HOMOCYTOTROPIC ANTIBODY RESPONSE IN MICE INFECTED WITH SCHISTOSOMA MANSONI - COMPARISON WITH RESPONSE FOLLOWING TRICHINELLA SPIRALIS INFECTION

The immunological response of mice to infection with Schistosoma mansoni and Trichinella spiralis was studied. Antibodies were assayed by fluorescent antibody tests and by passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) reactions using a sensitization period of 2 or 72 hours. The animals were given single or multiple exposures to S. mansoni cercariae or T. spiralis larvae. Some were given T. spiralis larvae 4 weeks after exposure to S. mansoni. Other mice were exposed to 10,000 irradiated cercariae. A homocytotropic antibody able to induce PCA reactions within a few hours after sensitization was present in mice following either of these exposures. However, although mice infected with T. spiralis produced high levels of reagin-like antibody as indicated by the 72-hour PCA, no such antibody was detected in the animals infected with S. mansoni. © 1969.