating the immune response leading to altered cytokine production during infection. Thus, in the absence of MBP, mice showed increased interleukin-10 (IL-10) production after stimulation of macrophages from the thoracic cavity where the worms reside. In addition to elevated IL-10 levels, EPO(-/-) mice displayed strongly increased amounts of the Th2 cytokine IL-5 by CD4 T cells as well as a significantly higher eosinophilia. Interestingly, a reduced ability to produce IL-4 in the knockout strains could even be seen in noninfected mice, arguing for different innate propensities to react with a Th2 response in the absence of either EPO or MBP. In conclusion, both of the eosinophil granule products MBP and EPO are part of the defense mechanism against filarial parasites. These data suggest a hitherto unknown interaction between eosinophil granule proteins, defense against filarial nematodes, and cytokine responses of macrophages and CD4 T cells. (+info)
Ultrasonography in filaria-infected rodents: detection of adult Litomosoides sigmodontis and Brugia malayi filariae.
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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usefulness of ultrasonography (USG) in the detection of adult filariae in rodents. Wuchereria bancrofti are frequently detected using USG in humans, whereas adult Brugia malayi have not been so far. METHODS: A Meriones unguiculatus with Litomosoides sigmodontis infection was examined to visualize adult filariae of a similar length as W. bancrofti. Similarly, three Mastomys coucha, infected with B. malayi, were examined using USG to verify whether the adult worms, which are far smaller than W. bancrofti and L. sigmodontis, can be located using USG in the animals. RESULTS: Adult L. sigmodontis were detected using USG in the pleural cavity of M. unguiculatus, and in M. coucha adult B. malayi were visualized in the hearts, lungs, axillary lymph nodes and scrotum. Ultrasound findings were verified by dissection of the rodents. CONCLUSIONS: Although adult B. malayi are far smaller than L. sigmodontis and W. bancrofti, they can be detected using USG in rodents. USG may serve as an adjunctive tool to support parasitological examinations and can add information on filarial infections at any time point of an observation period, particularly in cryptic infections and without the need for invasive measures or killing of the rodent. Thus, USG can support the early detection of macrofilaricidal activities of new compounds and can be used to determine the location of adult worms in the animals. It is possible to give a rough estimate of the number of adult worms, but determination of the exact numbers of adult filariae in various locations is impossible with USG. (+info)
Taxonomic status of the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia pipientis.
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Wolbachia pipientis is a maternally inherited, intracellular bacterium found in more than 20 % of all insects, as well as numerous other arthropods and filarial nematodes. It has been the subject of a growing number of studies in recent decades, because of the remarkable effects it has on its arthropod hosts, its potential as a tool for biological control of arthropods of agricultural and medical importance and its use as a target for treatment of filariasis. W. pipientis was originally discovered in cells of the mosquito Culex pipiens and is the only formally described member of the genus. Molecular sequence-based studies have revealed a number of phylogenetically diverse strains of W. pipientis. Owing to uncertainty about whether W. pipientis comprises more than one species, researchers in the field now commonly refer to W. pipientis simply as Wolbachia. In this note, we briefly review higher-level phylogenetic and recombination studies of W. pipientis and propose that all the intracellular symbionts known to cluster closely with the type strain of W. pipientis, including those in the currently recognized supergroups (A-H), are officially given this name. (+info)
Epidemiology of tree-hole breeding mosquitoes in the tropical rainforest of Imo State, south-east Nigeria.
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The study of tree-hole breeding mosquitoes was carried out in the tropical rainforest of Imo State Nigeria (two rural areas and two forest reserves in some parts of Orlu Senatorial Zone) between May-October 2002. Using standard entomological procedures, two macrohabitats (natural tree-holes and bamboo traps) and two microhabitats (leaf axils of cocoyams/pineapples and leaf axils of plantain/banana) were sampled for various mosquito species. Mosquitoes were recovered from all the various biotypes sampled. Types of mosquitoes species encountered, their relative abundance, as well as genera varied significantly during the study (p<0.05). Four genera of mosquitoes: Aedes, Culex, Anopheles and Toxorhynchites were recovered while 16 species of mosquitoes encountered include: Aedes aegypti, Ae. africanus, Ae. simpsoni, Ae. albopictus, Ae. stokesi, Ae. taylori, Ae. apicoargenteus, Culex quinquefasciatus, Cx. nebulosus, Cx. trigripes, Cx. decens, Anopheles gambiae, An. funiestus, An. coustani and Toxorhynchites viridibasis. Most of the mosquitoes showed oviposition preferences for one or more habitats. The presence of Ae. africanus, Ae. simpsoni and Ae. aegypti indicate that the study areas were at risk of yellow fever epidemic. The presence of Anopheles and Culex species ensured endemicity of malaria and filariasis, while the recovery of Ae. albopictus in this region suggests a possible outbreak of dengue fever in future if not properly controlled. (+info)
CTLA-4 and CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells inhibit protective immunity to filarial parasites in vivo.
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The T cell coinhibitory receptor CTLA-4 has been implicated in the down-regulation of T cell function that is a quintessential feature of chronic human filarial infections. In a laboratory model of filariasis, Litomosoides sigmodontis infection of susceptible BALB/c mice, we have previously shown that susceptibility is linked both to a CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T (Treg) cell response, and to the development of hyporesponsive CD4+ T cells at the infection site, the pleural cavity. We now provide evidence that L. sigmodontis infection drives the proliferation and activation of CD4+ Foxp3+ Treg cells in vivo, demonstrated by increased uptake of BrdU and increased expression of CTLA-4, Foxp3, GITR, and CD25 compared with naive controls. The greatest increases in CTLA-4 expression were, however, seen in the CD4+ Foxp3- effector T cell population which contained 78% of all CD4+ CTLA-4+ cells in the pleural cavity. Depletion of CD25+ cells from the pleural CD4+ T cell population did not increase their Ag-specific proliferative response in vitro, suggesting that their hyporesponsive phenotype is not directly mediated by CD4+ CD25+ Treg cells. Once infection had established, killing of adult parasites could be enhanced by neutralization of CTLA-4 in vivo, but only if performed in combination with the depletion of CD25+ Treg cells. This work suggests that during filarial infection CTLA-4 coinhibition and CD4+ CD25+ Treg cells form complementary components of immune regulation that inhibit protective immunity in vivo. (+info)
Phocid seals, seal lice and heartworms: a terrestrial host-parasite system conveyed to the marine environment.
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Adaptation of pinnipeds to the marine habitat imposed parallel evolutions in their parasites. Ancestral pinnipeds must have harboured sucking lice, which were ancestors of the seal louse Echinophthirius horridus. The seal louse is one of the few insects that successfully adjusted to the marine environment. Adaptations such as keeping an air reservoir and the ability to hold on to and move on the host were necessary, as well as an adjustment of their life cycle to fit the diving habits of their host. E. horridus are confined to the Northern Hemisphere and have been reported from 9 species of northern phocids belonging to 4 genera, including land-locked seal species. The transmission from seal to seal is only possible when animals are hauled-out on land or ice. Lice are rarely found on healthy adult seals, but frequently on weak and young animals. The seal louse is suggested to play an important role as an intermediate host transmitting the heartworm Acanthocheilonema spirocauda among seals. However, the evidence is restricted to a single study where the first 3 larval stages of the heartworm were shown to develop in the louse. The fourth-stage larvae develop in the blood system of seals and eventually transform into the adult stage that matures in the heart. Since all other studies failed to confirm the presence of heartworm larvae in seal lice, other unknown intermediate hosts could be involved in the transmission of the heartworm. Transplacental transmission of microfilariae in seals has been suggested as an additional possibility, but is not likely to be important since the occurrence of heartworms in adult seals is very rare compared with juveniles. Furthermore, there are no findings of the first 3 larval stages in seals. This review shows that the heartworm infects nearly the same species of seals as the seal louse, except for the grey seal Halichoerus grypus, where the heartworm is absent. Prevalence and intensity of infection differ among regions in the Northern Hemisphere. As for seal lice, heartworms mainly infect immature seals, and after infection the prevalence seems to decrease with increasing age of the host. (+info)
Studies on the metabolism of the filarial worm, Litomosoides carinii.
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The filarial worm, Litomosoides carinii, has a high rate of aerobic and anaerobic glucose metabolism. Aerobically 30 to 45 per cent of the glucose utilized was converted to lactic acid, 25 to 35 per cent to acetic acid, and 10 to 20 per cent to a polysaccharide. Anaerobically over 80 per cent of the total carbohydrate removed by the filariae was metabolized to lactic acid, the remainder was accounted for by the production of acetic acid. The high rates of aerobic and anaerobic lactic acid production and of aerobic polysaccharide synthesis, as well as the absence of a postanaerobic increase of the oxygen uptake, differentiate the filarial worm, L. carinii, from the known metabolic characteristics of all other helminths and of most other invertebrates. The rate of aerobic lactate and pyruvate utilization by the filariae appears to be much slower than that of glucose. Anaerobically, dismutation of two moles of pyruvate to one mole of lactate, one mole of acetate, and one mole of CO(2), occurred. Aerobically, acetate production from pyruvate exceeded that of lactate. A significant proportion of the pyruvate metabolized aerobically by the filariae was not oxidized to acetate. In the presence of fluoroacetate, aerobic incubation of the filariae in a glucose-containing medium produced a marked decrease in the respiration of the organisms, an accumulation of pyruvate, a decreased formation of acetate, and an increase in aerobic glycolysis. Low concentrations of fluoroacetate (1 x 10(-3)M) inhibited the oxidative metabolism of pyruvate which did not result in the conversion of pyruvate to acetate; higher concentrations of this inhibitor produced also a decreased oxidation of pyruvate to acetate. No evidence has been obtained that fluoroacetate inhibits the respiration of the filariae because of a competitive inhibition of acetate oxidation. Respiration and glycolysis of filariae were markedly decreased by low concentrations of p-chloromercuric benzoate. This inhibition could not be reversed by a large excess of thioglycollate, cystein, glutathione, or H(2)S. Respiration of the filariae was completely inhibited by cyanide (2 x 10(-4)M). The cyanine dyes, a group of compounds possessing high chemotherapeutic activity in filariasis of the cotton rat, inhibited in low concentrations (6.5 x 10(-8)M) the oxygen uptake of the filarial worms. This decrease in oxidative metabolism was associated with a compensatory increase in aerobic glycolysis of the worms and with decreased rates of acetate production and of polysaccharide synthesis. The same metabolic changes were observed in filariae removed from cotton rats to which subcurative doses of a cyanine dye had been administered. Concentrations of cyanine dyes which produced an almost complete inhibition of filarial respiration had no effect on the rate of anaerobic glycolysis of the worms nor on the activity of cytochrome C or of cytochrome oxidase. It is concluded that, in contrast to many other parasitic invertebrates, oxidative metabolism is essential for the survival of the filarial worm, L. carinii, and that the chemotherapeutic activity of the cyanine dyes in filariasis of the cotton rat is due to the inhibitory effect of this group of compounds on the respiratory metabolism of the parasite. (+info)
Microfilariae of the filarial nematode Litomosoides sigmodontis exacerbate the course of lipopolysaccharide-induced sepsis in mice.
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