title: Susceptibility to Ticks and Lyme Disease Spirochetes Is Not Affected in Mice Coinfected with Nematodes.
abstract: Small rodents serve as reservoir hosts for tick-borne pathogens, such as the spirochetes causing Lyme disease. Whether natural coinfections with other macroparasites alter the success of tick feeding, antitick immunity, and the host's reservoir competence for tick-borne pathogens remains to be determined. In a parasitological survey of wild mice in Berlin, Germany, approximately 40% of Ixodes ricinus-infested animals simultaneously harbored a nematode of the genus Heligmosomoides We therefore aimed to analyze the immunological impact of the nematode/tick coinfection as well as its effect on the tick-borne pathogen Borrelia afzelii Hosts experimentally coinfected with Heligmosomoides polygyrus and larval/nymphal I. ricinus ticks developed substantially stronger systemic type 2 T helper cell (Th2) responses, on the basis of the levels of GATA-3 and interleukin-13 expression, than mice infected with a single pathogen. During repeated larval infestations, however, anti-tick Th2 reactivity and an observed partial immunity to tick feeding were unaffected by concurrent nematode infections. Importantly, the strong systemic Th2 immune response in coinfected mice did not affect susceptibility to tick-borne B. afzelii An observed trend for decreased local and systemic Th1 reactivity against B. afzelii in coinfected mice did not result in a higher spirochete burden, nor did it facilitate bacterial dissemination or induce signs of immunopathology. Hence, this study indicates that strong systemic Th2 responses in nematode/tick-coinfected house mice do not affect the success of tick feeding and the control of the causative agent of Lyme disease.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology, Centre of Infection Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.|Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Denny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maaz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology, Centre of Infection Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rausch
authors.affiliation: Environmental Systems Analysis, Institute of Geoecology, Technical University of Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Dania
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krücken
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine I for Gastroenterology, Infectious Disease, and Rheumatology, Research Center ImmunoSciences, Charité Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Kühl
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Janina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Demeler
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blümke
authors.affiliation: Outpatient Clinic, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Franz-Rainer
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Matuschka
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: von Samson-Himmelstjerna
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology, Centre of Infection Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany susanne.hartmann@fu-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hartmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D060085:Coinfection / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D018884:Ixodes / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009349:Nematode Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D009351:Nematospiroides dubius / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*