The recruitment of circulating eosinophils by chemokines and chemokine receptors plays an important role in the
inflammation process in acute human schistosomiasis. Our main focus has been on the plasma chemokines (CXCL8/
CCL2/CCL3/CCL24) and chemokine receptors (CCR2/CCR3/CCR5/CXCR1/CXCR2/CXCR3/CXCR4) expressed by circulating eosinophils
from acute
Schistosoma mansoni
infected patients (ACT).
Our studies compared ACT patients
and healthy individuals as a control group. Our major findings demonstrated a plethora of chemokine secretion with
significantly increased secretion of all chemokines analysed in the ACT group. Although no differences were detected
for beta-chemokine receptors (CCR2, CCR3 and CCR5) or alpha-chemokine receptors (CXCR3 and CXCR4), a significantly
lower frequency of CXCR1+ and CXCR2+ eosinophils in the ACT group was observed. The association between
chemokines and their chemokine receptors revealed that acutely infected schistosome patients displaying decreased
plasma levels of CCL24 are the same patients who presented enhanced secretion of CCL3, as well as increased
expression of both the CCR5 and CXCR3 chemokine receptors. These findings suggest that CCL24 may influence the kinetics
of chemokines and their receptors and eosinophils recruitment during human acute schistosomiasis mansoni.
