Immunology was founded by studying the body's response to infectious microorganisms,
and yet microbial prokaryotes only tell half the story of the immune system. Eukaryotic …

The increase of allergic diseases in the industrialized world has often been explained by a
decline in infections during childhood. The immunological explanation has been put into the …

The immune response to helminth infections has long been known to share key features
with the allergic response. In particular, both are typified by enhanced T helper 2 (Th2) …

BACKGROUND: Lactobacilli are probiotic bacteria that are frequently tested in the
management of allergic diseases or gastroenteritis. It is hypothesized that these probiotics have …

Schistosome infections are characterized by prominent T cell hyporesponsiveness during
the chronic stage of infection. We found that schistosome-specific phosphatidylserine (PS) …

Background Most of the effort directed at understanding the role infections have in preventing
allergy has focused on bacteria and viruses and their ability to divert the immune system …

Upon microbial infection, specific Th1 or Th2 responses develop depending on the type of
microbe. Here, we demonstrate that different microbial compounds polarize the maturation of …

Background. Several studies have shown an inverse association between helminth infections
and atopy, but none have clearly established that the pathogens themselves, rather than …

Soluble egg antigens of the parasitic helminth Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni egg
antigen [SEA]) induce strong Th2 responses both in vitro and in vivo. However, the specific …

Worldwide, more than a billion people are infected with helminths. These worm infections
generally do not lead to mortality, however, they are chronic in nature and can lead to …