Parasitic worms and inflammatory diseases

Parasitic worms and inflammatory diseases

The debate on whether infection precipitates or prevents autoimmunity remains a contentious one. Recently the suggestion that some unknown microbe can be at the origin of some chronic inflammatory diseases has been countered by accumulating evidence that decreasing infection rates might have an important role to play in the rising prevalence of autoimmune disorders. The 'Hygiene Hypothesis' was...

Parasitic Infections and Inflammatory Diseases

The mammalian immune system is continuously exposed to infectious microorganisms as well as innocuous substances in the environment. Depending on the genetic makeup, the innate and adaptive immune responses develop and determine the frequency and the course of infectious diseases. The immune response to an infection is initiated by molecular recognition of damage-associated patterns (DAMPs) by ...

9 Parasitic Infections and Inflammatory Diseases

Immunity to Parasitic Worms

Helminth infection provides a unique challenge to the host immune system. Not only are helminths complex multicellular organisms, but they have intricate life cycles with multiple developmental stages, several of which may coexist in the infected host. In most cases, the host response to helminth infection is characterized by eosinophilia, increased serum immunoglobulin (Ig) E and IgG4, and mas...

The Challenge of Parasitic Worms