Abstract
Helminths are the largest and most complex pathogens to invade and live within the human body. Since they are not able to outpace the immune system by rapid antigen variation or faster cell division or retreat into protective niches not accessible to immune effector mechanisms, their long-term survival depends on influencing and regulating the immune responses away from the mode of action most damaging to them. Immunologists have focused on the excretory and secretory products that are released by the helminths, since they can change the host environment by modulating the immune system. Here we give a brief overview of the helminth-associated immune response and the currently available helminth secretome data. We introduce some major secretome-derived immunomodulatory molecules and describe their potential mode of action. Finally, the applicability of helminth-derived therapeutic proteins in the treatment of allergic and autoimmune inflammatory disease is discussed.
Highlights
During the last centuries living conditions in western countries changed extremely and social and economical structures shifted dramatically
Helminths are the largest and most complex pathogens to invade and live within the human body. Since they are not able to outpace the immune system by rapid antigen variation or faster cell division or retreat into protective niches not accessible to immune effector mechanisms, their long-term survival depends on influencing and regulating the immune responses away from the mode of action most damaging to them
Affected by IL-4, IL-13, and IL-21, the differentiation of alternative activated macrophages (AAMs) occurs that can inhibit the proliferation of other cells and support an increased intracellular growth of bacteria [13]
Summary
During the last centuries living conditions in western countries changed extremely and social and economical structures shifted dramatically. Worm-like parasites that belong to unrelated phyla, namely, the plathelminthes (trematodes and cestodes) and the nematodes, were already present in early Hominidae. This long coexistence between humans and helminths must have had a fundamental impact on the constitution and regulation of the immune system [4,5,6]. As an advancement of the “Hygiene Hypothesis,” the “Old Friend Hypothesis” was put forward by Graham Rook He hypothesized that numerous harmless pseudocommensals, including the helminths, were tolerated by the immune system due to their abundant presence [6]. An alternative approach is to identify the immune modulatory molecules produced by helminths that can alter immune functions
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