There is an urgent need to develop better therapeutics for autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases, of which musculoskeletal disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis are particularly prevalent and debilitating. Helminth parasites are accomplished masters at modifying their hosts' immune activity, and so attention has focused on rodent-helminth model systems to uncover the workings of the mammali...

Current immunosuppression regimens for solid-organ transplantation have shown disappointing efficacy in the prevention of chronic allograft rejection and carry unacceptable risks including toxicity, neoplasia, and life-threatening infection. Achievement of immunological tolerance (long-term antigen unresponsiveness in an immunocompetent host) presents the exciting prospect of freedom from immun...

Most wild animals face concurrent challenges by multiple infectious organisms, and immunological responses triggered by some parasites may increase susceptibility to other infectious agents. Immune-mediated interactions among parasites have been investigated among individuals in a population, but less is known about broader comparative patterns. We investigated the "macro-micro facilitation hyp...

Coprological examination was used to determine the prevalence and intensity of gastrointestinal parasites of stray dogs impounded by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), Durban and Coast, South Africa. Helminth and protozoan parasites were found in faeces of 240 dogs with an overall prevalence of 82.5% (helminth parasites 93.1% and protozoan parasites 6.9%). The followin...

Despite marked improvement in the quality of lives across the globe, more than 2 million individuals in socioeconomically disadvantaged environments remain infected by helminth (worm) parasites. Owing to the longevity of the worms and paucity of immunologic controls, these parasites survive for long periods within the bloodstream, lymphatics, and gastrointestinal tract resulting in pathologic c...