Mice with a targeted deletion of the IgE gene have increased worm burdens and reduced granulomatous inflammation following primary infection with Schistosoma mansoni.
Although IgE has been considered to play an essential role in host defense against parasitic helminth infections such as Schistosoma mansoni, in vivo evidence of a protective function of IgE in infected mice is lacking. In the present study, mice with a null mutation of the C epsilon gene, and thus incapable of making IgE (IgE deficient), were infected by S. mansoni cercariae percutaneously. In two independent experiments, IgE-deficient mice were significantly more susceptible to primary infection, developing worm burdens twofold greater than those of wild-type mice (p < 0.001). In contrast, resistance to challenge infection following three immunizations with irradiated cercariae was similar in the two groups. The percentage of reduction in worm burdens in immunized IgE-deficient animals compared with unimmunized mice was 50%; immunized wild-type mice had a reduction of 55% compared with the baseline parasite count. Levels of parasite-specific IgG1 were more than twofold lower in IgE-deficient mice after primary infection (p = 0.005), whereas no significant difference was observed in the IgG1 response of animals previously immunized with irradiated cercariae. IgE-deficient animals also developed significantly smaller granulomas (by 37-40%) around schistosome eggs deposited in their livers compared with wild-type animals (p < 0.001). The spleens of IgE-deficient mice contained significantly more Ag-specific IL-4-secreting cells following primary infection. These data show that IgE participates in parasite elimination in primary infection with S. mansoni and in the generation of humoral immunity and cytokine responses to the parasite.