Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in the sera of Schistosoma japonicum-infected mice.

Infection of mice with Schistosoma japonicum engendered high levels of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in serum. The rise in GM-CSF levels in serum was closely associated with the acute phase of the infection and seemed to be dependent on the dose of infection. GM-CSF activity was detected as a sharp single peak in DE-52 anion-exchange chromatography and Sephacryl S-200 and Sephadex G-200 gel chromatography and was almost entirely adsorbed to concanavalin A-Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography. The possible immunological and immunopathological importance of GM-CSF in S. japonicum infection is discussed.