The impact of Clonorchis sinensis infection on immune response in mice with type II collagen-induced arthritis

Clonorchis sinensis infection could trigger strong immune responses in mice and humans. However, whether the C.sinensis infection has an impact on arthritis is unknown. Here we investigated the effect of C.sinensis infection on type II collagen-induced arthritis in BALB/c mice.

The mice were firstly infected with 45 C.sinensis metacercariae by oral gavage. Four weeks later, arthritis in mice was induced by type II collagen. Joint inflammation with severe redness and swelling in hind paws was observed in type II collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) mice. Besides, the physical activity was significantly reduced, but the respiratory exchange ratio was increased in CIA mice. Compared with CIA mice, C.sinensis infection could increase the severity of arthritis in CIA mice, based on the results of disease score and pathological changes. Compared to CIA mice, increased neutrophils and Ly6C^hi monocytes, decreased B cells and CD4⁺T cells, were found in C.sinensis infected CIA mice. Besides these, C.sinensis infected mice also displayed significantly higher levels of serum IL-4 and IL-17 than those in CIA mice.

Taken together, our data suggest that C.sinensis infection have a bad effect on arthritis, and could induce the abnormality of the immune response in mice with CIA.