Onchocerca volvulus-specific antibody and cellular responses in onchocerciasis patients treated annually with ivermectin for 30 years and exposed to parasite transmission in central Togo.

Background: Annual mass drug administrations (MDA) of ivermectin will strongly reduce Onchocerca volvulus microfilariae (mf) in the skin and in the onchocerciasis patients' eyes. Ivermectin treatment will also affect the expression of immunity in patients, such that activated immune defenses may help control and contribute to clearance of mf of O. volvulus.

Echinococcus multilocularis specific antibody, systemic cytokine, and chemokine levels, as well as antigen-specific cellular responses in patients with progressive, stable, and cured alveolar echinococcosis: A 10-year follow-up.

Background: The infestation with Echinococcus multilocularis larvae may persist in humans for up to decades without evident clinical symptoms. Longitudinal investigations are needed to understand the dynamic immunological processes in alveolar echinococcosis (AE) patients associated with an active and progressive, a stable or a regressive course of disease.

Methodology/principal Findings: This study evaluated the E.

Development of a Multiplex Bead Assay for the Detection of IgG Antibody Responses to Guinea Worm.

The success of the Guinea Worm (GW) Eradication Program over the past three decades has been tempered by the persistence of GW disease in a few African nations and the potential for a future resurgence in cases. Domestic dogs are now a major concern as a disease reservoir as large numbers of cases of canine GW disease are now reported each year, mainly along the Chari River in Chad. As a first step toward the development of a serologic assay for dogs, archived human plasma samples from dracunculiasis-positive donors from Togo were used to select adult female GW antigens for peptide sequencing and cloning.

Inflammatory and regulatory CCL and CXCL chemokine and cytokine cellular responses in patients with patent Mansonella perstans filariasis.

Mansonella perstans (Mp) filariasis is present in large populations in sub-Saharan Africa, and to what extent patent Mp infection modulates the expression of immunity in patients, notably their cellular cytokine and chemokine response profile, remains not well known. We studied the spontaneous and inducible cellular production of chemokines (C-X-C motif) ligand 9 (CXCL9) [monokine induced by interferon (IFN)-γ (MIG)], CXCL-10 [inducible protein (IP)-10], chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 24 (CCL24) (eotaxin-2), CCL22 [macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC)], CCL13 [monocyte chemotactic protein-4 (MCP-4)], CCL18 [pulmonary and activation-regulated chemokine (PARC)], CCL17 [thymus- and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC)] and interleukin (IL)-27 in mansonelliasis patients (Mp-PAT) and mansonelliasis-free controls (CTRL). Freshly isolated peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PBMC) were stimulated with helminth, protozoan and bacterial antigens and mitogen [phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)].

, and infections in rural populations in central and southern Togo.

Background: , and are widespread helminth parasites in the tropics. Their distribution remains difficult to determine as it may change during national disease control programs and with regional mass drug administration (MDA). Epidemiological surveys are of importance to evaluate the geographical distribution of these helminth parasites and the diseases they may cause, however, up to date epidemiological evaluations on and in Togo are rare, and surveys on are important especially under the aspect of MDA of ivermectin which is performed since decades.