Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-2l2gl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-29T22:02:19.440Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Non-specific immunodepression by larval and adult Nematospiroides dubius

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

N. M. H. Ali
Affiliation:
Experimental Parasitology Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD
J. M. Behnke
Affiliation:
Experimental Parasitology Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD

Summary

Mice infected with Nematospiroides dubius generate weaker immune responses to concurrently administered sheep red blood cells (SRBC), than non-infected controls. The experiments described in this paper demonstrate that both adult and larval stages of N. dubius cause non-specific immunodepression of the response to SRBC. Mice which had been infected with larvae exposed to 25 krad. of irradiation, which prevents development to the adult luminal stages, produced as weak haemagglutination responses to SRBC as mice infected with normal worms even when SRBC were administered 6 weeks after infection. The removal of adult N. dubius by treatment with pyrantel 9, 11 and 15 days after infection with normal larvae did not restore the host's ability to respond to SRBC given on day 14. It was only when the mice had been without worms for 17 days that their capacity to respond normally to SRBC was restored. Mice infected with 60 or 400 transplanted adult worms produced depressed haemagglutination and plaque-forming responses to concurrently injected SRBC when compared with normal or sham-operated controls. The significance of these results is discussed in relation to the possible role of non-specific immunodepression in facilitating the survival of N. dubius in the host.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ali, N. M. H. (1983). The effect of Nematospiroides dubius on the immune responsiveness of mice. Ph.D thesis, University of Nottingham.Google Scholar
Ali, N. M. H. & Behnke, J. M. (1983). Nematospiroides dubius: factors affecting the primary response to SRBC in infected mice. Journal of Helminthology (in the Press).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Behnke, J. M., Hannah, J. & Pritchard, D. I. (1983). Nematospiroides dubius in the mouse: evidence that adult worms depress the expression of homologous immunity. Parasite Immunology 5, 397408.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Behnke, J. M., Parish, H. A. & Hagan, P. (1980). The effect of gamma irradiation on Nematospiroides dubius. Factors affecting the survival of worms in a primary infection in mice. Journal of Helminthology 54, 173–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Behnke, J. M. & Wakelin, D. (1977). Nematospiroides dubius: stimulation of acquired immunity in inbred strains of mice. Journal of Helminthology 51, 167–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Behnke, J. M., Wakelin, D. & Wilson, M. M. (1978). Trichinella spiralis: delayed rejection in mice concurrently infected with Nematospiroides dubius. Experimental Parasitology 46, 121–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chowaniec, W., Wescott, R. B. & Congdon, L. L. (1972). Interaction of Nematospiroides dubius and influenza virus in mice. Experimental Parasitology 32, 3344.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Day, P. K., Howard, R. J., Prowse, S. J., Chapman, C. B. & Mitchell, G. F. (1979). Studies on chronic versus transient intestinal nematode infection in mice. I. A comparison of responses to excretory/secretory (ES) products of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and Nematospiroides dubius worms. Parasite Immunology 1, 217–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dobson, C. & Cayzer, C. J. R. (1982). Immunosuppressive activity in serum from mice infected with Nematospiroides dubius following passive serum transfer. International Journal for Parasitology 12, 561–6.Google Scholar
Hagan, P., Behnke, J. M. & Parish, H. A. (1981). Stimulation of immunity to Nematospiroides dubius in mice using larvae attenuated by cobalt 60 irradiation. Parasite Immunology 3, 149–56.Google ScholarPubMed
Hagan, P. & Wakelin, D. (1982). Nematospiroides dubius: effect of infection on lymphocyte response to Trichinella spiralis in mice. Experimental Parasitology 54, 157–65.Google ScholarPubMed
Hurley, J. C., Day, K. P. & Mitchell, G. F. (1980). Accelerated rejection of Nematospiroides dubius intestinal worms in mice sensitized with adult worms. Australian Journal of Experimental Biology and Medical Science 58, 231–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jenkins, S. N. & Behnke, J. M. (1977). Impairment of primary expulsion of Trichuris muris in mice concurrently infected with Nematospiroides dubius. Parasitology 75, 71–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinson, M. & Behnke, J. M. (1983). Preliminary studies on the genetic control of immunity to Nematospiroides dubius in mice immunized by a 9-day abbreviated infection. Parasitology (in the Press).Google Scholar
Shimp, R. G., Crandall, R. B. & Crandall, C. A. (1975). Heligmosomoides polygyrus (= Nematospiroides dubius): suppression of antibody response to orally administered sheep erythrocytes in infected mice. Experimental Parasitology 38, 257–69.Google ScholarPubMed
Sokal, R. R. & Rohlf, F. J. (1969). Biometry. Freeman, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Williams, D. J. L. (1982). Analysis of the immune response to Nematospiroides dubius in the mouse. Ph.D. thesis, University of Nottingham.Google Scholar
Williams, D. J. L. & Behnke, J. M. (1983). Host protective antibodies and serum immunoglobulin isotypes in mice chronically infected or repeatedly immunised with the nematode parasite, Nematospiroides dubius. Immunology 48, 3747.Google ScholarPubMed
Williams, D. J. L., Pascoe, E. W. & Behnke, J. M. (1982). Investigation of immunological factors in chronic primary infections with Nematospiroides dubius. Parasitology 85, xxxv.Google Scholar