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Wolbachia in the inflammatory pathogenesis of human filariasis

Taylor, M. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3396-9275 (2003) 'Wolbachia in the inflammatory pathogenesis of human filariasis'. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol 990, pp. 444-449.

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Abstract

Filarial nematodes cause some of the most debilitating diseases in tropical medicine. Recent studies, however, have implicated the parasites' endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria, rather than the nematode, as the cause of inflammatory-mediated filarial disease. Soluble extracts of a variety of filarial species stimulate innate inflammatory responses, which are absent or reduced when using extracts derived from species either devoid of bacteria, or those cleared of bacteria by antibiotics. Characterization of the molecular nature of the bacterial derived inflammatory stimulus points toward an endotoxin-like activity that is dependent on the pattern recognition receptors CD14 and TLR4 and can be inhibited by lipid A antagonists. TLR4 dependent inflammation has been shown to occur in the systemic inflammatory adverse reaction to Brugia malayi following anti-filarial chemotherapy and in the development of neutrophil-mediated ocular inflammation in a mouse model of river blindness. The development of acute and severe inflammatory responses in people infected with Brugia malayi and Onchocerca volvulus is associated with the release of Wolbachia into the blood following death or damage of the worms after anti-filarial chemotherapy. Together these studies suggest that Wolbachia are the principal cause of acute inflammatory filarial disease. Accumulated exposure to acute episodes of inflammation may also underlie the development of chronic filarial pathology. The use of antibiotic therapy to target Wolbachia of filarial parasites may therefore provide a means to prevent the development of filarial pathology.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: International Conference on Rickettsiae and Rickettsial Diseases, 4-7 September 2002, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Subjects: QW Microbiology and Immunology > QW 50 Bacteria (General). Bacteriology. Archaea
QZ Pathology > Pathogenesis. Etiology > QZ 40 Pathogenesis. Etiology
WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 880 Filariasis and related conditions (General)
Faculty: Department: Groups (2002 - 2012) > Molecular & Biochemical Parasitology Group
Digital Object Identifer (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2003.tb07409.x
Depositing User: Users 494 not found.
Date Deposited: 21 Jan 2013 11:19
Last Modified: 16 Sep 2019 09:01
URI: https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/2681

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