ABSTRACT
Immunization of rats with a purified IgE myeloma (IR2) induced an auto-anti-IgE response. Such treatment inhibited total IgE levels in the serum of conventional IgE-producing rats (Marshall & Bell, 1985) and increased the number of mucosal mast cells (MMC) in the intestine. The present study has investigated the ability of auto-anti-IgE induction to influence the course of a Nippostrongylus brasiliensis infection, to modify IgE synthesis, or to affect the number of MMC in the intestine following infection. Auto-anti-IgE induction was found to have a surprising effect on worm elimination. IR2-immunized rats were able to rid themselves of this nematode with an accelerated tempo--a small but significant effect after primary infection, but a substantial enhancement of worm loss after reinfection. Auto-anti-IgE induction was not able to prevent the typical increase in IgE that accompanies an N. brasiliensis infection, nor did it alter the helminth-induced intestinal mastocytosis. When MMC degranulation was measured by assaying the serum levels of a specific rat mast protease (RMCP II) following secondary infection, the amount of RMCP II released was less in auto-anti-IgE-producing rats. These findings have implications for the importance of IgE, MMC and other cells of inflammation in an anti-parasitic response.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic/biosynthesis , Autoantibodies/biosynthesis , Immunoglobulin E/immunology , Intestine, Small/immunology , Nematode Infections/immunology , Animals , Eosinophils/immunology , Intestine, Small/parasitology , Mast Cells/immunology , Nematode Infections/parasitology , Nippostrongylus , Rats , Rats, Inbred StrainsABSTRACT
When maintained under SPF (specific pathogen free) conditions, Wistar rats had low and variable counts of adult Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. Worm counts were increased if rats were kept in solid rather than wire-bottom cages, if rats were maintained under non-SPF conditions, or if SPF rats were orally inoculated with gut contents from non-SPF rats. It is concluded that gut flora in SPF wistar rats directly or indirectly affects the numbers of larvae establishing as adult worms.
