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CD4⁺ T-CELL COUNTS, CD4⁺/CD8⁺ T-CELL COUNT RATIOS, AND ANTIBODY LEVELS IN MIGRANT FISHERMEN INFECTED WITH SCHISTOSOMA JAPONICUM IN THE DONGTING LAKE, CHINA

In this study, CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells and antibody levels were measured in 94 migrant fishermen infected with Schistosoma japonicum from Dongting Lake, China. Prevalence among these fishermen was high (63.8%), with a mean infection intensity of 61.4 ± 3.8 epg, and included a high proportion of individuals (39.4%) with substantial parenchymal fibrosis (stages 2/3). The CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio in men (1.34 ± 0.11) was significantly lower than that of women (1.58 ± 0.15). CD4⁺ T cells and the ratio of CD4⁺/CD8⁺ were significantly decreased both in subjects infected with S. japonicum and those with parenchymal fibrosis. However, levels of total IgA, IgM, and anti-schistosome egg antigen IgG correlated positively with infection intensity and pathologic lesion number. These results suggest an imbalance between cell-mediated and humoral immunity in these fishermen, the precise cause of which remains undetermined.

Received January 31, 2006. Accepted for publication June 23, 2006.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank the fishermen who participated in this survey. We sincerely thank the staff at Hunan Institute of Parasitic Diseases, China for assistance in carrying out this project.

Financial support: This study was supported financially by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and the UK Wellcome Trust.

^* Address correspondence to Magda K. Ellis, Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Herston, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia. E-mail: magda.ellis{at}qimr.edu.au

Authors’ addresses: Yuesheng Li, HHMI International Scholar, Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Herston, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia, Telephone: 61-7-33620405, Fax: 61-7-33620104, E-mail: Yuesheng.Li{at}qimr.edu.au. Qinren Zeng, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Xiangya Road, Changsha, Hunan, People’s Republic of China. Magda Ellis, Julie Balen (Northcote Graduate Scholar), and Don McManus, Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Herston, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia, Telephone: 61-7-33620405, Fax: 61-7-33620104. Tie Xiong, Hunan Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Huabian Qiao Road, Yueyang, Hunan Province, People’s Republic of China;

Reprint requests: Yuesheng Li, Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, 300 Herston Road, Herston, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia.