Analysis of egg granuloma formation in Schistosoma japonicum-infected mice treated with antibodies to interleukin-5 and gamma interferon.
Schistosoma japonicum-infected mice were treated with antibodies to interleukin-5 (IL-5) or gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) from week 3 or 4 to week 10 of infection. Neither antibody affected egg production by the parasite, and neither had a consistent effect on the secretion of IFN-gamma or IL-5 cell-related cytokines by spleen cells from infected mice. Mice treated with antibody to murine IL-5 had only rare eosinophils in hepatic circumoval granulomas. Granulomas around single eggs were reduced in volume by a third, but hepatic fibrosis was unaffected. Treatment with antibody to murine IFN-gamma also reduced the size of granulomas and also did not affect hepatic fibrosis, which was measured as hydroxyproline. Our results, taken together with the studies of others, indicate that a complex interaction of cytokines affects granuloma size and that the size and fibrosis of granulomas are to some extent regulated independently.
Cheever
A W
AW
Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
Xu
Y H
YH
Sher
A
A
Macedonia
J G
JG
D000818:Animals; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000276:immunology*; D006099:Granuloma / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000502:physiology*; D015848:Interleukin-5 / Q000502:physiology*; D008099:Liver / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D008106:Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D012549:Schistosoma japonicum / Q000276:immunology*; D012554:Schistosomiasis japonica / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology*
D015848:Interleukin-5; D007371:Interferon-gamma