Alterations in Peripheral Blood B Cell Subsets and Dynamics of B Cell Responses during Human Schistosomiasis

Antibody responses are thought to play an important role in control of schistosoma infections,yet little is known about the phenotype and function of b cells in human schistosomiasis. we set out to characterize b cell subsets and b cell responses to b cell receptor and toll-like receptor 9 stimulation in gabonese schoolchildren with schistosoma haematobium infection. frequencies of memory b cell (mbc) subsets were increased,whereas naive b cell frequencies were reduced in the schistosome-infected group. at the functional level,isolated b cells from schistosome-infected children showed higher expression of the activation marker cd23 upon stimulation,but lower proliferation and tnf-α production. importantly,6-months after 3 rounds of praziquantel treatment,frequencies of naive b cells were increased,mbc frequencies were decreased and with the exception of tnf-α production,b cell responsiveness was restored to what was seen in uninfected children. these data show that s. haematobium infection leads to significant changes in the b cell compartment,both at the phenotypic and functional level. © 2013 labuda et al.