BACKGROUND: Helminth parasites have been reported to have beneficial immunomodulatory effects in patients with allergic and autoimmune conditions and detrimental consequences in patients with tuberculosis and some viral infections. Their role in coinfectio ...
Type-2-cell-mediated immune responses play a critical role in mediating both host-resistance and disease-tolerance mechanisms during helminth infections. Recently, type 2 cell responses have emerged as major regulators of tissue repair and metabolic homeos ...
Changing exposure to intestinal helminths, or alterations in our intestinal microbiome, have been independently proposed to underlie the increasing incidence of chronic inflammatory diseases including allergy, autoimmunity and inflammatory bowel disease (I ...
Buruli Ulcer is a neglected tropical disease leading to extensive disabilities and morbidity in West Africa. In this paper we sought to characterize various strains of Mycobacterium ulcerans (M. ulcerans) with different origins and laboratory passage recor ...
Intestinal worms are well known for their potent immuno-modulatory capacity. In a recent study, Navarro et al. (2016) identify a secreted hookworm protein that can suppress allergic responses in both mice and humans. This represents an exciting strategy fo ...
The animal gut plays a central role in tackling two common ecological challenges, nutrient shortage and food-borne parasites, the former by efficient digestion and nutrient absorption, the latter by acting as an immune organ and a barrier. It remains unkno ...
Helminth infections are typically chronic in nature; however, the exact molecular mechanisms by which these parasites promote or thwart host immunity remain unclear. Worm expulsion requires the differentiation of CD4(+) T cells into Th2 cells, while regula ...