Influences of Age and Sex on the Susceptibility of Albino Mice to Infection with Aspiculuris tetraptera

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Abstract
Groups of albino mice, ranging from 3 to 18 weeks of age, were experimentally infected with the pinworm Aspiculuris tetraptera. A comparison was made between the worm burdens recovered after 2 weeks, and after 3 or more weeks of infection. It was noted that mice up to the 10th week of age did not demonstrate sex differences in susceptibility to Aspiculuris, but if the period of infection was extended to 3 or more weeks, the female mice revealed worm burdens approximately one-half those of the male mice. Female mice, 10 weeks of age and older, quickly evinced a sex resistance to Aspiculuris, distinct differences in the worm burdens of male and female mice being noted after only 2 weeks of infection. The degree of sex resistance to Aspiculuris was equated with the product of two factors, the endocrinological status of the host when infected, and the period of infection. Mice up to the 10th week of age exhibited an age-related decreasing susceptibility to infection. After the 10th week of age, an apparent equilibrium was reached, no further variations in age susceptibility occurring.

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