Fig 1.
Stronger peripheral pro-inflammatory responses in serum are associated with parenchymal disease.
(A) Inflammatory, (B) Th2 cytokines and (C) growth factors and (D) other cytokines/chemokines levels in sera were assessed by multiplex bead array technology. The results are shown as a patient:matched control ratio calculated for each cytokine concentration. Data presented are the mean ± SEM of 16 NCC patients with cysts in parenchymal or 13 patients with subarachnoid locations. * p<0.05 indicates statistically significant differences between the groups compared by using the Mann Whitney U test.
Fig 2.
Regulatory immune responses to parasite antigens are higher in subarachnoid disease compared to parenchymal disease.
Culture supernatant were collected at 48 h and assessed for IL-10 production by PBMC after stimulation with T. solium antigen (20 and 40 μg/ml). The results are shown as a patient:matched control ratio calculated for cytokine concentrations. Data presented are the mean ± SEM of 16 NCC patients with parenchymal or 13 patients with subarachnoid location, respectively. *p<0.05 indicate statistically significant differences between the groups compared by using Mann Whitney U test.
Fig 3.
NCC patients with subarachnoid cysts show expanded peripheral CD16+CD56+ cells.
(A) Representative FACS staining of lymphocytes in peripheral blood from a healthy subject. T cells, NK and B cells were identified by gating on the lymphocyte population using forward and side scatter parameters (B) Phenotyping of PBMC for NK cells (CD16+CD56+) was performed by flow cytometry. Data presented are the mean ± SEM of the ratio of cell frequencies (%) for patient:matched controls for NCC patients with parenchymal (n = 16) and subarachnoid (n = 13) cysts. * indicate statistically significant differences (p<0.05) between the three groups compared pairwise with medium alone by Mann Whitney U test.
Fig 4.
Frequencies of circulating regulatory T-cells in PBMC following T. solium antigen stimulation.
(A) Representative plots showing fluorescence for the isotype control mAbs for Tregs-specific mAbs in lymphocytes, and expression of CD25, CD127 and FoxP3 in unstimulated and TS Ag-stimulated cells (B) Gating strategy for Treg analysis in PBMC from NCC patient. Cells defined by the lymphocytes gate were analyzed for CD4 and CD25 expression, and CD4/CD25 double positive cells were analyzed for expression of CD127 and FoxP3 to identify Treg (CD127low/-FoxP3+) cells and (C) Regulatory T cells in each study group enumerated by flow cytometry after culture with medium alone or T. solium antigen (20 and 40 μg/ml) on day 3. Data presented are the mean ± SEM of NCC patients with parenchymal (n = 16) and subarachnoid disease (n = 13). * indicate statistically significant differences (p<0.05) between the three groups compared pairwise with medium alone by Mann Whitney U test.