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Infection and Immunity, January 2009, p. 98-107, Vol. 77, No. 1
0019-9567/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00783-07
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Schistosoma mansoni Antigens Modulate Experimental Allergic Asthma in a Murine Model: a Major Role for CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ T Cells Independent of Interleukin-10{triangledown}

Lucila G. G. Pacífico,1 Fábio A. V. Marinho,1 Cristina T. Fonseca,1,2 Michele M. Barsante,1 Vanessa Pinho,3 Policarpo A. Sales-Junior,4 Luciana S. Cardoso,5 Maria Ilma Araújo,5 Edgar M. Carvalho,5 Geovanni D. Cassali,6 Mauro M. Teixeira,1 and Sergio C. Oliveira1*

Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia e Instituto para Investigação em Imunologia-Instituto Milênio, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil,1 Laboratório de Esquistossomose, CPqRR, FIOCRUZ, MG, Brazil,2 Departamento de Morfologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil,3 Hospital Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Belo Horizonte, Núcleo de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil,4 Serviço de Imunologia, Hospital Universitário Professor Edgard Santos, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil,5 Departamento de Patologia Geral, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil6

Received 8 June 2008/ Returned for modification 18 July 2008/ Accepted 15 September 2008

In areas where schistosomiasis is endemic, a negative correlation is observed between atopy and helminth infection, associated with a low prevalence of asthma. We investigated whether Schistosoma mansoni infection or injection of parasite eggs can modulate airway allergic inflammation in mice, examining the mechanisms of such regulation. We infected BALB/c mice with 30 S. mansoni cercariae or intraperitoneally injected 2,500 schistosome eggs, and experimental asthma was induced by ovalbumin (OVA). The number of eosinophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was higher in the asthmatic group than in asthmatic mice infected with S. mansoni or treated with parasite eggs. Reduced Th2 cytokine production, characterized by lower levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5, and immunoglobulin E, was observed in both S. mansoni-treated groups compared to the asthmatic group. There was a reduction in the number of inflammatory cells in lungs of S. mansoni-infected and egg-treated mice, demonstrating that both S. mansoni infection and the egg treatment modulated the lung inflammatory response to OVA. Only allergic animals that were treated with parasite eggs had increased numbers of CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ T cells and increased levels of IL-10 and decreased production of CCL2, CCL3, and CCL5 in the lungs compared to the asthmatic group. Neutralization of IL-10 receptor or depletion of CD25+ T cells in vivo confirmed the critical role of CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in experimental asthma modulation independent of IL-10.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil 31270-901. Phone and fax: 55-31-34992666. E-mail: scozeus{at}icb.ufmg.br

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 29 September 2008.

Editor: W. A. Petri, Jr.


Infection and Immunity, January 2009, p. 98-107, Vol. 77, No. 1
0019-9567/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00783-07
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.




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