Cystic echinococcosis is a widespread zoonosis caused by the larval stage of the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus. In intermediary hosts, two types of echinococcal cysts can be found: fertile, which produce protoscoleces, the infective form of the parasite to dogs; and infertile, that do not present protoscoleces and therefore are not able to continue with the parasite life cycle. The adventitial layer, the local immune response against the cyst, plays an important role in cyst fertility. Grazing cattle can often feature Fasciola hepatica co-infection, a parasite known to modulate the host systemic immune response. In this work the cellular Th1/Th2 immune profiles were evaluated in the adventitial layer of fertile and non-fertile cysts with and without co-infection with Fasciola hepatica. Measuring with immunohistochemistry and qPCR in adventitial layer, we report that non-fertile cysts present higher levels of Th1 cytokines (IFN-γ (P < 0.0001) and TNF-α (P < 0.05)), and fertile cysts have higher levels of Th2 cytokines (IL-4 (P < 0.001)). Co-infection with Fasciola hepatica is associated with a decrease in the expression of IL-4 (P < 0.05) and an increase in the expression of IFN-γ (P < 0.0001) in the adventitial layer of fertile cysts. Non-fertile cysts were associated with higher levels of Th1 cytokines in the adventitial layer, with IFN-γ expression enhanced by F. hepatica co-infection (P < 0.0001), confirming that polyparasitism should be considered in the treatment and control of naturally infected cattle.

囊性棘球蚴病是由细粒棘球绦虫幼虫期引起的广泛人畜共患病。在中间宿主中，可以发现两种类型的棘球蚴包囊：可繁殖的，产生原球囊，寄生虫对狗的感染形式；和不育的，不存在原头节，因此不能继续寄生虫的生命周期。外膜层是针对囊肿的局部免疫反应，在囊肿生育中起着重要作用。放牧牛通常会感染肝片吸虫，这是一种已知可调节宿主全身免疫反应的寄生虫。在这项工作中，细胞 Th1/Th2 免疫谱在可育和非可育囊肿的外膜层中进行了评估，有和没有共同感染肝片形吸虫。在外膜层用免疫组织化学和 qPCR 进行测量，我们报告说非可育囊肿呈现出更高水平的 Th1 细胞因子（IFN-γ（P < 0.0001）和 TNF-α（P < 0.05）），而可育囊肿具有更高水平的 Th2细胞因子（IL-4（P < 0.001））。与肝片吸虫共感染与可育囊肿外膜 IL-4 表达降低（P < 0.05）和 IFN-γ 表达增加（P < 0.0001）有关。不能生育的囊肿与外膜层中较高水平的 Th1 细胞因子相关，肝脏 F.共感染增强了 IFN-γ 表达（P < 0.0001），证实在治疗和控制自然感染时应考虑多寄生牛。