DES PARASITES QUI CONTRÔLENT LE CORPS ET L'ESPRIT

What are the Parasites that Control Humans?

Lien entre l'intestin et le système immunitaire

The field of research is expanding on the interconnectedness of our immune system with our gut flora and we know that 70% of a person’s immune system resides in the wall of the colon. Our immune system begins developing the day we are born, it’s a temporary passive immunity which is passed from mother to baby occurring when the mother’s bacteria reaches the colon and stimulates the immune cells within the walls. Therefore, if our gut is comprised then so is our immunity.

L'immunité passive est transmise de la mère au bébé.

The gut is also where most parasites make their home and if the conditions are favourable, they lay eggs, multiply and latch on to the gut lining. This inhabitation can cause symptoms relating to gastrointestinal disorders. In the Journal Parasite Immunology, Dr. Kamal, explains that parasitic activity often weakens the immune system’s ability to effectively respond to vaccines and medication because such worms induce an immune response that is less responsive than normal to the antigens.

Les parasites peuvent manipuler les fonctions cérébrales de leur hôte :

Parasites have the ability in some cases to take over the mind and the will of their host, take for example the neurological parasite toxoplasma gondi tachyzoite, once this protozoan parasite makes its journey into the brain, it can dramatically alter the behaviour of the host, not just in cats and rats but also in controlling the brains of their human hosts. 

T- gondi tachyzoites can also hibernate for a long time within humans without any symptoms until its ready to leash out and strike. Research has estimated that around 30% of the population, possibly more than two billion of us are carrying the T- gondii tachyzoites in our brains at this present moment. 

Les parasites peuvent être comme des magiciens, altering the host’s brain chemistry to their advantage, take for example Dicrocoelium dendriticum, this Lancet liver fluke parasite directs the ants navigational skills against its free will into climbing to the top of a blade of grass where the ant waits in position to meet its deadly fate, to be eaten by an animal grazing on the grass. The parasite is then transferred into the grazing animal which houses the parasites eggs, the cycle continues…

Parasites that attacks certain species of crab eats up all the non- essential soft tissue inside of it and leaves the basics that allow locomotion, key muscles and optic nerve functions. The parasite is then able to take over the partially hollowed crab and use it like a puppet. 

Rabies is caused by a parasite and it produces a certain type of madness that will cause an infected host whether mammal or human, to bite or cause bloodshed with another mammal thereby allowing an opening of transmission for the parasite. Another example is infected rats with T-gondi tachyzoites, they become sexually aroused by the smell of cats, instead of being afraid they become fearless and run right into the cat’s domain where they are killed. 

This exchange releases the parasite into the cat which allows the egg laying cycle to start all over again.

des rats infectés par des parasites T-gondi sont sexuellement excités par des chats et deviennent intrépides

Studies have shown that the mental condition Schizophrenia jumped sharply at the beginning of the 20th century, when pets and domestic cat ownership became common.  There are variety of parasites that have a taste for the brain and we now understand that neurological parasites can do serious damage, sometimes leaving hosts with compulsions, insanity and death.

des rats infectés par des parasites T-gondi sont sexuellement excités par des chats et deviennent intrépides

The Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society published that in areas with high T- gondii tachyzoite infection rates, these parasites could collectively alter the behavioural patterns of entire cultures, researchers have found Infected parents have a 30 percent rate of passing the parasite on to their children. 

There’s also some concern that the parasite may slows reaction times putting people at double risk of having traffic accidents, and a study in Jama Psychiatry found links between T- gondii tachyzoite and women’s risk of self-harm, such as self-mutilation. 

Des parasites mangeurs de cerveau peuvent provoquer des maladies mentales

La schizophrénie et d'autres problèmes de santé mentale pourraient-ils être liés à une influence parasitaire ?
of control of the human mind?  What then can parasitic brain control mean for human behaviour, compulsions and reactions?

Ce sujet est trop vaste pour être développé ici et mérite un article de blog dédié qui sera rédigé.

Les parasites n'aiment pas se faire prendre.

All successful microbial pathogens are accomplished evaders, altering the host’s immune defences and responses. The evolution of immune responses by microbes is thought to have occurred in step with evolution of the vertebrate immune system, involving the central nervous system, which is interconnected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus, brainstem, and associated with a variety of functions: motor control, cognition, emotions, and learning.

 

Parasites have evolved to manipulate the hosts immune cell recognition, activation and regulation by employing a wide range of discrete mechanisms. Some parasites even manage to feed on the host’s immune response, for example, Leishmania parasites are spread by the bite of infected sand flies and uses host cytokines (signalling immune-modulating agents) as personal growth factors or tapeworms using the hosts antibodies as nutrients.

 

Parasites are dependent on immunological evasion mechanisms; this is a direct consequence that these organisms must live for prolonged periods within the host tissues during their life cycle. At a minimum the duration must be long enough for the organisms to replicate and develop fully into the life span cycle, allowing them to multiply for future successful transmissions or takeovers, leaving an heir to the throne so to speak.

Contrôle parasitaire sur l'immunité passive et active

Immune evasion is initiated by the parasite and the host is always the responding party. Parasites evade host immunity by employing both “passive” and “active” strategies. Passive evasion includes the altered display of MAMPs (microbe associated molecular patterns) to avoid activation of the hosts innate immune cell pattern recognition receptors, as well as the classic antigen variation in which the display of the molecule to which the antibody attaches itself is altered to avoid recognition by B and T lymphocytes immune system guards and killer cells. Many successful parasites and pathogens exhibit antigenic variation to avoid immune elimination during infection. 

 

Active evasion of immune response refers to alterations in post-receptors signalling pathways, therefore the physiological responses to the neurotransmitter-receptor interaction is confused or scrambled with wrong information. 

Another method is the innate and adaptive immune system is prevented from generating a sufficient response and quick action to the sound of the invader alarm and to the receptor detection stimuli. Parasites also uses shielding techniques of camouflage protection and can lay dormant until the immune troops pass by.

Les parasites utilisent des tactiques pour survivre :

⦁ La virulence est la gravité ou la nocivité d'une maladie et l'évasion immunitaire est souvent le chaînon manquant de la prolifération des affections. La mission principale du parasite est de vivre jusqu'à maturité, et ils utilisent le système de défense immunitaire de l'hôte pour son propre bénéfice, certaines de leurs tactiques de survie incluent :

⦁ Réduire le niveau de ressources de l'hôte et l'épuiser, nutriments, enzymes, extraire le fer de l'organisme, dans certains cas le fer est mobilisé à partir des cellules de l'hôte par la destruction des tissus induite par le parasite. L'objectif est d'affaiblir les systèmes de l'organisme.

⦁ DNA switching or hiding gene sequences from the host, also referred to as anti -genetic variation, this is a means to escape and avoid the host’s immunity detection. 

Les parasites peuvent utiliser la manipulation de l'ADN pour changer ou cacher votre séquence.

⦁ Utiliser des mécanismes cellulaires de suppression pour atténuer les réactions immunitaires naturelles de l'hôte. Mettre le système immunitaire en veilleuse.

⦁ Enabling immune evasion via shielding and master of disguising technique by using the properties of the VSG coat (VSG- stands for variant surface glycoprotein).

⦁ Utilisation des molécules cellulaires de l'hôte pour servir de récepteurs leurres et ainsi entraver la réponse immunitaire.

⦁ Manipulating the host’s own receptors into becoming dangerous virus receptors. Virus receptors sits on the host’s cell surface and is recognised by the virus as a gateway entry into the cell.

⦁ Modifier l'esprit et le comportement de l'hôte pour répondre à ses besoins.

 

Les parasites sont toujours à la recherche d'un bon foyer

The parasite face consequences should immune evasion fail. The parasite will lose its home and future prospects while the host may still have a chance to survive, and gain well-being. The game is definitely on for the parasites and it will pull out all the tricks to continue using the host as their home, life-dinner, servant and bodyguard. Parasites should not be underestimated, they’re out to win and are generally ahead in the co-evolutionary race for the control over the host’s immune system. 

 

Parasitology may sound like an obscure branch of biology, but it is central to the evolution of life and understanding that there are highly evolved species of parasites and the relationship with its hosts is an energetic one. 

The human interface with the microbial world has largely been considered through the restrictive angle of finding symptoms that match a disease, but major progression has been made in the area of neurological, nervous system, and behavioural parasitic manipulation mechanisms with investigations still ongoing. 

 

Malgré toutes les tactiques étonnantes que les parasites utilisent sur leurs hôtes, elles ont toutes le même but : ce que chaque parasite recherche, c'est un hôte riche en énergie, comme les mammifères à sang chaud, qui attire les moustiques femelles qui les utiliseront pour féconder leurs œufs et compléter leur cycle de vie. Ils veulent simplement un bon foyer.