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Helminthic infections have been shown to inhibit allergy skin-prick tests and to modify the course of asthma. We evaluated Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus-specific immune responses in patients with asthma by measuring levels of T helper 2 (Th2) cytokines in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures. PBMCs from Schistosoma mansoni-infected patients with asthma living in an area of polyhelminthic endemicity produced lower levels of interleukin (IL)-5 and IL-4 in response to D. pteronyssinus antigen (Ag) 1 than did PBMCs from helminth-free patients with asthma. In contrast, D. pteronyssinus Ag 1-specific production of IL-10 was higher in helminth-infected patients than in helminth-free patients. The addition of recombinant human IL-10 to D. pteronyssinus Ag 1-stimulated cultures of PBMCs from helminth-free patients led to down-modulation of production of IL-5. After helminth-infected patients with asthma received antihelminthic treatment, there was down-modulation of D. pteronyssinus Ag 1-specific production of IL-10 in vitro. S. mansoni-infected patients with asthma produce lower levels of Th2 cytokines than do helminth-free patients with asthma, and this modulation is likely done by IL-10.

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This study describes the in vitro anthelmintic activity of aqueous extracts (AE), ethyl acetate extracts (EE), flavonoid fractions (FF) and saponin fractions (SF) obtained from sisal waste (Agave sisalana) against gastrointestinal nematodes of goats. The activity of these extracts was evaluated by performing inhibition of egg hatch (EHA) and larval migration (LMI) assays. The EC(50) results of the EHA corresponded to 4.7, 0.1 and 0.05 mg/mL for EE, EA and FF, respectively. The SF fraction showed no ovicidal activity. The percent efficacies that were observed for the LMI were 50.3, 33.2 and 64.1% for the AE, EE and SF, respectively. The FF fraction did not show activity against the larvae. The analysis of the FF fraction indicates the presence of a homoisoflavonoid. This report suggests that the A. sisalana has activity in vitro against gastrointestinal nematodes of goats. This effect is likely related to the presence of homoisoflavonoid and saponin compounds, which have different actions for specific stages of nematode development.