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Plasma levels of innate immune mediators are associated with liver fibrosis in low parasite burden Schistosoma mansoni‐ infected individuals
Author(s) -
Rodrigues Oliveira J. L.,
Teixeira M. M.,
Lambertucci J. R.,
Antunes C. M. F.,
Carneiro M.,
NegrãoCorrêa D.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.934
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3083
pISSN - 0300-9475
DOI - 10.1111/sji.12642
Subject(s) - schistosoma mansoni , schistosomiasis , immunology , schistosoma , fibrosis , chemokine , immune system , ccl7 , inflammation , biology , liver disease , medicine , gastroenterology , chemokine receptor , helminths
In the murine model, it was demonstrated that pro‐inflammatory cytokines and chemokines are essential to the formation and modulation of Schistosoma ‐induced granulomatous inflammation. However, the relationship of these immune mediators and disease severity is hard to be established in naturally infected individuals. The current study evaluates the association between plasma concentrations of MIF , sTNF ‐R1, CCL 3, CCL 7 and CCL 24 and schistosomiasis morbidity in Schistosoma mansoni ‐infected patients with a low parasite burden. For this propose, 97 S. mansoni ‐infected individuals were subjected to abdominal ultrasound analysis and clinical examination. Among them, 88 had plasma concentration of immune mediators estimated by ELISA assay. Multivariate linear regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between the plasma concentration of immune mediators and the variables investigated. Although most individuals presented low parasite burden, over 30% of them showed signs of fibrosis defined by ultrasound measurements and 2 patients had a severe form of schistosomiasis. No association between parasite burden and the plasma levels of chemokine/cytokines or disease severity was observed. There was a positive association between plasma concentration of CCL 4, sTNF ‐R1, CCL 3 and MIF with gall bladder thickness and/or with portal vein thickness that are liver fibrosis markers. In contrast, no association was found between CCL 7 plasma concentrations with any of the schistosomiasis morbidity parameters evaluated. The data showed that CCL 24, sTNFR 1, MIF and CCL 3 can be detected in plasma of S. mansoni ‐infected individuals and their concentration would be used as prognostic makers of Schistosoma ‐induced liver fibrosis, even in individuals with low parasite burden.