Anthelminthic treatment modifies cytokine profiles and improves the performance of tuberculin test in helminth-Mycobacterium bovis co-infection in cattle herds

Simeon Cadmus1,2* and Victor O. Akinseye 1,3

1Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; 
2Center for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; 3Department of Chemical Sciences, Augustine University Ilara-Epe, Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

While enormous efforts are directed at tackling the problems of human tuberculosis (TB) globally, the aspect of bovine TB (bTB) has received limited attention particularly in developing countries, where control policies are non-existent or inadequate. We compared the results of a single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin test (SICCTT) with cytokine profiles before and after anti-helminthic treatment in cattle in their natural environment. Cattle were initially subjected to SICCTT and their helminth status assessed by coprological test. Sixty days after, they were dewormed and the SICCTT was repeated with the coprological test. Also, we measured the level of total inducible type 1 (gamma interferon [IFN-γ]), type 2 (interleukine-4 [IL-4]) and regulatory (transforming growth factor-beta [TGF-β]) cytokines before and after anthelminthic therapy. Results showed that cattle co-infected with helminth-bTB have significantly (p = 0.000) lower levels of IFN-γ and higher levels of IL-4 and TGF-β. Conversely, anthelminthic therapy led to significantly (p=0.000) elevated levels of IFN-γ, concomitant (p =0.000) decreased levels of IL-4 and TGF-β, accompanied with two-third fold increase in the SICCTT. Overall, we show that anthelminthic treatment can improve the rate of SICCTT positivity and reverse the modulation of cytokine responses in helminth-bTB co-infection.