Interleukin 10 and dendritic cells are the main suppression mediators of regulatory T cells in human neurocysticercosis.

Neurocysticercosis is caused by the establishment of Taenia solium cysticerci in the central nervous system. It is considered that, during co-evolution, the parasite developed strategies to modulate the host's immune response. The action mechanisms of regulatory T cells in controlling the immune response in neurocysticercosis are studied in this work. Higher blood levels of regulatory T cells with CD4(+) CD45RO(+) forkhead box protein 3 (FoxP3)(high) and CD4(+) CD25(high) FoxP3(+) CD95(high) phenotype and of non-regulatory CD4(+) CD45RO(+) FoxP3(med) T cells were found in neurocysticercosis patients with respect to controls. Interestingly, regulatory T cells express higher levels of cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4), lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG-3), programmed death 1 (PD-1) and glucocorticoid-induced tumour necrosis factor receptor (GITR), suggesting a cell-to-cell contact mechanism with dendritic cells. Furthermore, higher IL-10 and regulatory T cell type 1 (Tr1) levels were found in neurocysticercosis patients' peripheral blood, suggesting that the action mechanism of regulatory T cells involves the release of immunomodulatory cytokines. No evidence was found of the regulatory T cell role in inhibiting the proliferative response. Suppressive regulatory T cells from neurocysticercosis patients correlated negatively with late activated lymphocytes (CD4(+) CD38(+) ). Our results suggest that, during neurocysticercosis, regulatory T cells could control the immune response, probably by a cell-to-cell contact with dendritic cells and interleukin (IL)-10 release by Tr1, to create an immunomodulatory environment that may favour the development of T. solium cysticerci and their permanence in the central nervous system.

Laboratory diagnosis of human neurocysticercosis: double-blind comparison of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and electroimmunotransfer blot assay.

Neurocysticercosis is a common disease in underdeveloped countries. Its diagnosis is based on clinical, imaging (tomography or magnetic resonance), epidemiological, and laboratory data. Several methods based on the detection of antibodies against cysticerci in cerebrospinal fluid or serum have been tested. Among them, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on the use of a crude parasite antigen has been used by the laboratory network of cysticercosis in Mexico, which has given support to clinicians for up to 7 years. A Taenia solium-specific glycoprotein-based electroimmunotransfer blot (EITB) assay was reported to be highly sensitive and specific for this purpose. In order to compare both techniques, we studied 100 neurocysticercosis patients and 70 neurological noncysticercosis controls and searched for specific antibodies in paired samples of serum and cerebrospinal fluid using both techniques. We found that the EITB assay is more sensitive than the ELISA, especially when serum is being tested. Both techniques are more sensitive in cases with multiple living cysts than in cases with single cysts or calcified lesions. No global differences among cases with parasites located in different parts of the central nervous system were found. In the patients with cysts within the parenchyma, the sensitivity of the EITB assay was higher with serum than with cerebrospinal fluid. The immunodominant bands were found to be the same as those previously reported, i.e., GP-39 to -42, GP-24, and GP-13. Based on these results, we suggest the use of the EITB assay in routine diagnosis of cysticercosis for clinical cases.

V̇ O 2 max and nutritional status in Urban Colombian girls and women.

Maximal oxygen consumption (V̇ O 2 max, liters min-1 ) was measured in 60 nutritionally normal and 74 marginally undernourished girls 6-16 years of age and 27 upper socioeconomic (UEC) women and 22 women living in economically deprived conditions (LEC) in Cali, Colombia. All girls were recruited from the LEC neighborhoods. Lower values for V̇ O 2 max (liters min-1 ) in undernourished girls were replaced by a nutritionally normal status in adulthood in which V̇ O 2 max was not significantly different from that measured in UEC women. Physical condition varied from average to fair in the younger to older subjects compared to women from industrialized countries. When V̇ O 2 max is expressed as ml min-1 kg-1 of lean body mass (LBM), all age and group effects disappear, confirming regression analysis which demonstrated a close relationship (r2 = 0.81) between V̇ O 2 max (liters min-1 ) and LBM in which there were no significant differences between nutritional or socioeconomic groups. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Maximal oxygen consumption of Colombian women of differing socioeconomic status.

Maximal oxygen consumption (\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ {\rm \dot V}_{{\rm O}_2 } $\end{document} max) was measured directly by a treadmill protocol in 23 upper (UEC) and 23 lower (LEC) socioeconomic women, 19-37 years of age, living in Cali, Colombia. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ {\rm \dot V}_{{\rm O}_2 } $\end{document} max (liters/min). LEC women were shorter and weighed less than UEC subjects, although there was no evidence of undernutrition in the former at the time of testing. The aerobic power of the LEC group was 33.7 ± 4.1 ml/kg · min (mean ± SD) compared to 32.0 ± 2.8 ml/kg · min in UEC women (P = 0.09). From data on 36 of the women, a multiple stepwise regression was used to derive an empirical equation for estimating \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ {\rm \dot V}_{{\rm O}_2 } $\end{document} max from submaximal \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ {\rm \dot V}_{{\rm O}_2 } $\end{document} and heart rate plus anthropometric variables. The derived equation was verified by application to an independent group of 10 subjects. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.