SCHISTOSOMA-MANSONI - THE IMMUNE-RESPONSE AGAINST CERCARIAL GLYCOCALYX

Schistosoma mansoni cercarial glycocalyx was separated and purified by Sephacryl-300 SR. It was found to stimulate the humoral immune respon se in mice injected with it. Antiglycocalyx antibodies raised in CD/1 mice were found to be cytotoxic to schistosomula in vitro. But convers ely, no protective effect was demonstrated in vivo. Eosinophil-mediate d cytotoxicity was found to have no effector function in the murine im mune response against schistosomes. A monoclonal antiglycocalyx IgM wa s prepared during our study. It was found to have no cytotoxic effect on schistosomules in vitro. However, it was found to have an inhibitor y activity blocking the cytotoxic effect of other antiglycocalyx isoty pes in the immune mouse. The contradiction between the result of antig lycocalyx antibody-mediated cytotoxicity obtained in vivo and that obt ained in vitro is in itself revealing and suggests that the effect is crucially dependent upon factors as yet poorly understood.