Kirch Astrid K, Agossou Abram, Banla Meba, Hoffmann Wolfgang H, Schulz-Key Hartwig, Soboslay Peter T
Institute for Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2004 Apr;15(2):133-41. doi: 10.1046/j.1399-3038.2003.00126.x.
Passage of parasites and their antigens across the placenta occurs with metazoan as well as protozoan parasites, and this study addressed to which extent exposure to and infection of mothers with Plasmodium spp. and Entamoeba histolytica/dispar has sensitized their offspring for parasite-specific immune responses. While at delivery none of the mothers presented with an acute malaria attack, 42% were seropositive for P. falciparum. In half of the mothers cysts of E. histolytica/dispar were detected in stool specimen, 51% of them were found seropositive for E. histolytica, and E. histolytica-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) responses were detected in neonates of seropositive mothers as well. Umbilical cord blood cells (UCBC) from neonates, when activated with the mitogen phytohaemagglutinine (PHA) and bacterial streptolysin O (SL-O), released significantly less interferon (IFN)-gamma, interleukin (IL)-10 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha into cell culture supernatants than peripheral blood cells (PBMC) of mothers. In response to Plasmodium- and Entamoeba-specific antigens UCBC and PBMC produced equal amounts of IL-1beta, TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma and IL-5, but PBMC from mothers secreted significantly more IL-10. Parasite-specific production of inflammatory and Th(1)- and Th(2)-type cytokines was similar in newborns of Plasmodium and Entamoeba seropositive and seronegative mothers. In summary, repeated exposure and subclinical infection of mothers with E. histolytica or P. falciparum will suffice to prime in utero their children for inflammatory and both Th(1)- and Th(2)-type cytokine responses, and such broad and mixed cytokine spectrum may be of advantage upon secondary parasite challenge in later life.
后生动物和原生动物寄生虫均可通过胎盘传递寄生虫及其抗原，本研究探讨了母亲感染疟原虫属和溶组织内阿米巴/非溶组织内阿米巴后，其后代对寄生虫特异性免疫反应的致敏程度。分娩时，母亲均未出现急性疟疾发作，但42%的母亲恶性疟原虫血清学检测呈阳性。在一半母亲的粪便样本中检测到溶组织内阿米巴/非溶组织内阿米巴囊肿，其中51%的母亲溶组织内阿米巴血清学检测呈阳性，且在血清学阳性母亲的新生儿中也检测到了溶组织内阿米巴特异性免疫球蛋白A（IgA）反应。新生儿的脐带血细胞（UCBC）在用丝裂原植物血凝素（PHA）和细菌链球菌溶血素O（SL-O）激活后，释放到细胞培养上清液中的干扰素（IFN）-γ、白细胞介素（IL）-10和肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）-α明显少于母亲的外周血细胞（PBMC）。针对疟原虫和阿米巴特异性抗原，UCBC和PBMC产生的IL-1β、TNF-α、IFN-γ和IL-5量相等，但母亲的PBMC分泌的IL-10明显更多。疟原虫和溶组织内阿米巴血清学阳性和血清学阴性母亲的新生儿中，寄生虫特异性炎症因子以及Th（1）型和Th（2）型细胞因子的产生情况相似。总之，母亲反复接触和亚临床感染溶组织内阿米巴或恶性疟原虫足以使其子宫内的孩子产生炎症因子以及Th（1）型和Th（2）型细胞因子反应，这种广泛而混合的细胞因子谱可能在孩子日后再次受到寄生虫攻击时具有优势。
