Prevention of changes in airway function facilitates Strongyloides venezuelensis infection in rats

Alterations in lung function and pulmonary symptoms have been described in patients infected with helminths with a lung cycle. We have previously shown that infection with the nematode Strongyloides venezuelensis induced a significant increase in airway hyperreactivity in infected rats. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that bronchodilation during the lung phase of parasite migration would favor completion of the life cycle and infection indices. For this purpose, S. venezuelensis infected rats were treated with salbutamol during the first 48 h after the nematode infection. At the dose used (0.25 mg/mL for 10 min every 4 h), treatment with salbutamol prevented changes in lung function during the parasite migration. This was accompanied by a significant increase in parasite burden, as assessed in the lung and the small intestine. Parasite infected and salbutamol-treated animals also showed a significant increase in concentration of IL-10 and IL-4 in homogenates of lungs during the worm migration that was followed by stronger lung eosinophilic inflammation at 5 dpi, after the larvae had left the host lung. Our data indicates that airway hyperactivity reduce parasite progression through the lung, facilitating the action of innate or adaptive immune mechanisms.