Immune response of mice with alveolar echinococcosis to therapy with transfer factor, alone and in combination with albendazole.

The effect of dialysable leucocyte extract (transfer factor TF) on immune response of mice infected with Echinococcus multilocularis and treated with albendazole (ABZ) was observed. TF administration increased the parasite-suppressed proliferative response of T and B lymphocytes of infected mice from weeks 8 to 12 or 14 post infection (p.i.), respectively, with the most stimulative effect after TF+ABZ therapy. The CD4 T cell presence in the spleen of infected mice with TF or TF+ABZ therapy was increased from weeks 6 to 12 or 14 p.i., respectively. The production of IFN-gamma (Th1 cytokine) after TF or TF+ABZ therapy was significantly higher from weeks 6 to 12 p.i., and during this time, the significantly inhibited IL-5 synthesis (Th2 cytokine) was detected, particularly after TF+ABZ therapy. The superoxide anion (O2-) production in peritoneal macrophages of infected mice treated with TF or TF+ABZ was stimulated from weeks 8 to 18 p.i. The immunomodulative effect of TF reduced the growth of larval cysts till week 14 p.i. with a comparable intensity to the anthelmintic drug ABZ. Combined therapy TF+ABZ resulted in the greatest parasite restriction and reduced the cyst development till the end of the experiment.