Background Rodents are considered as reservoirs of various zoonotic diseases including helminthic infections. The current study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of helminth infections in rodents, in Boyer-Ahmad district, Southwestern Iran. Methods Overall, 52 rodents were captured from various areas of the district by Sherman live traps. The animals were then euthanized and dissected. During ...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Hyperplasia of mucin-secreting intestinal goblet cells accompanies a number of enteric infections, including infections by nematode parasites. Nevertheless, the precise role of mucins in host defense in nematode infection is not known. We investigated the role of the mucin (Muc2) in worm expulsion and host immunity in a model of nematode infection. METHODS Resistant (BALB/c,...

Macrophages (Mφs) accumulate at sites of inflammation, and, because they can assume several functionally distinct states of activation, they can either drive or restrain inflammatory responses. Once believed to depend on the recruitment of blood monocytes, it is now clear that the accumulation of Mφs in some tissues can result from the proliferation of resident Mφs in situ. However, little is k...

Chronic infection by the gastrointestinal nematode Trichuris muris in susceptible AKR mice, which mount a Th1 response, is associated with IL-27p28 expression in the cecum. In contrast to wild-type mice, mice that lack the WSX-1/IL-27R gene fail to harbor a chronic infection, having significantly lower Th1 responses. The lower level of Ag-specific IFN-gamma-positive cells in WSX-1 knockout (KO)...

Some small mammals occur as household pests and harbour a number of parasites that could be of public health importance. This study profiled the helminth and protozoan parasites in trapped small mammals within and around human dwelling places (houses) located across 4 major towns (Auchi, Benin, Ekpoma, and Uromi) and environs in Edo state, Nigeria. Six genera (Apodemus sp., Crocidura sp., Masto...

Infection and systemic inflammation are risk factors for cerebrovascular diseases and poststroke infections impair outcome in stroke patients, although the mechanisms of their contribution are mostly unknown. No preclinical studies have identified how chronic infection affects ischemic brain damage and which key inflammatory mediators are involved. We used a well established model of gut infect...

Accumulating evidence suggests that the regulation of gene expression by histone lysine methylation is crucial for several biological processes. The histone lysine methyltransferase G9a is responsible for the majority of dimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 9 (H3K9me2) and is required for the efficient repression of developmentally regulated genes during embryonic stem cell differentiation. Ho...

Despite the importance of the adjuvant in the immunization process, very few adjuvants merge with the antigens in vaccines. A synthetic self-adjuvant oleic-vinyl sulfone (OVS) linked to the catalytic region of recombinant serine/threonine phosphatase 2A from the nematode Angiostrongylus costaricensis (rPP2A) was used for intranasal immunization in mice previously infected with Trichuris muris T...

The large intestine is a major site of infection and disease, yet little is known about how immunity is initiated within this site and the role of dendritic cells (DCs) in this process. We used the well-established model of Trichuris muris infection to investigate the innate response of colonic DCs in mice that are inherently resistant or susceptible to infection. One day postinfection, there w...