Helminth-Associated Systemic Immune Activation and HIV Co-receptor Expression: Response to Albendazole/Praziquantel Treatment |
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Authors: | Mkunde Chachage Lilli Podola Petra Clowes Anthony Nsojo Asli Bauer Onesmo Mgaya Dickens Kowour Guenter Froeschl Leonard Maboko Michael Hoelscher Elmar Saathoff Christof Geldmacher |
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Institution: | 1. National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR)-Mbeya Medical Research Centre, Mbeya, Tanzania.; 2. Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical Center of the University of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.; 3. German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Munich, Germany.; National Institutes of Health, United States of America, |
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Abstract: | BackgroundIt has been hypothesized that helminth infections increase HIV susceptibility by enhancing systemic immune activation and hence contribute to elevated HIV-1 transmission in sub-Saharan Africa.ObjectiveTo study systemic immune activation and HIV-1 co-receptor expression in relation to different helminth infections and in response to helminth treatment.MethodsHIV-negative adults with (n = 189) or without (n = 57) different helminth infections, as diagnosed by Kato-Katz, were enrolled in Mbeya, Tanzania. Blinded to helminth infection status, T cell differentiation (CD45RO, CD27), activation (HLA-DR, CD38) and CCR5 expression was determined at baseline and 3 months after Albendazole/Praziquantel treatment. Plasma cytokine levels were compared using a cytometric bead array.ResultsTrichuris and Ascaris infections were linked to increased frequencies of “activated” CD4 and/or CD8 T cells (p<0.05), whereas Hookworm infection was associated with a trend towards decreased HLA-DR+ CD8 T cell frequencies (p = 0.222). In Trichuris infected subjects, there was a linear correlation between HLA-DR+ CD4 T cell frequencies and the cytokines IL-1β and IL-10 (p<0.05). Helminth treatment with Albendazole and Praziquantel significantly decreased eosinophilia for S. mansoni and Hookworm infections (p<0.005) but not for Trichuris infection and only moderately modulated T cell activation. CCR5 surface density on memory CD4 T cells was increased by 1.2-fold during Trichuris infection (p-value: 0.053) and reduced after treatment (p = 0.003).ConclusionsIncreased expression of T cell activation markers was associated with Trichuris and Ascaris infections with relatively little effect of helminth treatment. |
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