| dc.description.abstract | The effect of host infection, chronic clinical disease, and transmission intensity on the patterns of specific
antibody responses in Bancroftian filariasis was assessed by analyzing specific IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4, and IgE profiles
among adults from two communities with high and low Wuchereria bancrofti endemicity. In the high endemicity
community, intensities of the measured antibodies were significantly associated with infection status. IgG1, IgG2, and
IgE were negatively associated with microfilaria (MF) status, IgG3 was negatively associated with circulating filarial
antigen (CFA) status, and IgG4 was positively associated with CFA status. None of the associations were significantly
influenced by chronic lymphatic disease status. In contrast, IgG1, IgG2, and IgG4 responses were less vigorous in the low
endemicity community and, except for IgG4, did not show any significant associations with MF or CFA status. The IgG3
responses were considerably more vigorous in the low endemicity community than in the high endemicity one. Only
IgG4 responses exhibited a rather similar pattern in the two communities, being significantly positively associated with
CFA status in both communities. The IgG4:IgE ratios were higher in infection-positive individuals than in infectionnegative
ones, and higher in the high endemicity community than in the low endemicity one. Overall, these results
indicate that specific antibody responses in Bancroftian filariasis are more related to infection status than to chronic
lymphatic disease status. They also suggest that community transmission intensity play a dominant but subtle role in
shaping the observed response patterns. | en |
