Distribution of Peripheral Memory T Follicular Helper Cells in Patients with Schistosomiasis Japonica.
BACKGROUND
Schistosomiasis is a helminthic disease that affects more than 200 million people. An effective vaccine would be a major step towards eliminating the disease. Studies suggest that T follicular helper (Tfh) cells provide help to B cells to generate the long-term humoral immunity, which would be a crucial component of successful vaccines. Thus, understanding the biological characteristics of Tfh cells in patients with schistosomiasis, which has never been explored, is essential for vaccine design.


RESULTS
In this study, we investigated the biological characteristics of peripheral memory Tfh cells in schistosomiasis patients by flow cytometry. Our data showed that the frequencies of total and activated peripheral memory Tfh cells in patients were significantly increased during Schistosoma japonicum infection. Moreover, Tfh2 cells, which were reported to be a specific subpopulation to facilitate the generation of protective antibodies, were increased more greatly than other subpopulations of total peripheral memory Tfh cells in patients with schistosomiasis japonica. More importantly, our result showed significant correlations of the percentage of Tfh2 cells with both the frequency of plasma cells and the level of IgG antibody. In addition, our results showed that the percentage of T follicular regulatory (Tfr) cells was also increased in patients with schistosomiasis.


CONCLUSIONS
Our report is the first characterization of peripheral memory Tfh cells in schistosomasis patients, which not only provides potential targets to improve immune response to vaccination, but also is important for the development of vaccination strategies to control schistosomiasis.
Department of Pathogen Biology & Immunology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Xiaojun
X
Chen
Department of Pathogen Biology & Immunology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Wei
W
Li
Department of Pathogen Biology & Immunology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Yang
Y
Zhang
Department of Pathogen Biology & Immunology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Xian
X
Song
Department of Pathogen Biology & Immunology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Lei
L
Xu
Department of Pathogen Biology & Immunology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Zhipeng
Z
Xu
Department of Pathogen Biology & Immunology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Sha
S
Zhou
Department of Pathogen Biology & Immunology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Jifeng
J
Zhu
Department of Pathogen Biology & Immunology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Xin
X
Jin
Department of Pathogen Biology & Immunology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Feng
F
Liu
Chizhou Station for Schistosomiasis Prevention and Control, Chizhou, Anhui, P. R. China.
Gengxin
G
Chen
Department of Pathogen Biology & Immunology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Chuan
C
Su
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012549:Schistosoma japonicum / Q000502:physiology*; D012554:Schistosomiasis japonica / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology*