Abstract Background: The current study was conducted to investigate the antigenic effect of Marshallagia marshalli on the treatment of asthma by measuring the secreted inhibitory cytokine. Methods: Case patients and controls were selected from clinics in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province, Northeastern Iran in 2017-18. In this experimental study, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from 15 patients with asthma and 10 healthy controls and were cultured. PBMCs were then converted to tolerogenic DCs through exposure to GM-CSF, IL-4 and M. marshalli antigen. Then, tolerogenic DCs were exposed to autologous T cells for five days and finally, the level of secreted TGF-β1 was measured. Results: The mean TGF-β1 level in the control and control groups was 210.2 ± 8.2 and 225.4 ± 6.1 pq/ml, respectively. The results showed that TGF-β1 levels in both groups significantly increased in both groups (P<0.001). In addition, TGF-β1 levels in the case group were significantly higher than the control group (P<0.001). Conclusion: M. marshalli antigen increase the level of TGF-β1 and can create antigen- bearing dendritic cells and shift T lymphocytes to the regulatory type. This parasite can be used in dendritic cell therapy to control allergic diseases.

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