Host effector mechanisms against parasites.

Abstract

The first part of this presentation considers some of the complexities of parasitic infections and parasite-specific effector mechanisms which have hampered the development of practical methods of immunisation against parasitic diseases. In the second part, an outline is given of the effector mechanisms involved in immunity of cattle to the protozoan parasite Theileria parva. Parasites are antigenically complex organisms which often have distinct developmental stages, sometimes with different predilection sites within the host. Antigenic polymorphism between strains is a common feature of parasites and sometimes results in strain-specific immunity. Certain parasites have also evolved mechanisms of modulating surface antigens which allow them to escape host effector mechanism. Effector mechanisms which control parasitic infections may operate by preventing establishment of the parasites, by eliminating the parasites once they have established or by affecting growth or fecundity of the parasites. In addition to specific antibody and cell-mediated immune responses, inflammatory or physiological responses play an important role in the control of some parasites. Current evidence suggests that effector mechanisms against T.parva parasites operate at two levels. First, antibodies produced against the infective stage of the parasite, the sporozoite, can, by neutralising infectivity, reduce the numbers of organisms which establish in the host. Second, cytotoxic T cells directed against parasitised lymphoblasts cause destruction of parasites following their establishment in the host. Moreover, in situations where immunity is parasite strain-specific, the cytotoxic T cell responses have also been found to be strain-specific. The elucidation of these effector mechanisms has indicated potential new strategies of immunisation against T.parva.