Development of an antipathology vaccine for schistosomiasis.
The data presented here clearly demonstrate that IL-12 can act as an adjuvant, suppressing both granuloma formation and fibrosis induced after natural schistosome infection. Recently, we showed that IL-12 can increase protective immunity provided by an attenuated larval schistosome vaccine as well. In both cases the vaccines appear to suppress in large part the parasite-induced Th2 responses. Thus, the use of cytokines as adjuvants offers a rational approach for immunomodulation when the effector mechanism of a particular vaccine is known. Clearly, IL-12 has enormous potential for modulating the outcome of immunization and may have broad application in preventing a variety of different infectious diseases.
Wynn
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TA
Immunobiology Section, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D006099:Granuloma / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D012550:Schistosoma mansoni / Q000276:immunology*; D012555:Schistosomiasis mansoni / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D014612:Vaccines; D018664:Interleukin-12; D007371:Interferon-gamma