Antinuclear antibodies and interleukin responses in patients with Schistosoma japonicum infection

Schistosomiasis poses a serious threat to public health, and the infection will develop into chronic and advanced late-stage disease if not treated. Apart from the clinical signs due to immune reactions to schistosome eggs trapped in host tissues, it also increases the risk for the development of autoimmunity reflected by dysfunctional, auto-reactive antibodies. Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) have been reported in schistosomiasis due to S. mansoni and S. haematobium. We demonstrate ANA in schistosomiasis japonica and explore the relationship between this infection and autoimmune disease by measuring ANA and interleukin (IL)-10, IL-12 and IL-17 responses in the sera of 125 Chinese patients with different stages of schistosomiasis japonica. The incidence rates of ANA in the patients with acute, chronic and late stages of schistosomiasis infection were 6.7%, 23.3% and 70.0%, respectively, with statistically significant differences between each stage (P = 0.000). IL-17 concentrations were high at the acute stage of schistosomiasis compared to the other stages of the disease (P = 0.000). This pattern was also seen for IL-10 and IL-12 concentrations (P = 0.01). IL concentrations in patients in the chronic and late stages of the disease were low and showed no difference compared to the healthy adults.