Development of an animal model for neurocysticercosis: Immune response in the central nervous system is characterized by a predominance of gamma delta T cells

Neurocysticercosis is the most common parasitic disease of the central nerv ous system worldwide. It is caused by the metacestode form of the helminth Taenia solium. Study of the immune response in the human brain has been lim ited by the chronic progression of the disease, the influence of corticoste roid treatment, and the scarcity of patients who undergo surgical intervent ion. To better understand the immune response and associated pathology in n eurocysticercosis, a mouse model was developed by intracranial infection of BALB/c mice with Mesocestoides corti, a cestode organism related to T. sol ium. The immune response reveals the presence of abundant inflammatory infi ltrates appearing as early as 2 days postinfection in extraparenchymal regi ons, In contrast, infiltration of immune cells into parenchymal tissue is s ignificantly delayed. There is a natural progression of innate (neutrophils and macrophages), early induced (NK cells and gamma delta T cells), and ad aptive immune responses (alpha beta T cells and B cells) in infected mice, gamma delta T cells are the predominant T cell population, A cell-mediated Th1 pathway of cytokine expression is evident in contrast to the previously described Th2 phenotype induced in the periphery.