H-2 linked immune response to murine experimental Schistosoma mansoni infections.

Mice of two congenic inbred strains C3H/Sn (H-2k) and C3H.B10 (H-2b) were infected with 100 Schistosoma mansoni cercariae. After the infection, the following parameters for the immunological response were studied: worm burden, mortality, antibody titre, spleen index, eosinophilia, delayed type of hypersensitivity and in vitro response to three S. mansoni antigen preparations. No difference in the worm burden and in the in vitro response to the antigen preparations of adult worm antigen, soluble egg antigens and the egg antigen MSA1, was found. The C3H.B10 mice showed a significantly higher mortality, antibody titre and delayed type of hypersensitivity while the C3H/Sn mice showed asignificantly higher spleen index and eosinophilia. This indicates that the H-2 region influences the course of an acute S. mansoni infection, whereas the susceptibility to the infection seems not to be influenced, as is shown by the worm burden.