Schistosoma mansoni experimental infection in Mus spretus (SPRET/EiJ strain) mice

Most Schistosoma mansoni experimental infections are developed in several inbred strains of Mus musculus as definitive host. In contrast, Mus spretus is unexplored in Schistosoma infection studies. Mus spretus provides a high variation of immunological phenotypes being an invaluable tool for genetic studies and gene mapping. The aim of this study is to characterize hematological and immunological responses against Schistosoma mansoni infection in Mus spretus (SPRET/EiJ strain) vs. Mus musculus (CD1 strain) mice. Nine weeks after cercarial exposure, animals were perfused and the parasite burden was assessed. The parasitological data suggests that SPRET/EiJ mice tolerate higher parasite loads compared to CD1 strain. In addition, hematological parameters measured in Mus spretus group showed a significant increase in granulocytes population in early stages of infection compared to the CD1 cohort. Meanwhile, CD1 presented higher levels of lymphocytes and IgG1 in the late stages of S. mansoni experimental infection.