Assessment Of The Acute Phase Response In Experimental Infection Of Mice With Schistosoma Mansoni

Male BALB/c mice were infected with a single cercarial dose of Schistosoma mansoni and later treated curatively with praziquantel on Day 42 post-infection. Serum from the animals was studied for changes in concentration of haptoglobin, albumin, iron, zinc and copper. The infection resulted in significant decreases in serum albumin, iron and zinc, and increases in serum haptoglobin and copper. Haptoglobin showed the most sensitive responses with a peak increase of 257% of pre-infection levels achieved. Copper, however, showed only very gradual increases, which peaked, at 16% of pre-infection concentrations. Albumin levels showed a gradual but steady decrease to reach 48.7% of pre-infection concentrations. Iron showed similar trends with maximal decrease of 48.9%. Zinc levels dropped fairly rapidly following infection and were decreased maximally to 66.4%. The post-infection changes demonstrated recovery following treatment, though pre-infection concentrations were not achieved. The protein and cation changes correlated well with the degree of tissue damage and inflammation evidenced in the histopathological studies of infected mice. The study demonstrated that elevation in serum haptoglobin and copper, and depression in serum albumin, iron and zinc concentrations occur in the acute phase of S. mansoni infection of mice, and that these changes recover with reducing tissue damage and inflammation, and are therefore good indicators of tissue pathology.