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Elizalde-Velázquez LE, Schlosser-Brandenburg J, Laubschat A, Oser L, Kundik A, Adjah J, Groenhagen S, Kühl AA, Rausch S, Hartmann S. Th2-biased immune responses to body migrating Ascaris larvae in primary infection are associated with pathology but not protection. Sci Rep 2024; 14:14919. [PMID: 38942904 PMCID: PMC11213949 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65281-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/30/2024] Open
Abstract
Helminth infections lead to an overdispersion of the parasites in humans as well as in animals. We asked whether early immune responses against migrating Ascaris larvae are responsible for the unequal distribution of worms in natural host populations and thus investigated a susceptible versus a resistant mouse strain. In mice, the roundworm larvae develop until the lung stage and thus early anti-Ascaris immune responses against the migrating larvae in the liver and lung can be deciphered. Our data show that susceptible C57BL/6 mice respond to Ascaris larval migration significantly stronger compared to resistant CBA mice and the anti-parasite reactivity is associated with pathology. Increased eosinophil recruitment was detected in the liver and lungs, but also in the spleen and peritoneal cavity of susceptible mice on day 8 post infection compared to resistant mice. In serum, eosinophil peroxidase levels were significantly higher only in the susceptible mice, indicating functional activity of the recruited eosinophils. This effect was associated with an increased IL-5/IL-13 production by innate lymphoid cells and CD4+ T cells and a pronounced type 2 macrophage polarization in the lungs of susceptible mice. Furthermore, a comparison of wildtype BALB/c and eosinophil-deficient dblGATA-1 BALB/c mice showed that eosinophils were not essential for the early control of migrating Ascaris larvae. In conclusion, in primary infection, a strong local and systemic type 2 immune response during hepato-tracheal helminth larval migration is associated with pathology rather than protection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis E Elizalde-Velázquez
- Institute of Immunology, Centre for Infection Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Josephine Schlosser-Brandenburg
- Institute of Immunology, Centre for Infection Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Alexandra Laubschat
- Institute of Immunology, Centre for Infection Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Larissa Oser
- Institute of Immunology, Centre for Infection Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Arkadi Kundik
- Institute of Immunology, Centre for Infection Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Joshua Adjah
- Institute of Immunology, Centre for Infection Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Saskia Groenhagen
- Institute of Immunology, Centre for Infection Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Anja A Kühl
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, iPATH.Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Sebastian Rausch
- Institute of Immunology, Centre for Infection Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Susanne Hartmann
- Institute of Immunology, Centre for Infection Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
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Holland CV. The long and winding road of Ascaris larval migration: the role of mouse models. Parasitology 2021; 148:1-9. [PMID: 33612124 PMCID: PMC8660642 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182021000366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2021] [Revised: 02/14/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Ascaris lumbricoides and Ascaris suum are helminth parasites of humans and pigs, respectively. The life cycle of Ascaris sets it apart from the other soil-transmitted helminths because of its hepato-tracheal migration. Larval migration contributes to underestimated morbidity in humans and pigs. This migration, coupled with a lack of a murine model in which the Ascaris parasite might complete its life cycle, has undoubtedly contributed to the neglected status of the ascarid. Our knowledge of the epidemiology of adult worm infections had led us to an enhanced understanding of patterns of infection such as aggregation and predisposition; however, the mechanisms underlying these complex phenomena remain elusive. Carefully controlled experiments in defined inbred strains of mice – with enhanced recovery of larvae in tandem with measurements of cellular, histopathological and molecular processes – have greatly enhanced our knowledge of the early phase of infection, a phase crucial to the success or failure of adult worm establishment. Furthermore, the recent development of a mouse model of susceptibility and resistance, with highly consistent and diverging Ascaris larval burdens in the murine lungs, represents the extremes of the host phenotype displayed in the aggregated distribution of worms and provides an opportunity to explore the mechanistic basis that confers predisposition to light and heavy Ascaris infection. Certainly, detailed knowledge of the cellular hepatic and pulmonary responses at the molecular level can be accrued from murine models of infection and, once available, may enhance our ability to develop immunomodulatory therapies to elicit resistance to infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- C. V. Holland
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
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