Lamb Tracey J, Le Goff Laetitia, Kurniawan Agnes, Guiliano David B, Fenn Katelyn, Blaxter Mark L, Read Andrew F, Allen Judith E
Institute of Cell, Animal, and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
J Infect Dis. 2004 Jan 1;189(1):120-7. doi: 10.1086/380490. Epub 2003 Dec 22.
Immune responses to the intracellular Wolbachia bacteria of filarial nematodes are thought to contribute to the pathologic process of filarial infection. Here, we compare antibody responses of subjects living in an area where lymphatic filariasis is endemic with antibody responses elicited in a murine model of filarial infection, to provide evidence that the infective larval stage (L3), not adult nematodes, are the primary inducer of responses against Wolbachia. In human subjects, antibody responses to Brugia malayi Wolbachia surface protein (WSP) are most often correlated with antibody responses to the L3 stage of B. malayi. Analysis of anti-WSP responses induced in mice by different stages of the rodent filariae Litomosoides sigmodontis shows that the strongest anti-WSP response is elicited by the L3 stage. Although adult filarial nematode death may play a role in the generation of an anti-WSP response, it is the L3 stage that is the major source of immunogenic material, and incoming L3 provide a continual boosting of the anti-WSP response. Significant exposure to the endosymbiotic bacteria may occur earlier in nematode infection than previously thought, and the level of exposure to infective insect bites may be a key determinant of disease progression.
对丝虫线虫细胞内沃尔巴克氏体细菌的免疫反应被认为有助于丝虫感染的病理过程。在此，我们比较了生活在淋巴丝虫病流行地区的受试者的抗体反应与丝虫感染小鼠模型中引发的抗体反应，以提供证据表明感染性幼虫阶段（L3）而非成虫线虫是针对沃尔巴克氏体反应的主要诱导因素。在人类受试者中，对马来布鲁线虫沃尔巴克氏体表面蛋白（WSP）的抗体反应最常与对马来布鲁线虫L3阶段的抗体反应相关。对由啮齿动物丝虫——棉鼠丝虫不同阶段诱导的小鼠抗WSP反应的分析表明，L3阶段引发的抗WSP反应最强。虽然成虫丝虫线虫死亡可能在抗WSP反应的产生中起作用，但L3阶段是免疫原性物质的主要来源，而进入的L3会持续增强抗WSP反应。与内共生细菌的显著接触可能比以前认为的在丝虫感染中更早发生，并且接触感染性昆虫叮咬的程度可能是疾病进展的关键决定因素。
