Immune serum–activated human macrophages coordinate with eosinophils to immobilize Ascaris suum larvae
Helminth infection is major health problem worldwide, drug resistance to anti-helminth treatments remains a concern and that is why development of vaccine development is important. Vaccine development will require research into the immune-mediated cellular and antibody responses to helminth infection.
“IL-4 or antibody-activated murine macrophages are known to immobilize parasitic nematode larvae, but few studies have addressed whether this is translatable to human macrophages”. Horsnell as his co-authors investigated the “capacity of human macrophages to recognize and attack larval stages of Ascaris suum, a natural porcine parasite that is genetically similar to the human helminth Ascaris lumbricoides”.
The researchers found that “human macrophages were able to adhere to and trap A suum larvae in the presence of either human or pig serum containing Ascaris-specific antibodies and other factors. Gene expression analysis of serum-activated macrophages revealed that CCL24, a potent eosinophil attractant, was the most upregulated gene following culture with A suum larvae in vitro, and human eosinophils displayed even greater ability to adhere to, and trap, A suum larvae”.
Th data collected suggests that immune serum–activated macrophages can recruit eosinophils to the site of infection, where they act in concert to immobilize tissue-migrating Ascaris larvae.
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Article by Bonamy Holtak