Parasitic infection with Trichuris trichiura influences plasma levels of soluble HLA class I

ABSTRACT

High levels of sHLA-I(soluble HLA class 1) have been correlated with rejection episodes in solid organ transport recipients and with graft versus host disease in bone marrow recipients. Studies of human infection with parasitic worms of the gut have suggested that certain individuals may be genetically predisposed to intense infection. In this study, the influence of parasitic helminth infection on levels of sHLA-I in plasma was investigated in 155 HLA typed individuals from St. Lucia exposed to the gut parasite Trichuris trichiura. The results confirmed previous findings showing increased levels of sHLA-I in HLA-A9, and in this case HLA-A23 postive individuals. However, HLA-A9 positive individuals with high worm burden had significantly lower levels of sHLA-I in their plasma compared with HLA-A9 positive subjects with low worm burden. These results suggest that the intensity of T. trichiuria infection infection influences the ability of HLA-A9 positive subjects to maintain high levels of sHLA-I. (AU)