Passive transfer of resistance and the site of immune-dependent elimination of the challenge infection in rats vaccinated with highly irradiated cercarie ofSchistosoma mansoni

Abstract

SUMMARYThe immune-dependent elimination of a challenge infection in rats vaccinated with highly-irradiated cercarriae ofSchistosoma mansoniwas analysed by passive transfer of serum, recovery of the challenge from the lungs and liver and by transferring lung-stage schistosomula. Recipients of serum from rats immunized with either unirradiated, 20 or 40 krad.irradiated cercariae, most of which die in the liver, lungs and skin, respectively, were equally resistant if the serum was injected on the day of infection or 5–7 days after infection. In addition, vaccinated rat serum transferred to mice and vaccinated rabbit serum transferred to rats conferred comparable protection when injected on day 0 or 5 days after infection of the recipents. This apparent susceptibility of the lung schistosomula to immune attack was confirmed by challenging 20 or 40 krad.-irradiated cercariae vaccinated rats with lung-stage schistosomula derived either from mice or rats. All the detectable attrition of a cercarial challenge in vaccinated rats occurred between 7 and 10 days post-challenge, before the parasites reached the liver. Since there was no evidence of damage or attrition in the skin or lungs before day 7 it was concluted that immune-dependent elimination occurred rapidly following a ‘window of sensitivity’ coinciding with the migration of the parasites from the lungs to the liver.