Metenou Simon, Nutman Thomas B
Helminth Immunology Section, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institutes of Health , Bethesda, MD , USA.
Front Immunol. 2013 Sep 30;4:305. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2013.00305.
Filarial infections in humans are chronic infections that cause significant morbidity. The chronic nature of these infections with continuous antigen release is associated with a parasite-specific T cell hypo-responsiveness that may over time also affect the immune responses to bystander antigens. Previous studies have shown the filarial parasite antigen-specific T cells hypo-responsiveness is mediated by regulatory cytokines - IL-10 and TGF-β in particular. Recent studies have suggested that the modulated/regulated T cell responses associated with patent filarial infection may reflect an expansion of regulatory T cells (Tregs) that include both Tregs induced in peripheral circulation or pTregs and the thymus-derived Tregs or tTregs. Although much is known about the phenotype of these regulatory populations, the mechanisms underlying their expansion and their mode of action in filarial and other infections remain unclear. Nevertheless there are data to suggest that while many of these regulatory cells are activated in an antigen-specific manner the ensuing effectors of this activation are relatively non-specific and may affect a broad range of immune cells. This review will focus on the subsets and function of regulatory T cells in filarial infection.
人类丝虫感染是导致严重发病的慢性感染。这些感染的慢性性质以及持续的抗原释放与寄生虫特异性T细胞低反应性相关，随着时间的推移，这种低反应性可能也会影响对旁观者抗原的免疫反应。先前的研究表明，丝虫寄生虫抗原特异性T细胞低反应性是由调节性细胞因子介导的，特别是白细胞介素-10和转化生长因子-β。最近的研究表明，与显性丝虫感染相关的调节/调控T细胞反应可能反映了调节性T细胞（Tregs）的扩增，其中包括在外周循环中诱导产生的Tregs或外周调节性T细胞（pTregs）以及胸腺来源的Tregs或胸腺调节性T细胞（tTregs）。尽管对这些调节性群体的表型了解很多，但它们扩增的机制以及它们在丝虫感染和其他感染中的作用方式仍不清楚。然而，有数据表明，虽然这些调节性细胞中的许多是以抗原特异性方式被激活的，但这种激活产生的效应相对非特异性，可能会影响广泛的免疫细胞。本综述将聚焦于丝虫感染中调节性T细胞的亚群和功能。
