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Trends in Parasitology Jan 2024
Topics: Animals; Pentastomida; Parasitic Diseases, Animal
PubMed: 37802715
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2023.09.007 -
Current Problems in Cardiology Aug 2023Cysticercosis is a parasitic tissue infection caused by larval cysts of the tapeworm Taenia solium. These larval cysts infect brain, muscle, or other tissue, and are a... (Review)
Review
Cysticercosis is a parasitic tissue infection caused by larval cysts of the tapeworm Taenia solium. These larval cysts infect brain, muscle, or other tissue, and are a major cause of adult-onset seizures in most low-income countries with tropical climate. Prevalence it's around 50 million people. Although cardiovascular system is not the most affected, this disease can also be associated with multiple and randomly distributed cysts in the subpericardium, subendocardium and myocardium in up to 25% of infected patients. Most cardiac cysticercosis' cases are asymptomatic, but it can manifest with ventricular arrhythmias and conduction disorders. Area Covered: The "Neglected Tropical Diseases and other Infectious Diseases affecting the Heart" (NET-Heart project) is an initiative by the Emerging Leaders group of the Interamerican Society of Cardiology to systematically review all these endemic conditions affecting the heart. A systematic review was conducted following preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis guidelines and including articles published in MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, PubMed and LILACS databases. A total of 41 papers were included in this review. Expert Opinion: In the areas of greatest prevalence, unhealthiness and poverty favor the development of this disease, which highlights the need to establish global health policies that reduce morbidity and mortality, economic losses of the affected population, and health costs related to hospitalizations for cardiovascular involvement. Authors provide an algorithm to evaluate the possibility of Cysticercosis' cardiovascular complications.
Topics: Animals; Adult; Humans; Cysticercosis; Taenia solium; Prevalence; Cardiac Conduction System Disease; Heart Diseases
PubMed: 35395330
DOI: 10.1016/j.cpcardiol.2022.101195 -
Cellular Immunology 2024Infectious diseases like leishmaniasis, malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, leprosy and filariasis are responsible for an immense burden on public health systems. Among these,... (Review)
Review
Infectious diseases like leishmaniasis, malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, leprosy and filariasis are responsible for an immense burden on public health systems. Among these, leishmaniasis is under the category I diseases as it is selected by WHO (World Health Organization) on the ground of diversity and complexity. High cost, resistance and toxic effects of Leishmania traditional drugs entail identification and development of therapeutic alternative. Since the natural infection elicits robust immunity, consistence efforts are going on to develop a successful vaccine. Clinical trials have been conducted on vaccines like Leish-F1, F2, and F3 formulated using specific Leishmania antigen epitopes. Current strategies utilize individual or combined antigens from the parasite or its insect vector's salivary gland extract, with or without adjuvant formulation for enhanced efficacy. Promising animal data supports multiple vaccine candidates (Lmcen-/-, LmexCen), with some already in or heading for clinical trials. The crucial challenge in Leishmania vaccine development is to translate the research knowledge into affordable and accessible control tools that refines the outcome for those who are susceptible to infection. This review focuses on recent findings in Leishmania vaccines and highlights difficulties facing vaccine development and implementation.
Topics: Humans; Leishmaniasis Vaccines; Animals; Leishmania; Leishmaniasis; Vaccine Development; Antigens, Protozoan; Clinical Trials as Topic
PubMed: 38669897
DOI: 10.1016/j.cellimm.2024.104826 -
Nature Communications Nov 2023Tissue-resident macrophages are critical for tissue homeostasis and repair. We previously showed that dermis-resident macrophages produce CCL24 which mediates their...
Tissue-resident macrophages are critical for tissue homeostasis and repair. We previously showed that dermis-resident macrophages produce CCL24 which mediates their interaction with IL-4 eosinophils, required to maintain their M2-like properties in the T1 environment of the Leishmania major infected skin. Here, we show that thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) and IL-5 type 2 innate lymphoid cells are also required to maintain dermis-resident macrophages and promote infection. Single cell RNA sequencing reveals the dermis-resident macrophages as the sole source of TSLP and CCL24. Generation of Ccl24-cre mice permits specific labeling of dermis-resident macrophages and interstitial macrophages from other organs. Selective ablation of TSLP in dermis-resident macrophages reduces the numbers of IL-5 type 2 innate lymphoid cells, eosinophils and dermis-resident macrophages, and ameliorates infection. Our findings demonstrate that dermis-resident macrophages are self-maintained as a replicative niche for L. major by orchestrating localized type 2 circuitries with type 2 innate lymphoid cells and eosinophils.
Topics: Animals; Mice; Immunity, Innate; Eosinophils; Interleukin-5; Lymphocytes; Cytokines; Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin; Macrophages; Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous; Dermis
PubMed: 38030609
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43588-2 -
Journal of Immunology (Baltimore, Md. :... Aug 2023The impact of endemic parasitic infection on vaccine efficacy is an important consideration for vaccine development and deployment. We have examined whether intestinal...
The impact of endemic parasitic infection on vaccine efficacy is an important consideration for vaccine development and deployment. We have examined whether intestinal infection with the natural murine helminth Heligmosomoides polygyrus bakeri alters Ag-specific Ab and cellular immune responses to oral and parenteral vaccination in mice. Oral vaccination of mice with a clinically relevant, live, attenuated, recombinant Salmonella vaccine expressing chicken egg OVA (Salmonella-OVA) induced the accumulation of activated, OVA-specific T effector cells rather than OVA-specific regulatory T cells in the GALT. Intestinal helminth infection significantly reduced Th1-skewed Ab responses to oral vaccination with Salmonella-OVA. Activated, adoptively transferred, OVA-specific CD4+ T cells accumulated in draining mesenteric lymph nodes of vaccinated mice, regardless of their helminth infection status. However, helminth infection increased the frequencies of adoptively transferred OVA-specific CD4+ T cells producing IL-4 and IL-10 in the mesenteric lymph node. Ab responses to the oral Salmonella-OVA vaccine were reduced in helminth-free mice adoptively transferred with OVA-specific CD4+ T cells harvested from mice with intestinal helminth infection. Intestinal helminth infection also significantly reduced Th2-skewed Ab responses to parenteral vaccination with OVA adsorbed to alum. These findings suggest that vaccine-specific CD4+ T cells induced in the context of helminth infection retain durable immunomodulatory properties and may promote blunted Ab responses to vaccination. They also underscore the potential need to treat parasitic infection before mass vaccination campaigns in helminth-endemic areas.
Topics: Mice; Animals; Vaccine Efficacy; Helminthiasis; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Vaccines, Synthetic; Ovalbumin; Mice, Inbred BALB C
PubMed: 37272847
DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.2300084 -
The Veterinary Record Jul 2023
Topics: Animals; Helminths; Parasitic Diseases, Animal
PubMed: 37477326
DOI: 10.1002/vetr.3291 -
Clinical Microbiology Reviews Dec 2023MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are conserved, short, non-coding RNAs that play a crucial role in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. They have been implicated in... (Review)
Review
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are conserved, short, non-coding RNAs that play a crucial role in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. They have been implicated in the pathogenesis of cancer and neurological, cardiovascular, and autoimmune diseases. Several recent studies have suggested that miRNAs are key players in regulating the differentiation, maturation, and activation of immune cells, thereby influencing the host immune response to infection. The resultant upregulation or downregulation of miRNAs from infection influences the protein expression of genes responsible for the immune response and can determine the risk of disease progression. Recently, miRNAs have been explored as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in various infectious diseases. This review summarizes our current understanding of the role of miRNAs during viral, fungal, bacterial, and parasitic infections from a clinical perspective, including critical functional mechanisms and implications for their potential use as biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
Topics: Humans; MicroRNAs; Gene Expression Regulation; Biomarkers; Parasitic Diseases; Communicable Diseases
PubMed: 37909789
DOI: 10.1128/cmr.00015-23 -
Biochimie Apr 2024Melatonin is a pleiotropic neurohormone found in different animal, plant, and microorganism species. It is a product resulting from tryptophan metabolism in the pineal... (Review)
Review
Melatonin is a pleiotropic neurohormone found in different animal, plant, and microorganism species. It is a product resulting from tryptophan metabolism in the pineal gland and is widely known for its ability to synchronize the circadian rhythm to antitumor functions in different types of cancers. The molecular mechanisms responsible for its immunomodulatory, antioxidant and cytoprotective effects involve binding to high-affinity G protein-coupled receptors and interactions with intracellular targets that modulate signal transduction pathways. In vitro and in vivo studies have reported the therapeutic potential of melatonin in different infectious and parasitic diseases. In this review, the protective and pathophysiological roles of melatonin in fighting protozoan and helminth infections and the possible mechanisms involved against these stressors will be discussed.
Topics: Animals; Melatonin; Pineal Gland; Antioxidants; Parasitic Diseases; Helminths; Circadian Rhythm
PubMed: 37541568
DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2023.07.021 -
PLoS Pathogens Oct 2023Even though gammaherpesvirus and parasitic infections are endemic in parts of the world, there is a lack of understanding about the outcome of coinfection. In humans,...
Even though gammaherpesvirus and parasitic infections are endemic in parts of the world, there is a lack of understanding about the outcome of coinfection. In humans, coinfections usually occur sequentially, with fluctuating order and timing in different hosts. However, experimental studies in mice generally do not address the variables of order and timing of coinfections. We sought to examine the variable of coinfection order in a system of gammaherpesvirus-helminth coinfection. Our previous work demonstrated that infection with the intestinal parasite, Heligmosomoides polygyrus, induced transient reactivation from latency of murine gammaherpesvirus-68 (MHV68). In this report, we reverse the order of coinfection, infecting with H. polygyrus first, followed by MHV68, and examined the effects of preexisting parasite infection on MHV68 acute and latent infection. We found that preexisting parasite infection increased the propensity of MHV68 to reactivate from latency. However, when we examined the mechanism for reactivation, we found that preexisting parasite infection increased the ability of MHV68 to reactivate in a vitamin A dependent manner, a distinct mechanism to what we found previously with parasite-induced reactivation after latency establishment. We determined that H. polygyrus infection increased both acute and latent MHV68 infection in a population of tissue resident macrophages, called large peritoneal macrophages. We demonstrate that this population of macrophages and vitamin A are required for increased acute and latent infection during parasite coinfection.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Mice; Virus Activation; Coinfection; Virus Latency; Vitamin A; B-Lymphocytes; Herpesviridae Infections; Gammaherpesvirinae; Macrophages; Latent Infection; Helminths; Parasitic Diseases; Mice, Inbred C57BL
PubMed: 37847677
DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011691 -
ACS Infectious Diseases Aug 2023
Topics: Animals; One Health; Parasites; Parasitic Diseases
PubMed: 37481778
DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.3c00304