AN INVERSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUTOIMMUNE LIVER DISEASES AND STRONGYLOIDES STERCORALIS INFECTION

• Published in: The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 76; no. 5; pp. 972 - 976
• Main Authors: AOYAMA, HAJIME, HIRATA, TETSUO, SAKUGAWA, HIROSHI, WATANABE, TAKAKO, MIYAGI, SATORU, MAESHIRO, TATSUJI, CHINEN, TAKAYUKI, KAWANE, MARIKO, ZAHA, OSAMU, NAKAYOSHI, TOMOKUNI, KINJO, FUKUNORI, FUJITA, JIRO
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lawrence, KS ASTMH 01.05.2007; Allen Press
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Animals; Autoimmune Diseases - complications; Autoimmune Diseases - immunology; Autoimmune Diseases - parasitology; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Diseases caused by nematodes; Eosinophils - cytology; Feces - parasitology; Female; Helminthic diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Japan - epidemiology; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary - complications; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary - immunology; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary - parasitology; Liver Diseases - complications; Liver Diseases - immunology; Liver Diseases - parasitology; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Parasitic diseases; Prevalence; Strongyloides stercoralis; Strongyloidiasis - complications; Strongyloidiasis - epidemiology; Strongyloidiasis - physiopathology; Strongyloidosis; Japan; Infection; Human; Immunopathology; Strongyloidiasis; Nematode disease; Digestive diseases; Hepatic disease; Autoimmune disease; Tropical medicine; Parasitosis; Helminthiasis
• ISSN: 0002-9637; 1476-1645
• DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.2007.76.972

A case-control study was undertaken to describe the prevalence of Strongyloides stercoralis infection among patients with autoimmune liver diseases, such as primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). This study covered 4,117 patients who were admitted to hospitals in Okinawa, Japan, between 1988 and 2006. During this period, 538 patients had the following chronic liver diseases: PBC, AIH, PSC, chronic viral hepatitis group, and alcoholic liver disease. The other 3,579 patients who were hospitalized and underwent parasitologic tests served as controls. The frequency of S. stercoralis infection in the autoimmune liver diseases group (1.0%) was lower than that found in the control group (7.0%; P = 0.0063). None of the female patients with PBC born before 1955 had S. stercoralis infection, which was also statistically significant (P = 0.045). We hypothesized that immunomodulation by S. stercoralis infection may lower the incidence of autoimmune liver disease.