This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Specht, S.
Right arrow Articles by Hoerauf, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Specht, S.
Right arrow Articles by Hoerauf, A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, September 2006, p. 5236-5243, Vol. 74, No. 9
0019-9567/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00329-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Lack of Eosinophil Peroxidase or Major Basic Protein Impairs Defense against Murine Filarial Infection

Sabine Specht,1,{dagger} Michael Saeftel,1,{dagger} Manuela Arndt,2 Elmar Endl,3 Bettina Dubben,1 Nancy A. Lee,4 James J. Lee,4 and Achim Hoerauf1*

Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Friedrich-Wilhelm University Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany,1 Department of Helminthology, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, 20359 Hamburg, Germany,2 Institute for Molecular Medicine and Experimental Immunology, Friedrich-Wilhelm University Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany,3 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona 852594

Received 28 February 2006/ Returned for modification 17 April 2006/ Accepted 19 June 2006

Eosinophils are a hallmark of allergic diseases and helminth infection, yet direct evidence for killing of helminth parasites by their toxic granule products exists only in vitro. We investigated the in vivo roles of the eosinophil granule proteins eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) and major basic protein 1 (MBP) during infection with the rodent filaria Litomosoides sigmodontis. Mice deficient for either EPO or MBP on the 129/SvJ background developed significantly higher worm burdens than wild-type mice. Furthermore, the data indicate that EPO or MBP is involved in modulating the immune response leading to altered cytokine production during infection. Thus, in the absence of MBP, mice showed increased interleukin-10 (IL-10) production after stimulation of macrophages from the thoracic cavity where the worms reside. In addition to elevated IL-10 levels, EPO–/– mice displayed strongly increased amounts of the Th2 cytokine IL-5 by CD4 T cells as well as a significantly higher eosinophilia. Interestingly, a reduced ability to produce IL-4 in the knockout strains could even be seen in noninfected mice, arguing for different innate propensities to react with a Th2 response in the absence of either EPO or MBP. In conclusion, both of the eosinophil granule products MBP and EPO are part of the defense mechanism against filarial parasites. These data suggest a hitherto unknown interaction between eosinophil granule proteins, defense against filarial nematodes, and cytokine responses of macrophages and CD4 T cells.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Friedrich-Wilhelm University Bonn, 53105 Bonn, Germany. Phone: (49) 228-287 5673. Fax: (49) 228-287 9573. E-mail: hoerauf{at}parasit.meb.uni-bonn.de.

Editor: F. C. Fang

{dagger} S.S. and M.S. contributed equally to this study.

Infection and Immunity, September 2006, p. 5236-5243, Vol. 74, No. 9
0019-9567/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00329-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Plager, D. A., Davis, M. D. P., Andrews, A. G., Coenen, M. J., George, T. J., Gleich, G. J., Leiferman, K. M. (2009). Eosinophil Ribonucleases and Their Cutaneous Lesion-Forming Activity. J. Immunol. 183: 4013-4020 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Agnew, D. W., Corbeil, L. B., Munson, L., Byrne, B. A., BonDurant, R. H. (2008). A Pregnant Mouse Model for Bovine Tritrichomonas foetus Infection. Vet Pathol 45: 849-864 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»