title: [Effect of toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 deficiencies on the in vivo immune response against Schistosoma japonicum].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the toll-like receptor 7 knocked out (TLR7-/-) mice immune response against Schistosoma japonicum.
  
  
  METHODS
  C57BL/6 mice (WT) and TLR7-/- mice (TLR7-/-) were infected with 20 S. japonicum cercariae via shaved abdomen. There were nine mice in each group. At 6 weeks post-infection, mice were sacrificed. Adult worms were harvested by perfusion of the portal venous system, and the number of adult worms was determined. At the time of perfusion, livers were collected, weighed, and digested overnight with 5% potassium hydroxide, and eggs were counted. In addition, spleens were aseptically harvested when WT and TLR7-/- mice were sacrificed at day zero and 6 weeks after S. japonicum infection. After 72 hours of the co-culture with or without S. japonicum eggs, the culture supernatants were collected for cytokine assays by ELISA assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At 6 weeks after infection, there was no significant difference in number of worms [(10.5 +/- 3.3) vs (9.8 +/- 5.2)] and eggs per gram of liver tissue [(38 251.9 +/- 4 891.5) vs (38 160.9 +/- 3 341.0)] between WT and TLR7-/- mice. As for Th1/Th2 cytokine secretion from spleen cells, the levels of TNF-alpha [(43.7 +/- 9.8) pg/ml] and INF-gamma [(215.2 +/- 35.4) pg/ml] from TLR7-/- infected mice were lower than those of WT infected mice[(63.4 +/- 22.9) pg/ml, (383.5 +/- 253.3) pg/ml]. For Th2 cytokines detection, the production of IL-10 [(1702.6 +/- 572.3) pg/ml] and IL-4 [(59.5 +/- 10.1) pg/ml] from TLR7-/- mice were higher than those of WT mice [(595.2 +/- 386.3) pg/ml, (8.3 +/- 0.9) pg/ml] (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), while IL-4 level [(63.9 +/- 33.9) pg/ml] from TLR7-/- infected mice was higher than those of WT infected mice [(23.3 +/- 11.5) pg/ml].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TLR7-/- mice has a dominant Th2 response under the normal state. The absence of TLR7 does not influence the immune response against S. japonicum infection at 6 weeks post-infection.
authors.forename: Yan-Yan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Yu-Xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Zhong-Ying
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Yu-Juan
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Hai-Peng
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jian-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D058487:Cercaria; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D016207:Cytokines; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D008099:Liver; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000172:deficiency / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012549:Schistosoma japonicum / Q000276:immunology*; D012554:Schistosomiasis japonica / Q000276:immunology*; D013154:Spleen; D051199:Toll-Like Receptor 7 / Q000172:deficiency / Q000276:immunology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; C477038:Tlr7 protein, mouse; D051199:Toll-Like Receptor 7; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha