Journal article
Prospective Study in a Porcine Model of Sarcoptes scabiei Indicates the Association of Th2 and Th17 Pathways with the Clinical Severity of Scabies
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol.9(3), pp.1-17
2015
PMCID: PMC4346266
PMID: 25730203
Appears in UniSC Supported Open Access Outputs
Abstract
Scabies is a neglected tropical skin disease caused by the tiny parasitic mite Sarcoptes scabiei. Scabies is common in developing countries, and scabies outbreaks also occur in institutional settings worldwide. Scabies often underlies secondary bacterial skin infection and resulting complications, and is thus associated with considerable morbidity. Crusted scabies is a an extremely severe and debilitating clinical form of the disease, but host immune responses leading to the development of crusted or ordinary scabies are poorly understood. This is largely due to limited access to clinical samples, and the difficulty in monitoring the progression of infestation in human patients. We have overcome this challenge by using a pig model of scabies infestation, since pigs and humans with scabies display clinical and immunological similarities. In this study, we undertook longitudinal analysis of clinical, histological and molecular immunological changes in pigs experimentally infected with scabies. We confirmed that disease severity was associated with a pronounced allergic, Th2 immune response, as previously reported. In a novel finding, we showed that the Th17 associated cytokines interleukin-17 and interleukin-23 were also associated with the development of crusted scabies. This may lead to new immunotherapeutic strategies to protect vulnerable subjects from contracting recurrent crusted scabies.
Details
- Title
- Prospective Study in a Porcine Model of Sarcoptes scabiei Indicates the Association of Th2 and Th17 Pathways with the Clinical Severity of Scabies
- Authors
- Kate E Mounsey (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and EngineeringHugh C Murray (Author) - QIMR Berghofer Medical Research InstituteHelle Bielefeldt-Ohmann (Author) - University of QueenslandCielo Pasay (Author) - QIMR Berghofer Medical Research InstituteDeborah C Holt (Author) - Charles Darwin UniversityBart J Currie (Author) - Charles Darwin UniversityShelley F Walton (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and EngineeringJames S McCarthy (Author) - University of Queensland
- Publication details
- PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol.9(3), pp.1-17
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science
- Date published
- 2015
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003498
- ISSN
- 1935-2727
- PMID
- 25730203; PMC4346266
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2015 Mounsey et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
- Data Availability
- The authors confirm that all data underlying the findings are fully available without restriction. All data are included in the manuscript.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - Biomedicine; School of Health and Sport Sciences - Legacy; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449123402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Infectious Diseases
- Parasitology
- Tropical Medicine
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