Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T00:39:15.315Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dose-dependent impact of larval Ascaris suum on host body weight in the mouse model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2009

R. Lewis ,
J.M. Behnke ,
P. Stafford  and
C.V. Holland
R. Lewis
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin2, Ireland
J.M. Behnke
Affiliation:
School of Biology, University of Nottingham, University Park, NottinghamNG7 2RD, UK
P. Stafford
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin2, Ireland
C.V. Holland*
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin2, Ireland
*
*Fax: 353-1-6778094 [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ascaris lumbricoides and Ascaris suum are important helminth parasites of humans and pigs, respectively. Although it is now well established that the presence of mature adult worms in the host intestine contributes to significant nutritional morbidity, the impact of larval migratory ascariasis is far less well understood. The development of a mouse model to explore susceptibility and resistance to larval ascariasis in the lungs provided an opportunity to observe the impact of larval migration on host growth during the course of infection. Changes in body weight were monitored in two strains of inbred mice, the susceptible C57BL/6j and the resistant CBA/Ca. Groups of mice received one of four doses: 100, 500, 1000 and 3000 fully embryonated A. suum ova. Infected mice underwent post-mortem on days 6, 7 and 8 post-infection. Control mice received a placebo dose of intubation medium and underwent post-mortem on day 7 post-infection. Mice were weighed pre-infection (day 0) and post-infection on the day of post-mortem. At post-mortem, the lungs of each mouse were removed for enumeration of Ascaris larval burdens by means of the modified Baermann method. Control mice of each strain showed an increase in weight from pre-infection to post-infection day. Within the C57BL/6j strain, mice infected with higher doses of Ascaris eggs experienced a reduction in body weight; for those given 3000 eggs this was on all three post-mortem days, and for those given 1000, on days 7 and 8. For CBA/Ca mice, only mice receiving the 3000 dose demonstrated a reduction in body weight. These findings suggest that larval migratory ascariasis has a significant negative impact upon host growth and that this is related to infective dose and larval burden.

Type
Research Papers
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 83 , Issue 1 , March 2009 , pp. 1 - 5
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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

Chan, M.S. (1997) The global burden of intestinal nematode infection – fifty years on. Parasitology Today 13, 438–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coles, G.C. (1985) Allergy and immunopathology of ascariasis. pp. 167–184in Crompton, D.W.T., Nesheim, M.C. & Pawlowski, Z.S. (Eds) Ascariasis and its public health significance. London: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Cooper, E.S., Whyte-Alleng, C.A.M., Finzi-Smith, J.S. & MacDonald, T.T. (1992) Intestinal nematode infections in children: the pathophysiological price paid. Parasitology 104, S91–S103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crompton, D.W.T. (2001) Ascaris and ascariasis. Advances in Parasitology 48, 285–374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crompton, D.W.T. & Nesheim, M.C. (2002) Nutritional impact of intestinal helminthiasis during the human life cycle. Annual Reviews in Nutrition 22, 35–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hadju, V., Stephenson, L.S., Abadi, K., Mohammed, H.O., Bowman, D.D. & Parker, R.S. (1996) Improvements in appetite and growth in helminth-infected schoolboys three and seven weeks after a single dose of pyrantel pamoate. Parasitology 113, 497–504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hale, O.M., Stewart, T.B. & Marti, O.G. (1985) Influence of experimental infection of Ascaris suum on performance in pigs. Journal of Animal Science 60, 220–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holland, C.V. (2005) Gastrointestinal nematodes – Ascaris, hookworm, Trichuris and Enterobius. 10th edn. pp. 713–736in Cox, F.E.G., Wakelin, D., Gillespie, S.H. & Despommier, D.D. (Eds) Topley & Wilson's microbiology and microbial infections parasitology. London: Hodder Arnold.Google Scholar
Lewis, R., Behnke, J.M., Cassidy, J.P., Stafford, P., Murray, N. & Holland, C.V. (2007) The migration of Ascaris suum larvae, and the associated pulmonary inflammatory response in susceptible C57BL/6j and resistant CBA/Ca mice. Parasitology 134, 1301–1314.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewis, R., Behnke, J.M., Stafford, P. & Holland, C.V. (2006) The development of a mouse model to explore resistance and susceptibility to early Ascaris suum infection. Parasitology 132, 298–300.Google ScholarPubMed
Mercer, J.G., Mitchell, P.I., Moar, K.M., Bissett, A., Geissler, S., Bruce, K. & Chappell, L.H. (2000) Anorexia in rats infected with the nematode, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis: experimental manipulations. Parasitology 120, 641–647.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Lorcain, P. & Holland, C. (2000) The public health significance of Ascaris lumbricoides. Parasitology 121, S51–S71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ovington, K.S. (1985) Dose-dependent relationships between Nippostrongylus brasiliensis populations and rat food intake. Parasitology 91, 157–167.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pawlowski, Z.S. & Arfaa, F. (1985) Ascariasis. pp. 347–359in Warren, K.S. & Mahmoud, A.A.F. (Eds) Tropical and geographical medicine. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Roepstorff, A. & Nansen, P. (1994) Epidemiology and control of helminth parasites in pigs under intensive and non-intensive production systems. Veterinary Parasitology 54, 69–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stephenson, L.S. (1987) Ascariasis. In Impact of helminth infections on human nutrition, pp. 89–118 [Stephenson, L.S. & Holland, C.V., editors]. London: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Stephenson, L.S., Pond, W.G., Nesheim, M.C., Krook, L.P. & Crompton, D.W.T. (1980) Ascaris suum: nutrient absorption, growth and intestinal pathology in young pigs experimentally infected with 15 day old larvae. Experimental Parasitology 49, 15–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stewart, T.B., Bidner, T.D., Southern, L.L. & Simmons, L.A. (1984) The efficacy of fenbendazole against migrating Ascaris suum larvae in pigs. American Journal of Veterinary Research 45, 984–986.Google ScholarPubMed
Hlaing, T. (1993) Ascariasis and childhood malnutrition. Parasitology 107, S125–S136.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
WHO (2002) The world health report 2002, Geneva: World Health Organization pp. 186–192.Google Scholar
Yang, S., Gaafar, S.M. & Bottoms, G.D. (1990) Serum levels of gastrin, insulin and glucagons as possible factors of anorexia in pigs infected once with Ascaris suum. Veterinary Parasitology 36, 211–219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed