Microflora, Helminths, and the Immune System — Who Controls Whom?
N Engl J Med 2010; 363:1476-1478October 7, 2010
This article has no abstract; the first 100 words appear below.
The gastrointestinal tract is the largest human immune organ. According to the classic view, it has evolved to control an immense biomass of foreign antigens, involving mechanisms for detecting and dispensing with dangerous pathogens while keeping “false alarms” to benign antigens, such as food, to a minimum. This balance is mediated by specialized immune-cell subgroups, including γδ T cells, M cells, and regulatory T cells. A recent study by Hayes and colleagues1 turns the view that the immune system controls gut flora inside out.
Hayes et al. carried out experiments using the rodent whipwormTrichuris muris, a worm that . . .
SOURCE INFORMATION
From the University Clinic, Bonn, Germany.
MEDIA IN THIS ARTICLE
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1. HATCHING PARASITES.
Hayes et al.1 used fluorescently tagged bacteria to show that the process of intraintestinal hatching of Trichuris muris is critically dependent on the attachment of an enterobacterium to the polar operculum of the egg (Panel A). Hatched worms attach to the bowel wall and induce activation of type 2 helper T (Th2) cells, which in turn inhibit the proliferation and differentiation of type 17 helper T (Th17) and regulatory T (Treg) cells. In contrast, worm development was halted and specific immune responses were altered in mice that were depleted of gram-negative enterobacteria by antibiotics (Panel B), underscoring the influence of the intraintestinal environment on intestinal immune respons
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