Increased Levels of Antibodies to IFN‐γ in Human and Experimental African Trypanosomiasis

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Abstract
In African trypanosomiasis the occurrence of antibodies to interferon-γ (IFN-γ) was studied in both humans and experimental rats. Sera from patients infected with Trypanosoma brucei gambiense showed increased levels of antibodies to IFN-γ as compared with controls from the same regions in Africa. In Sprague-Dawley rats infected with Trypanosoma brucei brucei an early appearance of IFN-γ-producing spleen cells was observed, followed by an increase in levels of antibodies against IFN-γ in the sera. Previously, IFN-γ has been found to play a crucial role in trypanosome infections in rats by promoting proliferation of Trypanosoma brucei brucei. The appearance of antibodies to IFN-γ in humans, as in rats, indicates that this cytokine is produced also in the human infection. Its parasitic growthstimulating and pathophysiological effects on the organism may be reduced by the antibodies.

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