(Press-News.org) How parasites use different life-history strategies to beat our immune systems may also provide insight into the control of diseases, such as elephantiasis and river blindness, which afflict some of the world's poorest communities in tropical South-East Asia, Africa and Central America. The research is due to be published next week in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology.
The study, led by Dr Simon Babayan of the University of Edinburgh, showed using a mouse model of parasite infection (for diseases such as elephantiasis) that when the parasitic worms enter the body, they are potentially able to adjust their survival strategy relative to the strength of the host's immune system. When the immune reaction is strong, the parasites accelerate their growth rate to produce offspring earlier and in greater numbers, ensuring the continued spread of the disease. The authors note that additional work will be required to confirm whether such a response is adaptive and to tease out the mechanisms involved.
Elephantiasis, which causes swelling of the legs, and river blindness, are both caused by parasitic worms spread by black flies and mosquitoes. No vaccines for these conditions currently exist. Those affected can be left disfigured, vulnerable to illness, and unable to work, thus putting economic strain on affected societies.
The Edinburgh team will contribute their latest findings into an international project to create a vaccine that, when complimented by drug treatments, could help to eliminate these diseases.
Dr Babayan said: "Most vaccines mimic the natural immunity of people, but our research suggests this approach could be counterproductive for some parasitic diseases. We hope this latest finding will help inform the design of future vaccines against these infections Clinical trials analyse the impact of potential vaccines on host health; we suggest they should also focus on their impact on parasite life history."
INFORMATION:
Funding: This work was funded by a European Union Marie-Curie Fellowship, EU grants "VARBO" (INCO-DEV contract ICA4-CT- 1999-10002) and "SCOOTT" (INCO-CT-2006-03232), the RAPIDD program of the Science & Technology Directorate, Department of Homeland Security, and the Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, and the Wellcome Trust. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests statement: The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Citation: Babayan SA, Read AF, Lawrence RA, Bain O, Allen JE (2010) Filarial Parasites Develop Faster and Reproduce Earlier in Response to Host Immune Effectors That Determine Filarial Life Expectancy. PLoS Biol 8(10): e1000525. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000525
PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT: http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1000525
PRESS ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plbi-08-10-Babayan.pdf
Contacts:
Dr Simon Babayan, School of Biological Sciences, tel 0131 650 8682; email S.Babayan@ed.ac.uk
Catriona Kelly, Press and PR Office, tel 0131 651 4401; email Catriona.Kelly@ed.ac.uk
How parasites react to the mouse immune system may help to shape their control
2010-10-20
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