Paballo Mosala - IUIS Beijing ICI 2019 Presentation
Paballo Mosala - Absence of cysteinyl leukotriene receptor-1 (cysLTR1) ameliorates liver granulomatous inflammation during schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis is a debilitating disease responsible for significant morbidity and mortality world-wide. Remarkably, no vaccine is available for human use. Praziquantel remains the first and only efficient drug used to treat schistosomiasis. However, treatment targets adult parasite worms leaving the parasite egg-driven pathological inflammation uncontrolled. There is need for alternative therapeutic drugs and development of vaccine to treat fibro-proliferative pathology driven by infection. We therefore hypothesised that cysteinyl leukotrienes (cysLTs) play an important role in mediating fibro-proliferative pathology during schistosomiasis. cysLTs are inflammatory mediators that play a key role in pathophysiology of inflammatory diseases. They signal primarily through cysteinyl leukotriene receptor-1 which have been shown to act in concert with Th2 immune responses. Deletion of cysLTR1 during schistosomiasis resulted in reduced liver granuloma inflammation and impaired Th2 immune response in mice. These results may pave way for clinical application as combined therapy praziquantel and cysLTR1-inhibitor may be an effective approach to reduce liver inflammation in schistosomiasis