Experimental dirofilariasis in macaques. II. Susceptibility and host responses to Dirofilaria repens of dogs and cats
Wong, M.M.
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 25(1): 88-93
1976
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-9637 PMID: 816215 Document Number: 98360
Thirteen macaques were inoculated with 12, 85, 90, 95, 100, 625, 800 or 900 infective larvae of Dirofilaria repens and killed 2 weeks to 11 months later. 2 were treated with prednisolone (as an immunosuppressant) daily beginning at 2 months after infection. Larvae and adult worms were recovered from 10 monkeys, but microfilaraemia was not observed in the untreated monkeys despite the presence of gravid females. Eosinophilia and filarial antibodies were notable in monkeys harbouring gravid worms, especially at 2, 4.5, and 6 months, probably corresponding to the period of final moult, mating, and microfilarial production, respectively. Microfilaraemia appeared in the 2 prednisolone-treated monkeys at 5.5 and 6 months after infection, suggesting that under similar conditions infection with D. repens could produce a microfilaraemia in man. [AS].