Department of Virology, Parasitology and Immunology, Laboratory of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
VIB Department of Medical Protein Research, Receptor Research laboratories, Nuclear Receptor Lab, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Sci Rep. 2019 Jun 20;9(1):8959. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45544-x.
Giardia is an intestinal protozoan parasite that has the ability to infect a wide range of hosts, which can result in the clinical condition 'giardiasis'. Over the years, experimental research has shown the crucial involvement of IL-17A to steer the protective immune response against Giardia. The development of the protective response, as reflected by a significant drop in cyst secretion, typically takes around 3 to 4 weeks. However, early-life infections often have a more chronic character lasting for several weeks or months. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate the dynamics of a Giardia muris infection and the subsequent host immune response in neonatal mice infected 4 days after birth. The outcome of the study showed that a G. muris infection in pre-weaned mice failed to trigger a protective IL-17A response, which could explain the prolonged course of infection in comparison to older mice. Only after weaning, a protective intestinal immune response started to develop, characterized by an upregulation of IL-17A and Mbl2 and the secretion of parasite-specific IgA.
贾第虫是一种肠道原生动物寄生虫，能够感染多种宿主，导致“贾第虫病”的临床症状。多年来，实验研究表明白细胞介素 17A（IL-17A）在针对贾第虫的保护性免疫反应中起着至关重要的作用。保护性反应的发展，如囊泡分泌的显著下降所反映的那样，通常需要 3 到 4 周的时间。然而，生命早期的感染往往具有更慢性的特征，持续数周或数月。因此，本研究的目的是研究新生小鼠在出生后 4 天感染秀丽隐杆线虫时秀丽隐杆线虫感染的动态及其随后的宿主免疫反应。研究结果表明，在未断奶的小鼠中，贾第虫感染未能引发保护性的 IL-17A 反应，这可以解释与年长小鼠相比，感染持续时间更长的原因。只有在断奶后，保护性的肠道免疫反应才开始发展，表现为 IL-17A 和 Mbl2 的上调以及寄生虫特异性 IgA 的分泌。
