T helper cell cytokine responses during intestinal nematode infection: induction, regulation and effector function.

Abstract

Four disease models, Trichuris muris, Heligomosoides polygyrus, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and Trichinella spiralis, have prompted key developments in the understanding of immunity to nematode infections. This article reviews current findings on the induction and regulation of immunity to these infections based on studies employing these animal models, and highlights areas of the immune response that require further research. T cell and cytokine regulation of host protective immunity; regulation of helper T cell responses during nematode infection; and immune effector mechanisms involving antibodies, mast cells, eosinophils, and cytokines and enterocytes are discussed.