Schistosomiasis Eggs Impair Immune Function of Peyers Patch and Facilitate Fibrosis (PRJCA033210)

Schistosoma is blood-dwelling parasitic helminth that completes its transmission and life cycles through eggs excretion in animals feces. In the case of intestinal schistosomiasis, adult male and female worms embrace and lay eggs in mesenteric veins, with most eggs staying in the intestine and forming granuloma, leading to intestine fibrosis. During this process, the eggs preferentially deposit in PP subsequently being transmitted to intestinal lumen. However, the impact of egg deposition on the immune function within the PP has not been clearly defined and demonstrated, as well as the composition of intestinal granuloma. Using a mice model with Schistosoma japonicum infection, we revealed that the deposition of eggs disrupted structure of the PP and made it in an immunosuppression state. Furthermore, we experimentally verified the cellular distribution of the granulomas formed by Schistosoma japonicum eggs in the intestine for the first time, which presents an inward-to-outward arrangement of neutrophils, macrophages, T cells, and B cells, with a huge amount of neutrophils accumulation. Lastly, single cell RNA-sequence indicates that egg deposition promotes B cell apoptosis and T cell exhaustion with activating the fibrotic pathways in myeloid cells, impairing PP function.