Antagonism of Spirillum minus infection in rats towards Trypanosoma lewisi and T. equinum

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Abstract
1. Rats infected with Spirillum, minus are strongly resistant to infection with Trypanosoma lewisi and T. equinum if inoculated with these parasites shortly after inoculation with Spirillum minus. The resistance is most highly developed for a period of from 2 to 4 weeks after inoculation with S. minus.2. Simultaneous inoculation of rats with S. minus and either of the trypanosomes does not influence the course of the resulting trypanosome infection.3. Rats inoculated with Trypanosoma equinum during the period of acute infection with Spirillum minus develop only a very slight transient primary infection with the trypanosome and may survive for many weeks, up to 49, whereas control rats die in 5–17 days. Usually the resistant rats ultimately die from a relapse of the Trypanosoma equinum infection.4. Similarly, in rats inoculated with T. lewisi during the resistant phase due to an infection with Spirillum minus, the primary acute infection with the trypanosome is suppressed and the rats develop a slight or subpatent infection.5. The non-specific resistance to trypanosomes conferred by the acute S. minus infection soon disappears and is replaced by a specific trypanosome resistance which is active only against reinoculation with the same species of trypanosome. Thus, in this phase of resistance, a rat infected with Trypanosoma equinum is refractory to reinoculation with T. equinum but has no resistance to superinoculation with T. lewisi. Conversely, a rat infected with T. lewisi is refractory to reinoculation with that species but it is as susceptible to superinoculation with T. equinum as a normal rat.

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