Experimental murine schistosomiasis mansoni: modulation of the B-1 lymphocyte distribution and phenotype expression

We studied the B-1 lymphocyte involvement in host reactions to parasites in the murine model of schistosomiasis. No modifications were observed in the prepostural phase of the disease. From the acute phase on, we observed sequentially an increase of Mac1- B-1 cells in the spleen, followed by their appearance in Peyer's patches and in mesenteric ganglia, suggesting that a fraction of splenic B-1 cells might follow this pathway of migration, acquiring progressively the Mac1 expression. These results are consistent with a primary activation of the splenic B cell compartment, with the subsequent mobilization of B-1 cells into the tissue involved by parasites. Conversely, we found no evidence of an increase of B-1 cells in the peritoneum, nor a mobilization of B-1 cells expressing the peritoneal phenotype (CD5lo, IgMhi) into the tissues involved by infection, despite the general inflammatory reactivity of peritoneal cells. In schistosomiasis, the peritoneal cavity B-1 cells on one side, and those involved in inflammatory reactions to parasites in the spleen, Peyer's patches, and mesenteric ganglia on the other, represent two distinct B-1 lymphocyte pools.