Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T10:14:41.092Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Setaria digitata microfilaraemia in Mastomys coucha: an animal model for chemotherapeutic and immunobiological studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

S. Mukhopadhyay ,
A. P. Dash  and
B. Ravindran
S. Mukhopadhyay
Affiliation:
Division of Applied Immunology, Regional Medical Research Centre, (Indian Council of Medical Research), Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar-751 016, India
A. P. Dash
Affiliation:
Division of Entomology, Regional Medical Research Centre, (Indian Council of Medical Research), Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar-751 016, India
B. Ravindran*
Affiliation:
Division of Applied Immunology, Regional Medical Research Centre, (Indian Council of Medical Research), Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar-751 016, India
*
*Corresponding author. Divison of Applied Immunology, Regional Medical Research Centre (ICMR), Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar-751 016, India. Tel: 0674 440764. Fax: 0674 440974. E-mail: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Intraperitoneal implantation of adult gravid females of the bovine filarial parasite, Setaria digitata in Mastomys coucha was found to induce microfilaraemia lasting for about 125 days. The microfilariae (mf) could be detected as early as 4 days postimplantation (p.i.) and peak levels of about 30 mf in 20 µl of blood were observed by 21 days. A significant positive correlation was found between mf density and the body weight of recipients pre-implantation. The implanted adult worms were generally viable only for less than 1 week. Implantation resulted in a significant decrease in total leucocytes and erythrocytes, induction of eosinophilia, splenomegaly and anti-erythrocyte autoantibodies. The microfilariae in circulation developed into 3rd-stage infective larvae (L3) when fed onto Aedes aegypti (refm, Liverpool strain). The mf in circulation were found to be eliminated by oral administration of diethylcarbamazine citrate, indicating the usefulness of this model for screening potential anti-microfilarial drugs. During the microfilaraemic phase, priming with tetanus toxoid (TT) resulted in significantly decreased production of anti-toxin levels indicating a state of generalized immunosuppression. Induction of antibodies to various fractionated antigenic components of adult parasites could be demonstrated by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) in M. coucha implanted with live or cold-stunned adult worms. The S. digitata–M. coucha model thus is found amenable to perform chemotherapeutic and immunobiological investigations in experimental filariasis.

Keywords

Setaria digitataMastomys couchamicrofilaraemiadiethylcarbamazineanimal model
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 113 , Issue 4 , October 1996 , pp. 323 - 330
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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

REFERENCES

Beuria, M. K. & Das, M. K. (1992). Immunoresponse to an allergenic fraction of Setaria digitata in human filariasis. Journal of Biosciences 17, 453–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dissanayake, S. & Ismail, M. M. (1980). Antigens of Setaria digitata: Cross reaction with surface antigens of Wuchereria bancrofti microfilariae and serum antibodies of W. bancrofti infected subjects. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 58, 649–654.Google ScholarPubMed
Grove, D. I., Davis, R. S. & Warren, K. S. (1979). Brugia malayi microfilaraemia in mice: a model for the study of the host response to microfilariae. Parasitology 79, 303–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horii, Y., Nakanishi, H., Mori, A., Zaitsu, M., Ueda, M., Kurokawa, K., Oda, T. & Fujita, K. (1989). Eosinophil hyporesponse of jirds induced by microfilariae of Brugia pahangi. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 41, 183–188.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lammie, P. J. & Katz, S. P. (1983). Immunoregulation in experimental filariasis. II. Responses to parasite and nonparasite antigens in jirds with Brugia pahangi. Journal of Immunology 130, 1386–1389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawrence, R. & Denham, D. A. (1992). Brugia pahangi infections in immune-compromised rats demonstrate that separate mechanisms control adult worm and microfilarial numbers. Parasite Immunology 14, 371–384.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lok, J. B. & Abraham, D. (1992). Animal models for the study of immunity in human filariasis. Parasitology Today 8, 168–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maizels, R. M. & Denham, D. A. (1992). Diethylcarbamazine (DEC): immunopharmacological interactions of an anti-filarial drug. Parasitology 105, S49–S60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Michael, E. & Bundy, D. P. (1992). Nutrition, immunity and helminth infection: effect of dietary protein on the dynamics of the primary antibody response to Trichuris muris (Nematoda) in CBA/Ca mice. Parasite Immunology 14, 169–183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nakanishi, H., Horii, Y., Fuzita, K., Terashima, K., Ueda, M. & Kurokawa, K. (1987). Differences of eosinophil response among three species of rodents, rat, jird and mouse, during the course of Brugia pahangi infection. Tropical Medicine 29, 61–64.Google Scholar
Ravindran, B., Satapathy, A. K. & Das, M. K. (1988). Naturally-occurring anti-α-galactosyl antibodies in human Plasmodium falciparum infections – a possible role for autoantibodies in malaria. Immunology Letters 19, 137–142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singhal, K. C., Chandra, O. M. & Saxena, P. N. (1972). An in vivo method for the screening of antifilarial agents using Setaria cervi as test organism. Japanese Journal of Pharmacology 22, 175–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Theodore, J. & Kaliraj, P. (1990). Isolation, purification and characterization of surface antigens of the bovine filarial parasite Setaria digitata for the immunodiagnosis of bancroftian filariasis. Journal of Helminthology 64, 105–114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zahner, H. & Schares, G. (1993). Experimental chemotherapy of filariasis: Comparative evaluation of the filaricidal compounds in Mastomys coucha infected with Litomosoides carinii, Acanthocheilonema viteae, Brugia malayi and B. pahangi. Acta tropica 52, 221–266.Google ScholarPubMed
Ziegler, C., Kaufer-Weiss, I. R. & Zahner, H. (1991). On the pathogenesis of anaemia and leukopenia in filarial (Litomosoides carinii) infection of Mastomys natalensis. Zentralblatt für Veterinärmedizin 38, 123–134.Google ScholarPubMed