Amorim Chiara Cássia Oliveira, Nogueira Denise Silva, Gazzinelli-Guimarães Ana Clara, Leal-Silva Thais, Barbosa Fernando Sérgio, Oliveira Fabrício Marcus Silva, Kraemer Lucas Rocha, de Almeida Raquel Martins, Souza Jorge Lucas Nascimento, Dias Magalhães Luisa Mourão, Russo Remo Castro, Caliari Marcelo Vidigal, Gaze Soraya, Bueno Lilian Lacerda, Fujiwara Ricardo Toshio
Laboratory of Immunobiology and Parasite Control, Department of Parasitology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Federal District Health Department (SES/DF), Distrito Federal, Brazil.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2024 Dec 2;18(12):e0012678. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012678. eCollection 2024 Dec.
Human ascariasis is the most prevalent geohelminthiasis worldwide, affecting approximately 446 million individuals. In regions with endemic prevalence, the majority of infected adults are frequently exposed to the parasite and tend to have a low parasite load. Further studies are necessary to provide more evidence on the dynamics of infection and to elucidate the possible mechanisms involved in regulating protection, especially during the acute phase, also known as larval ascariasis. The aim of this study is to compare the impact of lung function between single and multiple infections in a murine model.
We infected BALB/c mice considering the frequency of exposures: single-exposure-SI; twice-exposures-RE 2x and thrice-exposures-RE 3x, and considering the doses of infection: 25 eggs-RE 25; 250 eggs-RE 250 and 2,500 eggs-RE 2500, followed by infection challenge with 2,500 eggs. From this, we evaluated: parasite burden in lungs, cellular and humoral response, histopathological and physiological alterations in lungs.
The main results showed a reduction of parasite burden in the reinfected groups compared to the single-infected group, with protection increasing with higher exposure and dose. Furthermore, the RE 250 group exhibited a decrease of parasite burden close to RE 2500, but with less tissue damage, displaying the most favorable prognosis among the reinfected groups.
Our research indicates a dose-dependent relationship between antibody production and the intensity of the immune response required to regulate the parasite burden.
人体蛔虫病是全球最普遍的土源性蠕虫病,约有4.46亿人受其影响。在流行地区,大多数受感染的成年人经常接触该寄生虫,且寄生虫负荷往往较低。有必要进行进一步研究,以提供更多关于感染动态的证据,并阐明调节保护作用(尤其是在急性期,即幼虫蛔虫病期间)可能涉及的机制。本研究的目的是在小鼠模型中比较单次感染和多次感染对肺功能的影响。
我们根据暴露频率感染BALB/c小鼠:单次暴露-SI;两次暴露-RE 2x和三次暴露-RE 3x,并根据感染剂量:25枚虫卵-RE 25;250枚虫卵-RE 250和2500枚虫卵-RE 2500,随后用2500枚虫卵进行感染攻击。据此,我们评估了:肺内寄生虫负荷、细胞和体液反应、肺组织病理学和生理学改变。
主要结果显示,与单次感染组相比,再感染组的寄生虫负荷降低,保护作用随着暴露次数和剂量的增加而增强。此外,RE 250组的寄生虫负荷降低程度接近RE 2500组,但组织损伤较小,在再感染组中预后最为良好。
我们的研究表明,抗体产生与调节寄生虫负荷所需的免疫反应强度之间存在剂量依赖关系。