IMMUNOLOGICAL STUDIES N ONCHOCERCOSIS PATIENTS

Abstract

The immunological profile of onchocercosis patients from an endemic region in Venezuela was studied. The sample was made up of patients suffering from onchocercosis and undergoing treatment, persons previously treated and apparently cured of the disease and a group of apparently healthy individuals from the same area. During the course of the disease the immunological apparatus suffers only slight modifications since no great variations were found in the immunoglobulin levels, the 3rd component of the complement, the reactivity to DNCB [2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene] or the response of peripheral blood lymphocytes to mitogens. When under treatment the levels of serum Ig[immunoglobulin]G and IgM increase and C3 levels decrease. The slight modifications can be attributed to the low severity of the disease as only 1 patient of those studied presented clinical manifestations ascribable to the disease (onchocercoma).