A microtus fortis protein, serum albumin, is a novel inhibitor of Schistosoma japonicum schistosomula

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is an endemic parasite disease and praziquantel is the only drug currently in use to control this disease. Experimental and epidemiological evidence strongly suggests that Microtus fortis (Mf) is a naturally resistant vertebrate host of Schistosoma japonicum. In the present study, we found that Mf serum albumin (Mf-albumin) and the conditioned medium of pcDNA3.1-Mf-albumin caused 46.2% and 38.7% schistosomula death rates in 96 h, respectively, which were significantly higher than that of the negative control (p < 0.05). We also found that mice injected with Mf-albumin had a 43.5% reduction in worm burden and a 48.1% reduction in liver eggs per gram (p < 0.05) in comparison to the control animals. To characterise the mechanisms involved in clearance, schistosomula were incubated with fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled Mf-albumin and fluorescent enrichment effects were found in the gut lumen of schistosomula after 48 h of incubation. Next, digestive tract excretions from schistosomula were collected and the sensitivity of Mf-albumin to digestive tract excretions was evaluated. The results indicated that schistosomula digestive tract excretions showed indigestibility of Mf-albumin. The death of schistosomula could be partially attributed to the lack of digestion of Mf-albumin by digestive tract excretions during the development of the schistosomula stage. Therefore, these data indicate the potential of Mf-albumin as one of the major selective forces for schistosomiasis.