A one-way analysis of variance (anova) was used to compare the levels of cytokines, IgE and EPO between groups. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare proportions. The alpha level for statistical significance was established as 5%. The severity of the inflammatory response to OVA was evaluated in the lungs of mice immunized with S. mansoni antigens and in control

mice. A dense mixed-cellular PD98059 molecular weight infiltrate surrounding the airway was observed in the sensitized non-immunized mince (Fig. 2b) and in the IPSE-immunized group (Fig. 2f). Comparatively, much less peribronchial airway inflammation was observed in OVA-sensitized mice immunized with Sm22·6, PIII and Sm29, and in non-sensitized mice that were treated with PBS (Fig. 2c,d,e,a, respectively).

Mice immunized with the S. mansoni antigens Sm22·6, PIII and Sm29- had significantly fewer total cells and eosinophils in the BAL fluid than did non-immunized mice and mice immunized with IPSE, while there was no significant difference in the number of neutrophils, lymphocytes and macrophages between groups (Table 1). The serum levels of OVA-specific IgE were Compound Library screening measured in sensitized non-immunized mice and in those immunized with the different S. mansoni antigens. The levels of this isotype were markedly lower in S. mansoni antigen-immunized mice than in sensitized non-immunized mice (Fig. 3a). The levels of eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) were also significantly lower in the lungs of mice immunized with Sm22·6 and PIII than in the non-immunized group (Fig. 3b). We measured the cytokines IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 Adenosine triphosphate in BAL fluid. The levels of IL-4 and IL-5 were lower in mice immunized with Sm22·6 and PIII compared to non-immunized mice (Fig. 4a,b, respectively). The

levels of IL-10 were higher in BAL of Sm22·6 immunized mice than in non-immunized mice (Fig. 4c). In order to evaluate the imbalance of the regulatory and the Th2 profile of cytokine, we performed the ratio between the levels of IL-10 and IL-4 in BAL. We observed that in mice immunized with Sm22·6 and with PIII the ratio IL-10/IL-4 was higher than in non-immunized mice (Fig. 4e). Along with the Th2 and regulatory cytokines, we also measured IFN-γ and TNF-α in BAL fluid. The levels of IFN-γ were lower in mice immunized with Sm29 (40 ± 10 pg/ml) when compared to the non-immunized mice (120 ± 40 pg/ml), while in the other groups the levels of this cytokine did not differ significantly from what was observed in non-immunized mice (Fig. 4d). The levels of TNF-α were below 50 pg/ml in all groups of mice. The frequency of CD4+FoxP3+ T cells and of CD4+FoxP3+IL-10+ T cells in cultures stimulated with OVA was evaluated in the different groups of mice. We found that the frequency of the CD4+FoxP3+ T cells was significantly higher in mice immunized with Sm22·6 and PIII. There was a tendency of higher expression of these cells in mice immunized with Sm29 (P = 0·06) (Fig. 5a).