Trichinella spiralis infection changes immune response in mice performed abdominal heterotopic cardiac transplantation and prolongs cardiac allograft survival time

Abstract

Allograft rejection has been an obstacle for long-term survival of patients for many years. Current strategies for transplant rejection are not as optimal as we expected, especially for long-term treatments. Trichinella spiralis, a nematode parasitized in mammalian muscle and as an invader, maintains harmonious with host in the long term by evading host immune attack. To determine whether T. spiralis infection impacts on allograft rejection, we performed mice cardiac allograft transplantation model by using BALB/c (H-2(b)) mice as donors and C57BL/6 (H-2(b)) mice orally infected with 300 muscle larvae for 28 days as recipients. Graft survival was monitored by daily palpation of the abdomen; histologic change was observed by H&E stain; and CD4(+), CD8(+), CD4(+)IFN-γ(+), and CD4(+)IL-17(+) T cells and regulatory T cells were examined with the use of flow cytometry. Serum cytokine levels were measured by Luminex. Finally, we found that mean survival time of cardiac allografts in T. spiralis group was 23.40 ± 1.99 days, while the vehicle control group was 10.60 ± 0.75 days. Furthermore, we observed alleviated histological changes in the heart allograft, decreased corresponding CD8(+) T cells, suppressed Th1 and Th17 responses, and increased regulatory T cell frequency in a murine cardiac transplantation model at day 7 post-transplantation in experimental group. These data suggest that T. spiralis infection resulted in prolonged allograft survival following murine cardiac transplantation, with suppressed Th1/Th17 responses and augmented regulatory T cells.

Current Research of Trichinellosis in China

“…In addition to inducing anti-inflammatory immune response, Trichinella and its ESP also have the ability to reduce immune rejection. Mice that were infected with T. spiralis showed higher survival rates after solid organ transplantations, suggesting that the ESP released by T. spiralis may provide an anti-allograft rejection immune response ( Deng et al, 2016 ).…”

Effectiveness of Helminth Therapy in the Prevention of Allograft Rejection: A Systematic Review of Allogeneic Transplantation

“…The smallest improvement to allograft survival was seen with skin allografts. This effect was well-modeled within one investigation of the effects of 300 T. spiralis larvae on both heart and skin allografts (37). Whilst the allograft survival of both transplant types was prolonged with helminth administration when compared to control, the effect in the heart model was greater, with graft survival extended to 23.4 days in comparison to 10.6 days for control (p < 0.01).…”

“…One study investigated both skin and heart allograft models (37). Helminth intervention varied according to species/genus, parasite burden, live or product based and administration route.…”

Succinate Coenzyme A Ligase Beta-Like Protein from Trichinella spiralis Suppresses the Immune Functions of Rat PBMCs In Vitro and Inhibits the Secretions of Interleukin-17 In Vivo

“…The results of this study showed no significant difference in the production of IFN-γ, IL-9, TGF-β and IL-4 cytokines at different days of the first week after challenge. Th1 immune response is characterized by the production of pro inflammatory cytokine such as interferon gamma [17], while Th2 is characterized by the production of interleukin-4 (IL-4) cytokine [49]. TGF-β is an important pleiotropic cytokine with potent immunoregulatory properties and is essential for the maintenance of immunological self-tolerance.…”