Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:06:42.906Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Host predisposition to trichuriasis: the mouse — T. muris model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

K. J. Else ,
D. Wakelin  and
T. I. A. Roach
K. J. Else
Affiliation:
MRC Experimental Parasitology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD
D. Wakelin
Affiliation:
MRC Experimental Parasitology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD
T. I. A. Roach
Affiliation:
MRC Experimental Parasitology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Predisposition to trichuriasis in mice is reflected in the inability of certain strains, or certain individuals within strains, to express protective immunity. Poor responders fail to expel worms and harbour chronic patent infections. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon were studied in poor responder mice challenged after abbreviated or prolonged primary infections. Mice exposed to a complete primary infection were fully susceptible when challenged after the removal of the primary infection by anthelmintic. Failure to expel either infection suggests (a) that non-responsiveness to a primary infection does not reflect an inability to expel worms of a certain size, i.e. is not a consequence of the speed of the immune response in relation to parasite growth and (b) that non-responsiveness is long-lasting. Challenge after abbreviation of primary infections at different stages of worm development showed that persistence of larvae beyond day 21 was critical in determining poor response to reinfection. By inference the same conclusion can be drawn about the inability of such mice to expel primary infections. Serological analysis suggested a relationship between low antibody titres, restricted antigen recognition profiles and resistance to infection. It is suggested that the later stages of parasite development are immunosuppressive; the implications for human trichuriasis are discussed.

Keywords

trichuriasispredispositionnon-responsivenessTrichuris muris
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 98 , Issue 2 , April 1989 , pp. 275 - 282
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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

Behnke, J. M. & Wakelin, D. (1973). The survival of Trichuris muris in wild populations of its natural hosts. Parasitology 67, 157–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bundy, D. A. P. (1986). Epidemiological aspects of Trichuris and trichuriasis in Caribbean communities. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 80, 706–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bundy, D. A. P., Thompson, D. E., Golden, M. H. N., Cooper, E. S., Anderson, R. M. & Harland, P. S. E. (1985 a). Population distribution of Trichuris trichiura in a community of Jamaican children. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 79, 232–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Else, K. J. & Wakelin, D. (1988). The effects of H-2 and non-H-2 genes on the expulsion of the nematode Trichuris muris from inbred and congenic mice. Parasitology 96, 543–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, T. D. G. & Wakelin, D. (1982). Cortisone-induced immunotolerance to nematode infection in CBA/Ca mice. I. Investigation of the defects in the protective response. Immunology 47, 227–32.Google Scholar
Lowry, O., Rosebrough, N., Farr, A. & Randall, R. (1951). Protein measurements with the folin-phenol reagent. Journal of Biological Chemistry 193, 265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peters, W. (1978). Medical aspects — comments and discussion. In The Relevance of Parasitology to Human Welfare Today. (ed. Taylor, A. E. R.and Muller, R.) Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Roach, T. I. A. (1986). Immunity to Trichuris muris in the mouse. Ph.D. thesis, Nottingham University.Google Scholar
Voller, A., Bidwell, D. E. & Bartlett, A. (1979). The Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). A guide with abstracts of microplate applications (Dynatech, Europe, Guernsey, G. B.).Google Scholar
Wakelin, D. (1967). Acquired immunity to Trichuris muris in the albino laboratory mouse. Parasitology 57, 515–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wakelin, D. (1970). Studies on the immunity of albino mice to Trichuris muris. Suppression of immunity by cortisone acetate. Parasitology 60, 229–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wakelin, D. & Selby, G. R. (1974). The induction of immunological tolerance to the parasitic nematode Trichuris muris in cortisone-treated mice. Immunology 26, 1–10.Google Scholar
Warren, K. S. & Mahmoud, A. A. F. (1984). Tropical and Geographical Medicine. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Worley, D. E., Meisenhelder, J. E., Sheffield, H. G. & Thompson, P. E. (1962). Experimental studies on Trichuris muris in mice with an appraisal of its use for evaluating anthelmintics. Journal of Parasitology 48, 433–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed