Journal
TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE
Volume 101, Issue 11, Pages 1072-1074Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2007.05.014
Keywords
regulatory T-cells; T-reg; allergy; autoimmunity; hygiene hypothesis; helminths; mycobacteria
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The 'Hygiene' or 'Old Friends' hypothesis suggests that increases in chronic inflammatory disorders (allergies, inflammatory bowel disease and autoimmunity) in developed countries are partly attributable to diminishing exposure to organisms that were part of mammalian evolutionary history. Crucial organisms, including helminths and saprophytic mycobacteria, are recognised by the innate immune system as harmless or, in the case of helminths, as organisms that once established must be tolerated. This recognition then triggers development of regulatory dendritic cells that drive regulatory T-cell responses to the 'Old Friends' themselves and to simultaneously processed 'forbidden' target antigens of the chronic inflammatory disorders. (C) 2007 Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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