Early Human Infection withOnchocerca volvulusIs Associated with an Enhanced Parasite‐Specific Cellular Immune Response

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Abstract
The immune response after early exposure to or infection with Onchocerca volvulus was investigated in an autochthonous focus caused by the migration of infected persons to a previously unaffected area in Ecuador. Peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferative and cytokine responses (interferon [IFN]–γ and interleukin [IL]–5) to filarial antigens were measured in 14 subjects with serologic evidence of exposure and in 7 subjects with evidence of dermal microfilarial DNA and were compared with responses in 43 subjects with chronic O. volvulus infections. PBMC proliferative and cytokine responses (IFN-γ and IL-5) to parasite antigens were elevated in the early exposure/infection group, compared with those in the chronic infection group. Addition of an IL-10–neutralizing antibody to filaria antigen–stimulated cultures resulted in significantly elevated proliferative responses in the chronic infection group. The findings suggest that early exposure and early parasite patency are associated with a vigorous cellular response, but, as infections become chronic, the cellular response becomes down-regulated, partly through an IL-10–dependent mechanism

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