       Document 0463
 DOCN  M9640463
 TI    Immunology of human helminth infection.
 DT    9604
 AU    Allen JE; Maizels RM; Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology,
       University of; Edinburgh, UK.
 SO    Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 1996 Jan;109(1):3-10. Unique Identifier :
       AIDSLINE MED/96127913
 AB    Parasitic helminths cause enormous morbidity among humans especially in
       developing countries. These large extracellular organisms have complex
       life cycles frequently involving an arthropod vector. Helminth parasites
       can be tissue dwelling or intestinal but all induce a dramatic expansion
       of the Th2 lymphocyte subset. It remains unclear whether these
       Th2-derived responses, including IgE, eosinophilia and mastocytosis are
       important in the protective immune response to the parasite, or are
       responsible for immune-mediated pathology, or both. Interestingly,
       despite high levels of IgE and other features of Th2 cell activation,
       allergic responses are rarely observed in infected individuals.
       Helminths can survive for years in the infected host, and have evolved
       elaborate immune evasion strategies to establish these long-lived
       infections including the induction of tolerance to parasite antigens.
       This review discusses the dynamics of infection with helminth parasites
       with specific emphasis on Th2 subset activation. The current knowledge
       of immune effector mechanisms, immunopathology and hopes for vaccine
       development are also discussed.
 DE    Allergens/IMMUNOLOGY  Animal  Female
       Filariasis/IMMUNOLOGY/PHYSIOPATHOLOGY  Helminthiasis/*IMMUNOLOGY  Human
       Hypersensitivity/IMMUNOLOGY  IgE/IMMUNOLOGY  Lymphocyte
       Transformation/IMMUNOLOGY  Male  Nematoda/IMMUNOLOGY
       Schistosomiasis/IMMUNOLOGY/PHYSIOPATHOLOGY  Th2 Cells/IMMUNOLOGY
       Vaccines/IMMUNOLOGY  JOURNAL ARTICLE  REVIEW  REVIEW, TUTORIAL

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).

