ABSTRACT
Mice were infected with Toxocara canis by an oral administration of embryonated eggs of the parasite, then they were killed between 1st and 8th week after infection to obtain sera and splenic lymphocytes. The lymphocytes were kept in culture medium for 3 to 6 days with either concanavalin A or excretory-secretory antigen of T. canis and assayed for proliferative responses. The obtained sera were examined for the presence of specific IgG and IgM antibodies. It was found that cell-mediated immunity was depressed for 3 weeks after infection and the first signs of the developing immunity were detected only at the 4th week of infection. Subsequently, the blastogenic responses increased reaching a level significantly higher when compared with those of the control cultures at 8th week of infection. Specific toxocaral IgG and IgM antibodies were first detected in the samples collected at the 4th week.
