Asymptomatic plasmodial infection is associated with increased tumor necrosis factor receptor II-expressing regulatory T cells and suppressed type 2 immune responses.

Background: In malaria-endemic areas, a proportion of individuals becomes chronic carriers of parasites with few or no clinical signs. There is little information on cellular immune responses in asymptomatic parasite carriers.

Methods: In 80 schoolchildren residing in a malaria-endemic area of Flores Island, Indonesia, T-helper subsets, regulatory T-cell (Treg) frequencies, tumor necrosis factor receptor type II (TNFRII) expression on Tregs, and cytokine responses induced by Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells (RBCs) were measured, and values for asymptomatic infected subjects were compared to those for uninfected controls.

Schistosomes induce regulatory features in human and mouse CD1d(hi) B cells: inhibition of allergic inflammation by IL-10 and regulatory T cells.

Chronic helminth infections, such as schistosomes, are negatively associated with allergic disorders. Here, using B cell IL-10-deficient mice, Schistosoma mansoni-mediated protection against experimental ovalbumin-induced allergic airway inflammation (AAI) was shown to be specifically dependent on IL-10-producing B cells. To study the organs involved, we transferred B cells from lungs, mesenteric lymph nodes or spleen of OVA-infected mice to recipient OVA-sensitized mice, and showed that both lung and splenic B cells reduced AAI, but only splenic B cells in an IL-10-dependent manner.

Oxazolone-induced enterocolitis in zebrafish depends on the composition of the intestinal microbiota.

Background & Aims: The pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease involves dysfunctional mucosal immune responses to commensal bacteria in genetically predisposed hosts. Interactions between host cells and bacteria are complicated, making it a challenge to assess their relative contribution to intestinal pathology. We developed a zebrafish model of enterocolitis to study these interactions.