Parasitological And Immunopathological Responses Balb/C Mice With Concomitant <italic>Schistosoma Mansoni</italic> And <italic>Plasmodium Berghei</italic> Infections

Abstract

Schistosomiasis and malaria often occur in the same area. This study investigated the effect in BALB/c mice harbouring a schistosomiasis-malaria co-infection. Mice infected with S. mansoni were divided into three groups, which were super-infected at weeks 4, 5, and 6 post-infection with P. berghei. There were uninfected and single-infected controls. Sampling was at day 4 and 7 post-super-infection. The following assays were carried out: parasitaemia, perfusion for worm recovery, IgG ELISA, gross and histopathology. Co-infected mice had: higher malaria parasitemia, higher IgG responses, lower worm counts, smaller granulomas compared to the single-infected mice. This study showed that co-infections with schistosome and malaria parasites aggravated malaria severity, as shown by increased parasitemia and severe gross pathology of liver and spleen in the coinfected mice. In contrast, malaria conferred protection to S. mansoni infection, as demonstrated by reduced worm counts and granuloma sizes and high schistosme-specific IgG levels in the co-infected mice.