[Effects of soluble adult worm antigen and soluble egg antigen of Schistosoma japonicum on differentiation of CD4+ T cells of mice].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate and compare the different effects of soluble adult worm antigen (SWA) and soluble egg antigen (SEA) of Schistosoma japonicum on the differentiation of the splenocytes and CD4+ T cells of mice.

METHODS

The splenocytes and CD4+ T cells were prepared from the spleens of mice immunized with SWA or SEA, or the splenocytes of normal mice were harvested and stimulated with SWA or SEA in vitro. Then, the proportions of IFN-gamma and IL-4-producing cells in splenocytes, and the proportions of Th1 and Th2 cells in CD4+ T cells were determined by FACS, respectively.

RESULTS

Compared to the SWA stimulation group, the higher proportions of IL-4-producing cells in splenocytes and of Th1 cells in CD4+ T cells were observed under the SEA stimulation group (P < 0.05). Whereas SWA induced the significantly higher proportions of IFN-gamma producing cells in splenocytes and of Th2 cells in CD4+ T cells than those in the SEA stimulation group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The significantly higher levels of Th1 cells are only observed under SWA induction, however, the differentiation of Th2 cells in response to SEA stimulation is significantly more than that in response to SWA stimulation.