IMMUNOBIOLOGY OF SCHISTOSOMIASIS

Kumurya A. S., Bunza N. M.*, Rabiu M., Bawa E., Ajagbe J. M. and Ezekiel D. B.

ABSTRACT

Schistosomes are parasitic worms that are a prime example of a complex multicellular pathogen that flourishes in the human host despite the development of a pronounced immune response. Presently, the number of infected individuals with schistosomes is estimated to be 250 million, and even though only small proportions of them become sick and die, schistosomiasis remains a medical problem ofgreat significance. The high incidence of infection of man with Schistosoma mansoni, Schistosoma japonicum or Schistosoma haematobium, as well as the chronic debilitating diseases produced, places these organisms among the world's most important infectious agents. Understanding how the immune system deals with such pathogens is a daunting challenge. The past decade has seen the use of a wide range of new approaches to determine the nature and function of the immune response to schistosomes. Our search in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases led to the identification of 105 reviews of schistosomiasis published between 2007 and 2018, of which 32 were identified as reviews of immunobiology of schistosomiasis, leaving aside reviews that solely focused on schistosomiasis (n = 73). Qualitative content analysis was used to extract and synthesise descriptions of search, selection, quality appraisal, analysis, and synthesis methods. We further assessed quantitatively how often certain methods (e.g. search strategies, data analysis procedures) were used by the reviews.

Keywords: Schistosoma mansoni, Schistosoma japonicum, Schistosoma haematobium.