Novel T-cell epitopes on Schistosoma japonicum SjP40 protein and their preventive effect on allergic asthma in mice.

Allergic asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease mediated by Th2 cell immune responses. Currently, immunotherapies based on immune deviation are attractive, preventive, and therapeutic strategies for asthma. Many studies have shown that intracellular bacterial infections such as mycobacteria and their components can suppress asthmatic reactions by enhancing Th1 responses, while helminth infections and their proteins can inhibit allergic asthma via immune regulation. However, some helminth proteins such as SmP40, the major egg antigen of Schistosoma mansoni, are found as Th1 type antigens. Using a panel of overlapping peptides, we identified T-cell epitopes on SjP40 protein of Schistosoma japonicum, which can induce Th1 cytokine and inhibit the production of Th2 cytokines and airway inflammation in a mouse model of allergic asthma. These results reveal a novel form of immune protective mechanism, which may play an important role in the modulating effect of helminth infection on allergic asthmatic reactions.