title: Surveillance on the status of immune cells after Echinnococcus granulosus protoscoleces infection in Balb/c mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cystic echinococcosis is a global parasitic disease caused by infection with Echinococcus granulosus larvae with potentially life-threatening complications in humans. To date, the status of the immune cells believed to be associated with the pathogenicity of E. granulosus infection has not been demonstrated clearly.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, we developed a multiplex flow cytometry assay to investigate the systemic immune status of innate and adaptive immunity at 30, 180, 360 days post-infection (dpi) in mice infected with E. granulousus. At 30 dpi, an increase in the number of CD11b(+) and CD11c(+) antigen-presenting cells (APCs) was observed. This was accompanied by the slight down-regulated expression of the co-stimulatory molecule MHC-II, indicating the impairment of APCs in early infection through the release of secretory-excretory products. In all infected groups, we observed a significant increase in innate immune cells, including APCs and GR-1(+) cells, and a dramatic increase in the myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) expressing CD11b(+)/GR-1(+). Moreover, the upregulation of the activated markers CD69, CD44, CD40L, and the downregulation of CD62L were observed in the CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells following infection. Regulatory T cells expressing CD4(+)/CD25(+)/FoxP3 (+) increased significantly over the course of infection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings demonstrate that the microenvironment in the peripheral immune system after E. granulosus infection changes in subtle but detectably ways, especially during the persistent period of infection. We found that T cells were activated following infection, but observed that the significant increase of immunosuppressive cells such as MDSC and Treg cells could inhibit T cell response to E. granulosus antigens. We suggest these cells may play a neglected but key role in the downregulation of the immune response in long-term parasitic infection. Understanding the basic functions and temporal interactions of these immunosuppressive cells will pave the way for new strategies of parasite vaccine design.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology, Minstry of Health, World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Filariasis, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: He-Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yu-Juan
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yu-Xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yan-Yan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Zhong-Ying
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Chidiebere E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Ugwu
authors.forename: Jian-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity; D000818:Animals; D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000469:parasitology*; D039481:CD11b Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D039521:CD11c Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000276:immunology*; D048209:Echinococcus granulosus; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000276:immunology; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D039481:CD11b Antigen; D039521:CD11c Antigen; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents
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