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Washington University School of Medicine
Scans show immune cells intercepting parasites
December 24th, 2008
Researchers may have identified one of the body's earliest responses to a group of parasites that causes illness in developing nations. In a paper published online in Public Library of Science Pathogens, scientists report that they tracked immune cells as they patrolled the second-shallowest layer of the skin in an animal model. Injections of a genetically modified form of the parasite Leishmania major caused the immune cells to turn from their patrols and move to intercept the parasites. The same parasites are now infecting U.S. soldiers on patrol in Iraq and Afghanistan, where sand flies, the insects whose bites spread Leishmania, are endemic. The...
Source: Vaccine Weekly (2008-12-24)
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