Gerrit Burger, Rafiou Adamou, Ruth Kreuzmair, Wilfrid Ndzebe Ndoumba, Dorothea Ekoka Mbassi, Anne Marie Nkoma Mouima, Carole Mamgno Tabopda, Roukoyath Moyoriola Adegnika, Ayong More, Dearie Glory Okwu, Lia-Betty Dimessa Mbadinga, Carlos Lamsfus Calle, Luzia Veletzky, Wolfram Gottfried Metzger, Benjamin Mordmüller, Michael Ramharter, Ghyslain Mombo-Ngoma, Ayola Akim Adegnika, Rella Zoleko-Manego, Matthew B B McCall
BACKGROUND: Chronic infection by Loa loa remains an unsolved immunological paradox. Despite harboring subcutaneously migrating adult worms and often high densities of microfilariae, most patients experience only relatively mild symptoms, yet microfilaricidal treatment can trigger life-threatening inflammation. Here, we investigated innate cell populations hypothesized to play a role in these two faces of the disease, in an endemic population in Gabon. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We analyzed numbers and activation of eosinophils and basophils, as well as myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) subsets and associated circulating cytokine levels by flow cytometry in sex- and age-matched L...
May 21, 2024: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases