Delayed rejection of single Hymenolepis diminuta in primary infections of young mice

Abstract

In CFLP male tapeworm-free mice, from 2 to 7 weeks old at infection, at least 80% of single Hymenolepis diminuta establish and grow but then are rejected; day of rejection defined as the first day when ≦ 50% of the worms were recovered. Young mice, 2 to 4 weeks old, usually reject their worms during days 16–20 while older mice, 5 to 7 weeks old, reject them during days 12–14. Biomass (total dry weight of all worms recovered on a given day from a group of mice) varied markedly with host age and was consistently greatest in 4-week-old mice. The position of the worm in the intestine did not vary with host age. The quality of mice (categorized by the Medical Research Council Laboratory Animals Centre) did not appear to affect the course of a primary, single H. diminuta infection although, undoubtedly, the mice had varied immunological histories. Variations in time of rejection and biomass of worms recovered are accounted for by both immunological and physiological mechanisms.