Diese Arbeit behandelt die Immunantwort in Neugeborenen mit kongenitaler Chagas Infektion, die sich von der in Erwachsenen zu unterscheiden scheint, und so zu unterschiedlichen Pathologien führt. Die Konzentrationen von IL-18, IFN-γ und IL-10 wurden in Seren von Neugeborenen mit kongenitaler Chagas Erkrankung, kongenitaler Toxoplasmose Erkrankung und gesunden Kinder untersucht. Die pro- inflammatorischen Zytokine IL-18 und IFN-γ waren in Neugeborenen mit kongenitaler Chagas und Toxoplasmose signifikant zur Kontrollgruppe erniedrigt, während die kongenitale Chagas Gruppe signifant erhöhte Werte des gegenregulatorischen IL-10 aufwies. Die weißt darauf hin dass IL-10 eine gegenregulatorische Funktion in der kongenitalen Chagas und Toxoplasmose Erkrankung zur Suppression der pro-inflammatorischen Immunantwort übernimmt.
Little is known about the immune responses of newborns with congenital Chagas disease (CCD) or congenital toxoplasmosis (CT) but they probably differ to those seen in adults with Chagas disease or toxoplasmosis, leading to differences in pathology. The concentrations of interleukin-18 (IL-18), interferon-c (IFN-c) and interleukin 10 (IL-10) in the sera of infants with CCD or CT were recently determined and compared with those in the sera of uninfected controls (born to mothers who were seropositive or seronegative for Trypanosoma cruzi). The infants with CCD or CT were found to have lower IL-18 and IFN-c concentrations but higher IL-10 concentrations than the uninfected controls. The IL-18 and IFN-c concentrations were also significantly lower in the infants with CCD than in those with CT. Although the infants with symptomatic CT had significantly higher serum concentrations of IL-18 than those with asymptomatic infection with Toxoplasma, the infants with symptomatic CCD had similar serum concentrations of IL-18 to the infants with asymptomatic Tr. cruzi infection. Taken together, these results indicate that IL-10 contributes to the suppression of pro-inflammatory immune responses and therefore, perhaps, to clinically overt CCD and CT.
