Chitinase 3-Like 1 Protein Levels Are Elevated in Schistosoma haematobium Infected Children

Abstract

BackgroundCurrently there are few studies characterising the nature and aetiology of human schistosome-related inflammatory processes. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between Chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1), also known as YKL-40, a molecule associated with inflammatory processes, and schistosome infection, morbidity and systemic cytokine levels.MethodsSerological levels of CHI3L1 and a panel of cytokines (IFN-y, IL-4/5/6/9/10/13 and 17) were measured in two Zimbabwean populations resident in a high and low schistosome infection area. CHI3L1 levels were related to schistosome infection, haematuria status and cytokine levels after allowing for confounding variables. The effect of antihelminthic treatment with praziquantel on CHI3L1 levels was determined in 246 participants 6 weeks post-treatment.ResultsCHI3L1 levels increased with age in both areas but were significantly higher in the high infection areas compared to the low infection area. CHI3L1 levels were also higher in infected compared to uninfected individuals with this difference being significant in the youngest age group. Curative antihelminthic treatment resulted in a significant decrease in CHI3L1 levels. Of the cytokines, only IL-10 and IL-17 had a significant association with CHI3L1 levels, and this association was negative.ConclusionsSerum CHI3L1 levels differ between infected and uninfected people before and after antihelminthic treatment. The greatest difference occurs in the youngest age group, in keeping with the period when schistosome-related pathological processes are initiated. Following from previous studies in non-infectious diseases showing that CHI3L1 is a biomarker for the inflammatory process, this study suggests that the potential for CHI3L1 as a biomarker for schistosome-related pathology should be explored further.

Topical praziquantel as a new treatment for perioral dermatitis: results of a randomized vehicle-controlled pilot study

“…Treating individuals with PZQ leads to a decrease in the protein CH3L1 (chitinase 3‐like 1; also called YKL‐40) which is secreted mainly by inflammatory cells. Furthermore, increased serum levels of YKL‐40 have been reported in conditions with inflammation and/or tissue remodelling, such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn disease and cancers .…”

CD16 Expression on Monocytes in Healthy Individuals but Not Schistosome-Infected Patients Is Positively Associated with Levels of Parasite-Specific IgG and IgG1

“…In particular, chitinase 3-like 1 protein, a marker of inflammation that has been linked to schistosome-related hepatic fibrosis [50], was found to be highest in the older people harbouring infection [49]. Indeed, with increasing age, and thus duration of exposure to schistosomes, differences in the immune system become more apparent, and studies investigating myeloid derived dendritic cells from members of the same residential area have, similar to results presented here, shown age related changes with infection [33].…”

Chitinase-like proteins as regulators of innate immunity and tissue repair: helpful lessons for asthma?

“…At least in mice, studies are hampered by limited tools to detect or analyse Ym2, as this protein has high sequence similarity (~95%) to Ym1 (Figure 1) and is the least abundant murine CLP [10,27]. YKL-40 is the best studied CLP in terms of disease associations with increased expression levels found in infection [28,29], fibrosis [30,31], multiple sclerosis [32], lung disease [33] and many more pathologies. Probably not surprisingly, BRP-39 in mice is often referred to as the "prototypical" CLP because it is the genetic orthologue of YKL-40 in humans.…”

“…However, whilst BRP-39 is upregulated in various mouse models of infection and pathology, Ym1 seems to more closely mimic the effects of YKL-40 as it is often upregulated to a greater degree than BRP-39 and seems to share functional similarities to YKL-40 [10]. For example, both YKL-40 and Ym1 levels are greatly increased in the serum following injury, inflammation or in unbalanced immune responses [28,34]. Additionally, these two CLPs are expressed in neutrophils [35] and are increased following either IL-4/IL-13 or IFNγ stimulation [36].…”