Inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation during parasitic infection with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis
Stockinger, H.; König, W.
Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 114: 693-698
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0065-2598 PMID: 463665 Document Number: 149761
The non-parasite IgE antibody titre in rats inoculated with 2500 N. brasiliensis larvae increased from day 5 of infection and peaked at day 14; the parasite-specific IgE antibody was almost negligible. After reinfection (28 days after the initial infection) with 5000 larvae, the parasite-specific IgE antibody increased to a peak at days 13 to 16, and then declined rapidly. During primary infection, an enhancement of the mitogenic responsiveness of lymphocytes was followed by a long-lasting suppression of spleen and mesenteric lymph-node cells; in reinfected animals these effects were not as pronounced. When normal mesenteric lymph node cells were incubated with normal rat serum, the mitogenic responsiveness was increased by up to 4 times (compared to controls in the absence of serum). When sera of rats infected for more than or equal to 5 days was added, the responsiveness of the cells decreased, and was less than in controls.