Hygiene Theory and Immunoparasitology

Question 1

hygiene hypothesis

Answer 1

increased hygiene has contributed to increased rates of allergy and autoimmune disease

increased hygience –> lower rate of childhood infections

Question 2

worm infections used to be commonplace
now…

worms appear to be protective against ______

Answer 2

drastically declined/not common in developed countries

allergy

Question 3

there is a _____ correlation of type 1 diabetes with presence of helminths

Answer 3

inverse

Question 4

the immune response to worms(helminths) is different than that to other infectious organisms.
it involved three things….

Answer 4

1) elevated IgE
2) eosinophilia
3) T cell production of IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13

Question 5

helminth specific T cell responses and allergic reactivity _____ over time…

Answer 5

decrease
and
TGF-beta and IL-10 which is downregulatory increases

Question 6

prediction rate of allergic reaction tests

places with heavy helminths infections vs places without

Answer 6

with = 15% predictive
without = 90% predictive

lower reactivity in places with helminth infections!
there is IgE against the allergen but no skin reaction! = higher threshhold for activation of IgE mediated basophils and mast cells

Question 7

chronic helminth infections make it ____ for basophils and mast cells to become activated

Answer 7

harder

Question 8

IL-10 deficient mice do not develop ______

Answer 8

hyporesponsiveness of basophils

Question 9

helminth mediated protection against autoimmunity is due to regulatory immune response by ___

Answer 9

TGF-beta

Question 10

IDEA is that helminth infections or helminth derived therapies can be used to treat allergy and autoimmune diseases!

by inducing the immune regulation, one can rebalance the immune system to a more natural set point

increased hygiene as kids has altered (decreased) the _____

Answer 10

threshhold for activation

lower threshhold = hypersensitivity = more autoimmune and allergic conditions!

Question 11

animals with worms vs animals without worms

response to TB

Answer 11

controlled infection equally as well

Question 12

anti-FcER1 therapy…..

Answer 12

activates basophils by cross-linking surface FcER1 (IgE receptors) to protect against autoimmunity

increased T regs and IL10 !!!

Question 13

worms induce type ___ immunity with increased ____ and _____

Answer 13

2

IgE and eosinophilia