Skariah Sini, Arnaboldi Paul, Dattwyler Raymond J, Sultan Ali A, Gaylets Corey, Walwyn Odaelys, Mulhall Hannah, Wu Xia, Dargham Soha R, Mordue Dana G
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Qatar Foundation - Education City, Doha, Qatar.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY 10595.
J Immunol. 2017 Jul 15;199(2):633-642. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1601193. Epub 2017 Jun 12.
Babesiosis is a tick-borne zoonosis caused by protozoans of the genus , apicomplexan parasites that replicate within erythrocytes. However, unlike related species, the pathogenesis of infection remains poorly understood. The primary etiological agent of babesiosis in the United States is In healthy individuals, tick-transmitted infection with causes no specific clinical manifestations, with many having no symptoms at all. However, even in asymptomatic people, a carriage state can be established that can last up to a year or more. Current blood bank screening methods do not identify infected donors, and parasites survive blood-banking procedures and storage. Thus, can also be transmitted by infected blood, and it is currently the number one cause of reportable transfusion-transmitted infection in the United States. Despite a significant impact on human health, remains understudied. In this study, we evaluated the course of infection in three strains of mice, C57BL/6J, BALB/cJ, and C3H-HeJ, and examined the contribution of multiple immune parameters, including TLRs, B cells, CD4 cells, IFN-γ, and NO, on the level of parasitemia and parasite clearance during acute babesiosis. We found that reaches high parasitemia levels during the first week of infection in all three mice strains before resolving spontaneously. Our results indicate that resolution of babesiosis requires CD4 T cells and a novel mechanism of parasite killing within infected erythrocytes.
巴贝斯虫病是一种由巴贝斯属原生动物引起的蜱传人畜共患病，巴贝斯属是在红细胞内复制的顶复门寄生虫。然而，与相关物种不同，巴贝斯虫感染的发病机制仍知之甚少。在美国，巴贝斯虫病的主要病原体是微小巴贝斯虫。在健康个体中，蜱传播的微小巴贝斯虫感染不会引起特定的临床表现，许多人根本没有症状。然而，即使在无症状的人群中，也可能会建立持续长达一年或更长时间的微小巴贝斯虫携带状态。目前血库的筛查方法无法识别受感染的献血者，并且微小巴贝斯虫寄生虫能够在血库程序和储存过程中存活。因此，微小巴贝斯虫也可通过受感染的血液传播，目前它是美国可报告的输血传播感染的首要原因。尽管对人类健康有重大影响，但微小巴贝斯虫仍未得到充分研究。在本研究中，我们评估了微小巴贝斯虫在三种小鼠品系C57BL/6J、BALB/cJ和C3H-HeJ中的感染过程，并研究了包括Toll样受体（TLRs）、B细胞、CD4细胞、干扰素-γ（IFN-γ）和一氧化氮（NO）在内的多种免疫参数对急性巴贝斯虫病期间寄生虫血症水平和寄生虫清除的作用。我们发现，在所有三种小鼠品系中，微小巴贝斯虫在感染的第一周内达到高寄生虫血症水平，然后自发消退。我们的结果表明，巴贝斯虫病的消退需要CD4 T细胞以及感染红细胞内一种新的寄生虫杀伤机制。
