Direct effects of IL-4/IL-13 and the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis on intestinal epithelial cells in vitro.

Nematode infections induce the upregulation of mucin- and glycosylation-related genes in intestinal epithelial cells in vivo. However, the factor(s) that induce these changes in epithelial cells have not been fully elucidated. In the present study, we analysed the effects of the Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-13 and the excretory-secretory (ES) product of the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis on the gene expression of the major mucin core peptide MUC2, the sialyltransferase ST3GalIV (Siat4c) and the sulphotransferase HS3ST1 in intestinal epithelium-derived IEC-6 cells by quantitative reverse transcription (RT)-PCR. The administration of IL-4 and IL-13 resulted in a significant upregulation of ST3GalIV and HS3ST1 gene transcription, but had no effect on MUC2, in IEC-6 cells. RT-PCR studies also demonstrated the constitutive expression of IL-13Ralpha1 and IL-4R in IEC-6 cells. On the other hand, the ES product induced upregulation of ST3GalIV, but not HS3ST1 or MUC2, while coadministration of IL-13 and the ES product induced a slight but significant upregulation of MUC2. Co-incubation of live N. brasiliensis adult worms with IEC-6 cells resulted in the upregulation of ST3GalIV and MUC2. These results suggested that HS3ST1 gene expression is strictly regulated by IL-4/IL-13, while ST3GalIV and MUC2 gene expressions are regulated by redundant mechanisms.

Migration of neutrophils is dependent on mast cells in nonspecific pleurisy in rats.

To determine the role of mast cells in the recruitment of neutrophils and eosinophils, acute nonspecific pleurisy was induced by injecting isologous serum into normal +/+ and mast cell-deficient Ws/Ws rats. In +/+ rats, neutrophil infiltration peaked 4 h after serum administration, followed by influx of eosinophils after 24-48 h. The levels of neutrophil influx after 4 h as well as the activity of myeloperoxidase (MPO) in pleural lavage-cell extract were significantly lower in Ws/Ws rats than in +/+ rats. In contrast, numbers of eosinophils as well as activity of eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) did not differ significantly between Ws/Ws and +/+ rats. For local reconstitution of mast cells, +/+ rat peritoneal mast cells (PMC) or mesenteric lymph node cells (MLNC) as a control were transferred into the Ws/ Ws pleural cavity. Serum injection into animals with PMC transfer 7 days previously triggered augmented neutrophil influx by approximately 4.7-fold as compared to that in MLNC-transferred animals. Mast cells recovered from the pleural cavity of PMC-transferred rats showed histamine contents equivalent to 20% of that of freshly isolated PMC and retained the reactivity to compound 48/80. These results indicated that dependency of neutrophil recruitment on resident mast cells is greater than that of eosinophils in isologous serum-induced pleurisy.

Enhancement of apoptosis with loss of cellular adherence in the villus epithelium of the small intestine after infection with the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis in rats.

It has been reported that infection with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis induces villus atrophy with various histological alterations. In N. brasiliensis-infected rats, villus length in the jejunum was reduced significantly at day 10 p.i., when serum levels of rat mast cell protease (RMCP) II had increased significantly. To determine whether the villus atrophy is associated with enhancement of apoptosis, apoptotic nuclei were labelled using the nick end-labelling method. Numbers of labelled cells were markedly increased in the villus epithelium at 7-10 days p.i., while the numbers returned to normal 14 days p.i. when worms were rejected from the intestine and villus length became normal. Examination of the expression of the adhesion molecule E-cadherin showed granular immunoreactivity in the cytoplasm of atrophic villus epithelium with loss of normal localization to epithelial cell borders. In mast cell-deficient Ws/Ws rats, villus length was reduced as significantly as in +/+ counterparts at day 10 p.i. with marked increases in the numbers of apoptotic cells. These results suggested that villus atrophy was closely associated with enhanced apoptosis and loss of adhesion in epithelial cells. Mast cell activation appears not to be involved in these alterations.

Lung granulomatous response induced by infection with the intestinal nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis is suppressed in mast cell-deficient Ws/Ws rats.

Certain nematode infections induce eosinophil infiltration and granulomatous responses in the lungs. To examine the role of mast cells in the development of lung lesions, normal +/+ and genetically mast cell-deficient Ws/Ws rats were infected with the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. In +/+ rats, numbers of eosinophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) increased significantly 3-7 days after infection, and granulomatous responses composed of histiocytes/ macrophages and multinucleate giant cells were triggered in the lungs 3-14 days after infection. Challenge infection, which was carried out on day 28 after primary infection, induced much higher levels of granulomatous response than after primary infection, suggesting that the response is mediated at least in part by an immunological mechanism. In Ws/Ws rats, both the eosinophil percentage in BALF and the size of the granulomas in the lungs were significantly smaller than in +/+ rats after primary as well as after challenge infection. The amount of rat mast cell protease (RMCP) II in +/+ rat BALF was increased 1 day after primary infection and more significantly after challenge infection, suggesting that lung mucosal mast cells were activated more markedly after the challenge infection. In Ws/Ws rats, RMCP II was undetectable throughout the observation period. The time course of nematode migration in the lungs did not differ in +/+ and Ws/Ws rats. These results suggest that mast cell activation might be relevant to eosinophil infiltration and granulomatous response in the lungs, although the responses do not affect lung migration of the nematode.

Cytokine mRNA expression profiles in rats infected with the intestinal nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis.

Although the immune responses to intestinal nematode infection have been well studied and have been shown to be strongly driven by Th2-associated cytokines in mice, such information has been limited with respect to rats. We investigated changes in levels of the mRNAs encoding interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, and gamma interferon in the mesenteric lymph nodes of rats infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis by reverse transcription-PCR in comparison with immunoglobulin E (IgE)/IgG2a antibody, eosinophil, basophil, and mucosal mast cell responses. In the two rat strains used, Brown Norway and Fischer-344, which show different responses to allergens, serum IgE increased to much higher levels in the former than in the latter 2 weeks after infection. Intestinal mastocytosis was observed much earlier and more intensely in Brown Norway rats than in Fischer-344 rats, but the degrees of peripheral eosinophilia and basophilia did not differ between the two strains. In both strains, IL-3, IL-4, and IL-5 mRNA expression increased and peaked around 7 to 14 days after infection, while expression of IL-2, IL-10, and gamma interferon mRNAs did not change notably throughout the experimental period. The highest IL-4 mRNA expression was observed slightly earlier in Brown Norway than in Fischer-344 rats, but levels of IL-3 and IL-5 mRNAs peaked synchronously in both strains. The amounts of mRNAs encoding these three cytokines were always higher in Brown Norway than in Fischer-344 rats. It is suggested that in rats, Th2 or Th2-like cells are also induced after nematode infection, and IgE elevation is mainly related to increased IL-4 gene expression.

Cysteine protease of the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis preferentially evokes an IgE/IgG1 antibody response in rats.

Some cysteine proteases such as papain and those of mites and schistosomes have potent allergenic properties. To clarify the allergenicity of nematode cysteine proteases, the enzyme was purified from the intestinal nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis using cation exchange chromatography and gel filtration chromatography. The purified protease, of 16 kD and pI 8.5, showed maximum enzyme activity at pH 5.5 and substrate preference for Z-Phe-Arg-MCA. The specific inhibitors of cysteine protease leupeptin, iodoacetic acid, and E-64, completely suppressed the activity, indicating that the purified enzyme belongs to the cysteine protease family. Cysteine protease activity was found not only in somatic extract, but also in the excretory-secretory (ES) product of the nematode. When anti-cysteine protease immunoglobulin isotypes were examined in sera from rats infected with N. brasiliensis, a high level of IgG1 and a lower level of IgE antibody were detected. Depletion of IgG antibodies from the sera using protein G affinity columns resulted in a marked increase in reactivity of anti-cysteine protease IgE with the antigen, possibly due to the removal of competing IgG antibodies. In contrast to IgE and IgG1, production of anti-cysteine protease IgG2a was negligible. These results indicate that the nematode cysteine protease preferentially evokes an IgE/IgG1 antibody response.

Mucosal mast cell proliferation following normal and heterotopic infections of the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis in rats.

Infections of intestinal nematodes induce the T cell-dependent proliferation of intestinal mucosal mast cells (MMC). To examine whether nematode-induced MMC proliferation is affected by the site of infestation, adult-stage nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (NB) was transplanted into the normal infection site, the duodenum, or into heterotopic sites, the peritoneal cavity (i.p.) or subcutaneous tissue (s.c.), of rats. Two weeks after duodenal inoculation, MMC numbers in the small intestine had increased 6.5-fold. In contrast, i.p. and s.c. inoculation induced only slight increases of intestinal MMC. After i.p. inoculation, worm granulomas developed in the connective tissues adhering to stomach and duodenum, and large numbers of mast cells appeared around the granulomas. The majority of the latter mast cells showed histochemical features similar to MMC: they were formalin sensitive, berberine sulfate-, alcian blue+/safranine-, and rat mast cell protease (RMCP) II+. After s.c. inoculation, worm granulomas developed at the inoculation site, but the number of mast cells around the granulomas was not significantly increased. These results suggest that intense proliferation of MMC or MMC-like cells is induced only by the infections on mucosa or in mucosa-associated tissues.

Dissociation of specific and total IgE antibody responses following repeated low-level infections with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis in rats.

IgE, IgG and mast cell responses were studied in rats infected weekly with 10 larvae of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (NB). Worm recovery at 8 weeks of repeated infections was six-fold greater than that of a single infection with 10 larvae, suggesting the accumulation of worms during the repeated infections. Total serum IgE was increased after 2 weeks of infection, and further increased after repeated infections: at 6 weeks of infection the level was four to six times higher than that after a single infection. Anti-NB IgG1 levels were also significantly higher after repeated infections than after a single infection. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the level of anti-NB IgE between single and repeated infections, as determined by ELISA, as well as by passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) reaction. Mastocytosis was induced in the small intestine after both single and repeated infections, but the levels did not differ between the two. These results indicate that total IgE and specific IgG1 production are augmented by repeated helminth infections, but specific IgE and mast cell responses are not. This pattern of response may minimize the development of IgE-dependent hypersensitivity reactions with repeated helminth infections.

Acanthocephalan, probably Bolbosoma, from the peritoneal cavity of man in Japan.

An immature female acanthocephalan in a tumor on the serosa over the ileum of a 16-year-old boy in Kagoshima, Japan, was identified as probably a species of Bolbosoma. This is the second such case to be reported.