Cholesteryl ester transfer protein deficiency causes slow egg embryonationof Schistosoma japonicum

In our attempt to discover a potential cause for accumulation of cholestery l ester transfer protein (CETP) deficiency in Eastern Asia, we studied the association of CETP deficiency with pathogenesis of Schistosoma japonicum, a life-threatening parasite peculiar to this region. The eggs of S. japonic um showed slow embryonation when cultured in CETP-deficient human plasma. R estoration of CETP to the deficient plasma rescued it, while inhibition of CETP in normal plasma did not cause slow embryonation of the cultured eggs. The egg embryonation was also retarded in the liver but not in the intesti ne of wild-type mice in comparison to the CETP-transgenic mice. The granulo matous lesion around the parasite eggs in the liver was less in the wild-ty pe than in the CETP-transgenic mice. Thus, CETP deficiency may act against Schistosomiasis japonica by retarding egg embryonation, a potential cause o f liver granulomatosis. It does not seem directly due to the lack of CETP a ctivity in plasma but to abnormal lipoprotein generated by chronic CETP def iciency. (C) 2001 Academic Press.