concanavalin-a and Disorders-of-Sex-Development

Synchronized liver granulomas were induced by injecting Sepharose beads to which SEA soluble egg antigen (SEA) or the concanavalin A binding fraction of SEA had been coupled into a mesenteric vein in naive, single-sex (35 days) and bisexually (28 days) Schistosoma mansoni-infected and Plasmodium berghei-immunized mice. Stereological analysis revealed that peak granuloma formation was already reached 8 days after injection in single-sex infected mice compared with 16 days in naive animals. No difference in granuloma formation between naive and P. berghei-immunized animals and between unisexually and bisexually S. mansoni-infected mice was observed. This suggests that the positive immunomodulatory effect on the granulomogenesis is worm specific and not likely to be due to arousal of the immune system by unrelated factors, nor is it influenced by the gender or degree of maturation of female worms. At all stages in time, the concanavalin A binding-fraction-induced granulomas reached only 65 to 70% of the volume of SEA-induced granulomas. Immunophenotyping of extracellular matrix proteins around deposited heads revealed that fibronectin was the dominant extracellular matrix protein and that also type I and IV collagen and laminin were deposited. Temporal analysis of the expression of the adhesion molecules ICAM-1, LFA-1, VLA-4, and VLA-6 was performed. Morphological evidence is presented for the role of adhesion molecules in the initiation and maintenance of hepatic granuloma formation. The chemokine monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 was expressed in the granuloma and in hepatic artery branches. From these data, it is concluded that adult S. mansoni worms positively modulate schistosomal hepatic granuloma formation in vivo. Adhesion molecules and chemokines play important roles in schistosomal granuloma formation.

Topics: Animals; Antigens, Helminth; Collagen; Concanavalin A; Cricetinae; Disorders of Sex Development; Egg Proteins; Fibronectins; Granuloma; Immunohistochemistry; Integrin alpha4beta1; Integrin alpha6beta1; Integrins; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1; Laminin; Liver Diseases; Lymphocyte Function-Associated Antigen-1; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred Strains; Plasmodium berghei; Protozoan Proteins; Receptors, Lymphocyte Homing; Schistosomiasis mansoni; Sex Factors; Spleen