Reduced capacity of peritoneal exudate cells for oxidative killing of Schistosoma mansoni schistosomula.

Peritoneal exudate cells from mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni (S-PEC) can kill schistosomula in vitro in the presence of immune serum. S-PEC produce a low level of respiratory burst, and schistosomula mortality in their presence is not reduced when exogenous antioxidants are added, suggesting that with S-PEC, oxidative killing is not important. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide production by S-PEC, and cells from BCG and thioglycollate (THGL) injected non-infected mice, non-specifically stimulated with opsonized zymosan, were measured. Levels of H2O2 produced by S-PEC were significantly lower than BCG or THGL PEC, and were below the H2O2 threshold for schistosomula killing. This resulted in lower levels of cell-mediated killing of schistosomula in vitro by S-PEC than by BCG or THGL PEC. Superoxide levels, however, were similar between the three cell populations. The efficiency of PEC to kill schistosomules in vitro correlated with H2O2 rather than superoxide levels. The lower tolerance of schistosomula, compared to adult S. mansoni to GSH depleting agents increases their sensitivity to oxidative attack and resulted in higher levels of cell-mediated killing in vitro.