الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The last three decades was a witness of a dramatic increase in the incidence of autoimmune inflammatory diseases in developed countries; such as type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Crohn׳s disease. Converging epidemiological evidence indicates that this increase is linked to improvement of the socio-economic level of these countries. Epidemiological and clinical data support the hygiene hypothesis as a main cause of the incessant increase in immune disorders. It was demonstrated that infections with agents, such as helminths, are able to inhibit the development of autoimmune pathology in animal models and also in humans such as S. mansoni which can inhibit type 1 diabetes. It generates a strongly polarized Th2 reaction, which can modulate Th1 immune responses to unrelated antigens. On the contrary, Activation of autoimmune mechanisms has been associated with infection with various parasites, the presence of pathogenic autoantibodies and autoreactive cytotoxic T cells to heart and nerve cells in patients with chagas disease.