

@article {16526,
	title = {Chronic intestinal helminth infections are associated with immune hyporesponsiveness and induction of a regulatory network},
	journal = {Infect Immun},
	volume = {78},
	number = {7},
	year = {2010},
	month = {jul},
	pages = {3160{\textendash}7},
	abstract = {Helminth infections have been associated with protection against allergy and autoimmune diseases. We investigated the effects of chronic infections with Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura (measured twice over a 5-year period) on cytokine and antibody responses. We collected blood from 1,060 children aged 4 to 11 years living in a poor urban area of Brazil and measured Th1 (gamma interferon [IFN-gamma]) and Th2 (interleukin-5 [IL-5] and IL-13) cytokines and the regulatory cytokine IL-10 in unstimulated and stimulated (with mitogen or A. lumbricoides antigens) cultures of peripheral blood leukocytes and levels of total IgE and anti-A. lumbricoides IgG4 and IgE in serum. Intestinal helminth infections were associated with an increased proportion of children producing IL-5 in response to A. lumbricoides and producing IL-10 spontaneously, especially among coinfected and chronically infected children. Helminth infections were associated with a generalized suppression of cytokine responses to mitogen. Levels of total IgE and anti-A. lumbricoides IgG4 and IgE were especially elevated in chronically infected children. In conclusion, intestinal helminth infections were associated with a typical Th2 immune response profile and with the induction of immune hyporesponsiveness that was associated with greater frequencies of the production of spontaneous IL-10.},
	keywords = {Animals, Antibodies, Ascariasis/*immunology, Ascaris lumbricoides/*immunology, Child, Female, Helminth/blood/immunology, Humans, Humoral/immunology, Immunity, Immunoglobulin E/blood/immunology, Immunoglobulin G/blood/immunology, Interferon-gamma/blood/immunology, Interleukin-10/blood/immunology, Interleukin-13/blood/immunology, Interleukin-5/blood/immunology, Male, Preschool, Trichuriasis/*immunology, Trichuris/*immunology},
	issn = {1098-5522 (Electronic) 0019-9567 (Linking)},
	doi = {10.1128/IAI.01228-09},
	author = {Figueiredo, C. A. and Barreto, M. L. and Rodrigues, L. C. and Cooper, P. J. and Silva, N. B. and Amorim, L. D. and Alcantara-Neves, N. M.}
}
