Polyparasitism and its impact on the immune system.
Parasitic infections are common in many tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world and concomitant infection, polyparasitism, is the rule rather than the exception in such areas. At the immunological level, different parasites induce quite different responses characterised, for example, by protozoa that polarise responses towards Th1, whilst helminths are strong Th2 and regulatory T cell inducers. The question of how the co-existence of such parasites within the same host might influence the immunological responses to each species and, more importantly, whether such interactions affect resistance, susceptibility or clinical outcome, needs to be addressed in well-designed studies of sufficient power. The current paper discusses what we know as well as the gaps in our knowledge of polyparasitism.
Supali
Taniawati
T
Department of Parasitology, University of Indonesia, Faculty of Medicine, Salemba Raya, Jakarta, Indonesia. taniawati@yahoo.com
Verweij
Jaco J
JJ
Wiria
Aprilianto Eddy
AE
Djuardi
Yenny
Y
Hamid
Firdaus
F
Kaisar
Maria M M
MM
Wammes
Linda J
LJ
van Lieshout
Lisette
L
Luty
Adrian J F
AJ
Sartono
Erliyani
E
Yazdanbakhsh
Maria
M
D000818:Animals; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000502:physiology