Helminth infections, allergic disorders and immune responses: studies in Indonesia

Author(s):
Wahyuni, Sitti
Published
2006
Publication type
Doctoral Thesis

Abstract

The studies present in this thesis fall into two broad areas: the first focusing on filarial infection, Ig (immunoglobulin)E levels and risk factors for infection, while the second deals with the possible associations between nematode infection and allergy. Compared to ELISA, RAST is superior in detecting filarial specific IgE in endemic area of Brugia malayi. Levels of filaria-specific IgE and IgG4 in children up to 10 years correlated with maternal antibody levels. Genetic factors had a more pronounced effect in children than in adults. The use of objective measurements, such as skin prick test (SPT) and IgE levels are required when conducting epidemiological studies of allergic diseases in Indonesia. Study on risk factors of allergy in Indonesia showed that nutritional status of children in the high socioeconomic school negatively associate with SPT and IgE positivity but we did not show a statistically significant role for helminths in inhibiting SPT responses. In endemic area of lymphatic filariasis, genetic factors contribute significantly to both total and allergen-specific IgE, whereas environmental factors influence the clustering of SPT positivity. By using several TLR ligands it was demonstrated that the dynamics of cytokine production following the innate immune stimulation can differ according to helminth infection status.

AllergyClusteringFilariaHelminthIgEIgG4ISAACSocioeconomicSPTTLR
Defense date
2006-11-22
Language
English
Supervisor(s)
Deelder, A.M.; Yazdanbakhsh, D.M.
Advisor(s)
Houwing-Duistermaat, J.J.
Qualification
Ph.D.
Degree granting institution
Faculty of Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden University, Leiden
hdl
1887/4986
ISBN(s)
9791527801

Funding

Sponsorship
The Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research (W93-325); Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education (NUFFIC); Van Deventer-Maas Stichting; European Commission, INCO programme, contract no: ICA4-CT-2001-10081; GLOFAL project FP6-2003-FOOD-2-B; Indonesia Embassy in the Netherlands, and Pembinaan Iptek Kedokteran 2005, Litbangkes, Indonesia.