ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2015
Interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10 Are Up Regulated in Late Stage Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense Sleeping Sickness.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- From parasite-induced immune activation to neuroinflammation and behavioral dysfunction: convergent mechanisms across protozoa and helminths: a review.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Review
- Roles of cytokines in modulatingFrontiers in parasitology · 2025Article
- Toxicities Associated with Systemic Administration of Interleukin-6 in Wistar Albino Rats.Journal of experimental pharmacology · 2025Article
- Q586B2 is a crucial virulence factor during the early stages of Trypanosoma brucei infection that is conserved amongst trypanosomatids.Nature communications · 2024Article
- The Role of MIF and IL-10 as Molecular Yin-Yang in the Modulation of the Host Immune Microenvironment During Infections: African Trypanosome Infections as a Paradigm.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Review
- Plasma cytokines quantification amongMalawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi · 2021Article
- A Preliminary Study on the Relationship between Parasitaemia and Cytokine Expression of Peripheral Blood Cells inAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- Blood signatures for second stage human African trypanosomiasis: a transcriptomic approach.BMC medical genomics · 2020Article
- SNPs in IL4 and IFNG show no protective associations with human African trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a case-control study.AAS open research · 2020Article
- Plasma cytokine profiles associated withAllergy, asthma, and clinical immunology : official journal of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2019Article
- Cytokine profiles among patients co-infected withAllergy, asthma, and clinical immunology : official journal of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2018Article
- Host-Directed Drug Therapies for Neglected Tropical Diseases Caused by Protozoan Parasites.Frontiers in microbiology · 2018Review
- Inflammatory and Pro-resolving Lipids in Trypanosomatid Infections: A Key to Understanding Parasite Control.Frontiers in microbiology · 2018Review
- Serum biochemical parameters and cytokine profiles associated with natural African trypanosome infections in cattle.Parasites & vectors · 2017Article
- The role of cytokines in the pathogenesis and staging of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense sleeping sickness.Allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology : official journal of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2016Review
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5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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Abstract
backgroundSleeping sickness due to Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense has a wide spectrum of clinical presentations coupled with differences in disease progression and severity across East and Southern Africa. The disease progresses from an early (hemo-lymphatic) stage to the late (meningoencephalitic) stage characterized by presence of parasites in the central nervous system. We hypothesized that disease progression and severity of the neurological response is modulated by cytokines.
methodsA total of 55 sleeping sickness cases and 41 healthy controls were recruited passively at Lwala hospital, in Northern Uganda. A panel of six cytokines (IFN-γ, IL1-β, TNF-α, IL-6, TGF-β and IL-10) were assayed from paired plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. Cytokine concentrations were analyzed in relation to disease progression, clinical presentation and severity of neurological responses.
resultsMedian plasma levels (pg/ml) of IFN-γ (46.3), IL-6 (61.7), TGF-β (8755) and IL-10 (256.6) were significantly higher in cases compared to controls (p< 0.0001). When early stage and late stage CSF cytokines were compared, IL-10 and IL-6 were up regulated in late stage patients and were associated with a reduction in tremors and cranioneuropathy. IL-10 had a higher staging accuracy with a sensitivity of 85.7% (95% CI, 63.7%-97%) and a specificity of 100% (95% CI, 39.8%-100%) while for IL-6, a specificity of 100% (95% CI, 47.8%-100%) gave a sensitivity of 83.3% (95% CI, 62.2%-95.3%).
conclusionOur study demonstrates the role of host inflammatory cytokines in modulating the progression and severity of neurological responses in sleeping sickness. We demonstrate here an up-regulation of IL-6 and IL-10 during the late stage with a potential as adjunct stage biomarkers. Given that both cytokines could potentially be elevated by other CNS infections, our findings should be further validated in a large cohort of patients including those with other inflammatory diseases such as cerebral malaria.
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