Schistosomiasis is a man-made disease related to water contact in the agricultural fields and affecting millions of people in developing countries in the tropical and subtropical parts of Africa, Asia and South America. It is a bisexual trematode living in the portal blood and perivesical venous plexus. Its life cycle necessitates the presence of an intermediate host - a fresh water mollusc - that differs according to place.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral observations suggest that the evolution of schistosomal glomerulopathy into clinically overt and progressive disease may involve pathogenetic mechanisms other than simple glomerular deposition of parasitic antigens. In a previous study, IgA was suggested to be a mediator of late glomerular lesions in this disease. This issue is further addressed in this work.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn two groups of mice infected with 60 (group I) and 120 (group II) Schistosoma mansoni cercariae, respectively, the effects of intensity and duration of infection, and of praziquantel therapy (curative vs subcurative dose) on the levels of circulating anodic antigen (CAA), were studied. CAA was measured in trichloracetic acid-treated serum samples with an avidin-biotin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (AB-ELISA) using the monoclonal anti-CAA antibody. Total worm burdens, oogram patterns and ova counts/g liver and intestine were followed up.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMice infected for 45 days with 120 Schistosoma mansoni cercariae and treated with praziquantel in a dose of 500 mg/kg for two consecutive days had a significant lower resistance to reinfection when challenged two weeks after treatment (45% compared to 88% in infected challenged untreated mice). In praziquantel-treated mice, the reduction in the per cent resistance was accompanied by a diminution in the size of hepatic granulomata and its in vivo correlate the delayed foot pad swelling. Moreover, the granuloma proportionate T-cell subset enumeration revealed a significant reduction in the number of T-helper cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF