Studies on putative adult worm-derived vaccines and adjuvants for protection against Schistosoma mansoni infection in mice.

Intraperitoneal transfer of viable adult worms of Schistosoma mansoni did not confer protection against a challenge infection to recipient mice. Antigens of schistosome origin were evaluated for their ability, with and without concomitantly administered nonspecific adjuvants, to stimulate protective immunity against S. mansoni. Freshly perfused ground worms or a putative membrane antigen extracted with 0.5 M KC1 from adult worms, when injected together with Corynebacterium parvum (or in a single experiment with poly [A : U]), resulted in a significant reduction in worm burden of a challenge infection with S. mansoni as compared with that of untreated controls. The membrane antigen was maintained carefully at low temperatures in buffers capable of retarding enzymatic degradation while it was being prepared.