Abstract
Carcariae of Schistosoma mansoni were found to contain potent antigens for the production of delayed hypersensitivity in guinea pigs without any detectable circulating antibodies. The delayed sensitivity was first detected 5 days after sensitization with 5 μm of cercarial antigens in Freund's complete adjuvant by the skin reaction and macrophage migration inhibition test. Transfer of lymphoid cells from highly sensitized donors to normal recipients by subcutaneous injection induced the specific delayed response that began 3 days after the transfer and remained for a period of 1 month. The passively transferred immunity in the recipients resembled the typical tuberculin type of delayed hypersensitivity with respect to the skin reactivity, responses of the intraperitoneal exudate cells to antigens, and the characteristic cellular response. Evidence that treatment of carcarial antigens with pronase decreased both the immunogenic activity in inducing the delayed hypersensitivity and the antigenic property of aggregating with the specific antibodies suggests that protein components of cercariae play a major role in the induction of delayed hypersentivity.
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