The location of tick salivary antigens, complement and immunoglobulin in the skin of guinea-pigs infested with Dermacentor andersoni larvae.

  • 1 November 1979
    • journal article
    • Vol. 38  (3) , 467-72
Abstract
Using indirect immunoflorescence techniques, tick salivary gland antigens (SGA) were demonstrable in cement deposited on the skin by ticks and in all layers of the epidermis of infested guinea-pigs close to the sites where ticks attached. The antigen remained in these sites for several days after ticks had detached. In tick-resistant but not in normal guinea-pigs, SGA, complement and IgG were deposited at the dermo-epidermal junction even at some distance from the attachment site. Complement was also demonstrable in epidermal vesicles which developed beneath larvae attached to resistant guinea-pigs. It is suggested that antigen-antibody reaction and complement activation at these sites may play a role in the development of skin lesions and the attraction of basophils to these areas in challenged tick-resistant guinea-pigs. Tick antigens were also found to be associated with dendritic suprabasal cells in the epidermis of resistant guinea-pigs. It has previously been proposed that such SGA-trapping cells are Langerhans cells. These cells, in the presence of specific antibody and complement, could also initiate epidermal lesions in resistant guinea-pigs.