Infection with helminth parasites and treatment with worm extracts can suppress inflammatory disease, including colitis. Postulating that dendritic cells (DCs) participated in the suppression of inflammation and seeking to move beyond the use of helminths per se, we tested the ability of Hymenolepis diminuta antigen-pulsed DCs to suppress colitis as a novel cell-based immunotherapy. Bone marrow derived DCs pulsed with H. diminuta antigen (HD-DCs), or PBS-, BSA-, or LPS-DCs as controls, were transferred into wild-type (WT), interleukin-10 (IL-10) knock-out (KO),Additional supporting information may be found in the online version of this article at the publisher's web-site
IntroductionOver the last three generations there has been a substantial rise in the incidence and prevalence of inflammatory disease especially in developed nations, but also in developing countries [1]. As autoimmune, inflammatory, and idiopathic diseases (e.g. inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]) emerge as global threats, and with awareness Correspondence: Dr. Derek M. McKay e-mail: dmckay@ucalgary.ca of the shortcomings of current therapies for these chronic debilitating conditions, there is a pressing need to advance knowledge of novel means to treat and ultimately cure inflammatory disease. Amongst many potential candidates, infection with helminth parasites has generated considerable interest because the host response to these parasites involves a range of endogenous immunoregulatory events. Infection with helminth parasites is a potent stimulus on the mammalian immune system, with remarkable commonality between mice and humans [2]. Furthermore, helminths are not mere passive victims of the host immune response; they C 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.eji-journal.eu Eur. J. Immunol. 2015. 45: 3126-3139 Immunomodulation 3127 have evolved multiple means to circumvent the host's anti-worm response [3]. Consequently, it was postulated that infection with parasitic helminths could ameliorate concomitant disease. Preclinical murine experimentation, case reports, and small clinical trials have demonstrated that infection with helminths reduces the severity of inflammatory disease [4][5][6][7], via a variety of mechanisms such as mobilization of regulatory T (Treg) and B (Breg) cells and the synthesis of .As an alternative to infection with viable helminth parasites, systemic administration of crude extracts of a variety of helminth parasites has been shown to inhibit inflammation, including colitis [9][10][11]. However, to date, it has proven challenging to isolate pure single bioactive molecules from helminth parasites [12][13][14] that could serve as new drugs: indeed, a combination of helminthderived molecules may be required to effectively suppress immune activity and protect against immunopathology/inflammatory disease.Expanding upon the evidence that infection with helminth parasites or treatment with worm extracts inhibit inflammation, one can hypothesize that priming a specific immune regulatory or effector cell in vit...