Toxoplasma gondii Suppresses Th2-Induced by Trichinella spiralis Infection and Downregulates Serine Protease Genes Expression: A Critical Role in Vaccine Development

BACKGROUND: Toxoplasma gondii coinfection can modify host immune responses and the severity and spread of other parasites. We investigated how T. gondii and Trichinella spiralis infections counter-regulate each other's immune responses. METHODS: The parasite burden, the expression of T. gondii rhoptry kinase ROP18 and T. spiralis putative serine protease (TsSP), the IgG1 and IgG2a responses, besides histopathological and immunohistochemical staining with iNOS and arginase were used to evaluate the dynamics of coinfection. RESULTS: Through their effects on host immune responsiveness, coinfection with T. gondii modified the virulence of T. spiralis infection. Coinfected animals with high and low doses of T. gondii demonstrated significant reductions in the T. spiralis burden of 75.2% and 68.2%, respectively. TsSP expression was downregulated in both groups by 96.2% and 86.7%, whereasROP18 expression was downregulated by only 6% and10.6%, respectively. In coinfected mice, elevated levels of T. gondii-specific IgG2a antibodies were detected. Th1 induced by T. gondii inhibits the Th2 response to T. spiralis in coinfected animals with high iNOS expression andlow-arginine1 expression. CONCLUSION: T. gondii infection induces a shift toward a Th1-type immune response while suppressing a helminth-specific Th2 immune response, paving the way for developing novel vaccines and more efficient control strategies.