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The host-parasite relationships in pyridoxine (vitamin B6) deficient cotton rats infected with Litomosoides carinii (Nematoda: Filaroidea)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

M. A. Beg ,
J. L. Fistein  and
D. M. Storey
M. A. Beg
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5,4WT
J. L. Fistein
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School, W2 1PG, London
D. M. Storey
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5,4WT
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Summary

This paper demonstrates that the establishment and growth of the filarial nematode parasite, Litomosoides carinii, is reduced in pyridoxine-deficient cotton rats. Young cotton rats were assigned to one of three dietary groups: vitamin B6-deficient cotton rats (B6 –AL) were fed a pyridoxine-free diet ad libitum; pair-fed controls (B6 + PF) were fed the same amount of pyridoxine-free diet as animals in the deficient group and given daily oral supplements of 100 μg pyridoxine; and pyridoxine-sufficient controls (B6 + AL) were fed the pyridoxine-free diet ad libitum and supplemented daily with 100 μg pyridoxine. Half of each group was infected with 50 L3 of L. carinii by subcutaneous injection 8 weeks after the start of the experimental feeding period. B6-deficient cotton rats ate less (P < 0·001) and gained less weight (P < 0·001) than B6-supplemented controls. The levels of microfilaraemia in deficient animals, measured weekly throughout the experiment by taking blood smears, was significantly lower than in supplemented animals (P < 0·001). The deficient rats became latent for L. carinii at 20 weeks post-infection, whereas there was patent microfilaraemia in rats in the other dietary groups until the end of the experiment. Smaller (P < 0·001) and fewer (P < 0·05) adult worms were recovered from the pleural and abdominal cavities of deficient animals than from either pair-fed or sufficient controls at autopsy 28 weeks post-infection.

Keywords

pyridoxine (vitamin B6)filariasisLitomosoides cariniiNematodacotton rat
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 111 , Issue 1 , July 1995 , pp. 111 - 118
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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References

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