Trends Parasitol. 2013 Oct 31. pii: S1471-4922(13)00163-3. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2013.10.002. [Epub ahead of print]

Regulation of immunopathogenesis during Plasmodium and Toxoplasma infections: more parallels than distinctions?

Butler NS, Harris TH, Blader IJ.

Source

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA. Electronic address: noah-butler@ouhsc.edu.

Abstract

Toxoplasma and Plasmodium parasites exact a significant toll on public health. Host immunity required for efficient control of infection by these Apicomplexans involves the induction of potent T cell responses, which sometimes results in immunopathological damage. Thus, protective immune responses must be balanced by regulatory networks that limit immunopathology. We review several key cellular and molecular immunoregulatory networks operational during Toxoplasma and Plasmodium infections. Accumulating data show that despite differences in how the immune response controls these parasites, many host immunoregulatory pathways and cellular networks are common to both. Thus, understanding the cellular and molecular circuits that prevent or regulate immunopathological responses against one parasite is likely to inform our understanding of the host response to the other parasite.
Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

KEYWORDS:

IL-10, IL-27, Plasmodium, TGF-β, Toxoplasma, immunopathology

PMID:

24184186

[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]