Helminth infection modulates systemic pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines implicated in type 2 diabetes mellitus pathogenesis.

BACKGROUND:The prevalence of helminth infections exhibits an inverse association with the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and helminths are postulated to mediate a protective effect against T2DM. However, the biological mechanism behind this effect is not known. AIMS/METHODS:We postul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Main Authors: Anuradha Rajamanickam, Saravanan Munisankar, Chandrakumar Dolla, Pradeep A Menon, Kannan Thiruvengadam, Thomas B Nutman, Subash Babu
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020
Subjects:
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Public aspects of medicine
RA1-1270
Arctic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008101
https://doaj.org/article/e561419d542a41d1b86aff44cac93559
Description
Summary:BACKGROUND:The prevalence of helminth infections exhibits an inverse association with the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and helminths are postulated to mediate a protective effect against T2DM. However, the biological mechanism behind this effect is not known. AIMS/METHODS:We postulated that helminth infections act by modulating the pro-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine milieu that is characteristic of T2DM. To examine the association of cytokines and chemokines in helminth-diabetes co-morbidity, we measured the plasma levels of a panel of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in individuals with Strongyloides stercoralis infection (Ss+) and T2DM at the time of Ss diagnosis and then 6 months after definitive anthelmintic treatment along with uninfected control individuals with T2DM alone (Ss-). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Ss+ individuals exhibited significantly diminished levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines-IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, IL-23, IL-27, G-CSF and GM-CSF and chemokines-CCL1, CCL2, CCL3, CCL11, CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL8, CXCL9, CXCL10 and CXCL11. In contrast, Ss+ individuals exhibited significantly elevated levels of IL-1Ra. Anthelmintic treatment resulted in increased levels of all of the cytokines and chemokines. CONCLUSIONS:Thus, helminth infections alleviate and anthelmintic therapy partially restores the plasma cytokine and chemokine levels in helminth-diabetes co-morbidity. Our data therefore offer a plausible biological mechanism for the protective effect of helminth infections against T2DM.

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