Pigs may provide model for Blastocystis immune response

An Austrial study of pigs reports that 81.5% of animals studies showed fecal IgA response to Blastocystis antigens.  Immunosuppressed pigs were significantly more likely to show a response to Blastocystis antigens than immunocompetent pigs.  Fecal IgA response has previously been studied in humans, but this may be one of the first studies on animal response.  The researchers noted that since pigs infected with Blastocystis do not show intestinal pathology, a trait shared with many humans infected with Blastocystis,  those animals may provide a good model for some human infections.  The study was published in Parasite Immunology.

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