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Background Children of mothers infected with soil-transmitted helminths (STH) may have an increased susceptibility to STH infection. Methods and Findings We did a case-control study nested in a birth cohort in Ecuador. Data from 1,004 children aged 7 months to 3 years were analyzed. Cases were defined as children with Ascaris lumbricoides and/or Trichuris trichiura, controls without. Exposure was defined as maternal infection with A. lumbricoides and/or T. trichiura, detected during the third trimester of pregnancy. The analysis was restricted to households with a documented infection to control for infection risk. Children of mothers with STH infections had a greater risk of infection compared to children of uninfected mothers (adjusted OR 2.61, 95% CI: 1.88–3.63, p, Author Summary Soil-transmitted helminths (intestinal worms) are among the most common childhood infections worldwide and are a significant cause of morbidity particularly among poor populations living in developing countries. The potent immune modulatory effects of these parasites have been suggested to be a determinant of the epidemiological distributions of other infectious diseases (e.g., HIV and tuberculosis) and allergy. There is strong epidemiological evidence that some individuals have an increased susceptibility to re-infection after treatment and the mechanisms underlying this are not well understood. A possible explanation is that in utero exposure to maternal STH infections may increase the risk of infection during childhood, but, as far as we are aware, no published study has addressed this hypothesis for STH infections in humans. In this study, we evaluated whether children of mothers infected with STH infections have a greater risk of infection when compared to children of uninfected mothers. We also examined whether this increased susceptibility to infection might occur through the tolerogenic effects of increased levels in the systemic circulation of the immune regulatory cytokine IL-10, in early life. Our data provide evidence that maternal STH infections predispose children to infections with STH parasites, and this effect was associated with elevated levels of IL-10 in newborn blood.

Background Environment may have a key role in the development of the immune system in childhood and environmental exposures associated with rural residence may explain the low prevalence of allergic and autoimmune diseases in the rural tropics. We investigated the effects of urban versus rural residence on the adaptive immune response in children living in urban and rural areas in a tropical region of Latin America. Methods We recruited school children in either rural communities in the Province of Esmeraldas or in urban neighborhoods in the city of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. We collected data on environmental exposures by questionnaire and on intestinal parasites by examination of stool samples. Peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) in whole blood were stimulated with superantigen, parasite antigens and aeroallergens and IFN-γ, IL-5, IL-10, IL-13, and IL-17 were measured in supernatants. Results We evaluated 440 school children; 210 living in rural communities and 230 in the city of Esmeraldas. Overall, urban children had greater access to piped water (urban 98.7 % vs. rural 1.9 %), were more likely to have a household bathroom (urban 97.4 % vs. rural 54.8 %), and were less likely to be infected with soil-transmitted helminth infections (urban 20.9 % vs. rural 73.5 %). Generally, detectable levels of cytokines were more frequent in blood from children living in urban than rural areas. Urban residence was associated with a significantly greater frequency of IL-10 production spontaneously (adjusted OR 2.56, 95 % CI 1.05-6.24) and on stimulation with Ascaris (adj. OR 2.5, 95 % CI 1.09-5.79) and house dust mite (adj. 2.24, 95 % CI 1.07-4.70) antigens. Analysis of effects of environmental exposures on SEB-induced IL-10 production within urban and rural populations showed that some environmental exposures indicative of poor hygiene (urban – higher birth order, A. lumbricoides infection; rural - no bathroom, more peri-domiciliary animals, and living in a wood/bamboo house) were associated with elevated IL-10. Conclusions In our study population, the immune response of children living in an urban environment was associated more frequently with the production of the immune regulatory cytokine, IL-10. Some factors related to poor hygiene and living conditions were associated with elevated IL-10 production within urban and rural populations. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40413-015-0071-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.