Immunomodulatory activity of diethylcarbamazine on humoral, cellular cytokine response and respiratory burst in BALB/c mice

Abstract

Diethylcarbamazine (DEC) is an anthelmintic piperazine derivative drug with putative immunomodulating properties, including increased platelet and granulocyte adhesion to parasites and enhanced production of cytokines. To further analyse these properties in a well-established animal model, we evaluated the effect of DEC on antibody, cellular cytokine response and respiratory burst in BALB/c mice. Animals were challenged with a thymus-dependent (tetanus toxoid, (TT)) and with a thymus-independent (lipopolysaccharide, (LPS)) antigen and treated with DEC for seven days with two different doses (50 mg/day and 500 mg/day). Serum was assessed for antibody production at 0, 4, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after stimulation and at 0, 24 and 48 h for IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-10 and IL-12 release. Respiratory burst of neutrophils and monocytes from peripheral blood was measured by flow cytometry. We found low-dose treatment with DEC enhanced cytokine production vs. TT and antibody production vs. LPS, whereas a higher dose enhanced significantly the respiratory burst of both polymorphonuclear leukocytes and monocytes, with a significant higher effect on the former. Our results suggest a stimulating, dose-dependent immunomodulatory effect of DEC with a higher effect on the phagocytic cells.

Keywords::

• Diethylcarbamazine
• immunomodulation
• cytokines
• antibody production
• respiratory burst

Acknowledgments

We thank head-librarian Martina-Christine Koschwitz at Bernhard Nocht Institute, Hamburg, Germany, and Dr Gloria Molina-Salinas from CIBIN-IMSS, Monterrey, Mexico, for specific bibliographical material. We thank the staff of CIMAT, Monterrey-Unit, for support on organizing data.

Declaration of interest

This work was supported by grant PAICyT SA-611-01 from Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, and by the department of Immunology, School of Medicine, UANL.