The propensity of a range of parasitic helminths to stimulate a Th2 or regulatory cell-biased response has been proposed to reduce the severity of experimental inflammatory bowel disease. We examined whether infection with Schistosoma mansoni, a trematode parasite, altered the susceptibility of mice to colitis induced by dextran sodium sulfate (DSS). Mice infected with schistosome worms were refractory to DSS-induced colitis. Egg-laying schistosome infections or injection of eggs did not render mice resistant to colitis induced by DSS. Schistosome worm infections prevent colitis by a novel mechanism dependent on macrophages, and not by simple modulation of Th2 responses, or via induction of regulatory CD4+ or CD25+ cells, IL-10, or TGF-β. Infected mice had marked infiltration of macrophages (F4/80+CD11b+CD11c−) into the colon lamina propria and protection from DSS-induced colitis was shown to be macrophage dependent. Resistance from colitis was not due to alternatively activated macrophages. Transfer of colon lamina propria F4/80+ macrophages isolated from worm-infected mice induced significant protection from colitis in recipient mice treated with DSS. Therefore, we propose a new mechanism whereby a parasitic worm suppresses DSS-induced colitis via a novel colon-infiltrating macrophage population.

Functional redundancy is highly prevalent among the Th2 interleukins (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-9, and IL-13. To define the critical functions of these cytokines, we have generated a novel panel of compound Th2 cytokine-deficient mice (from single to quadruple cytokine knockouts). We find that these Th2 cytokines are not essential for fetal survival even during allogeneic pregnancy. Using intestinal parasite infection and a pulmonary granuloma model, we demonstrate cryptic roles for IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, and IL-13 in these responses. Significantly, although IL-5, IL-9, and IL-13 add to the speed and magnitude of the response, a threshold is reached at which IL-4 alone can activate all Th2 effector functions. These mice reveal distinct spatial, temporal, and hierarchical cytokine requirements in immune function.

Infectious pathogens can selectively stimulate activation or suppression of T cells to facilitate their survival within humans. In this study we demonstrate that the trematode parasite Schistosoma mansoni has evolved with two distinct mechanisms to suppress T cell activation. During the initial 4- to 12-wk acute stages of a worm infection both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells are anergized. In contrast, infection with male and female worms induced T cell anergy at 4 wk, which was replaced after egg laying by T cell suppression via a known NO-dependent mechanism, that was detected for up to 40 wk after infection. Worm-induced anergy was mediated by splenic F4/80+ macrophages (Mφ) via an IL-4-, IL-13-, IL-10-, TGF-β-, and NO-independent, but cell contact-dependent, mechanism. F4/80+ Mφ isolated from worm-infected mice were shown to induce anergy of naive T cells in vitro. Furthermore, naive Mφ exposed to live worms in vitro also induced anergy in naive T cells. Flow cytometry on in vivo and in vitro worm-modulated Mφ revealed that of the family of B7 costimulatory molecules, only programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) was selectively up-regulated. The addition of inhibitory mAb against PD-L1, but not PD-L2, to worm-modulated Mφ completely blocked the ability of these cells to anergize T cells. These data highlight a novel mechanism through which S. mansoni worms have usurped the natural function of PD-L1 to reduce T cell activation during early acute stages of infection before the subsequent emergence of egg-induced T cell suppression in the chronic stages of infection.

The coevolution of humans and infectious agents has exerted selective pressure on the immune system to control potentially lethal infections. Correspondingly, pathogens have evolved with various strategies to modulate and circumvent the host's innate and adaptive immune response. Schistosoma species are helminth parasites with genes that have been selected to modulate the host to tolerate chronic worm infections, often for decades, without overt morbidity. The modulation of immunity by schistosomes has been shown to prevent a range of immune-mediated diseases, including allergies and autoimmunity. Individual immune-modulating schistosome molecules have, therefore, therapeutic potential as selective manipulators of the immune system to prevent unrelated diseases. Here we show that S. mansoni eggs secrete a protein into host tissues that binds certain chemokines and inhibits their interaction with host chemokine receptors and their biological activity. The purified recombinant S. mansoni chemokine binding protein (smCKBP) suppressed inflammation in several disease models. smCKBP is unrelated to host proteins and is the first described chemokine binding protein encoded by a pathogenic human parasite and may have potential as an antiinflammatory agent.