Radio isotope studies on the blood loss associated with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis infection in rats

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Abstract
Red blood cells from rats were labelled with 51Cr by in vitro incubation with labelled sodium chromate. After re-injection of autologous labelled red cells, rats, each infected with 5000 N. brasiliensis larvae, and non-infected controls were placed in individual metabolism cages. Twenty-four hour samples of faeces and urine from both groups were collected throughout the course of the infection. From a knowledge of the specific radioactivity of host blood, it was possible to express the radioactivity found in the faeces and urine in terms of volume of whole blood. A burden of approximately 1000 adult worms caused a blood loss of about 100 μl every 24 h during the period day 4 to day 14 after infection. This gastro-intestinal haemorrhage could provide a vehicle whereby antibody gains access to the worm. No radioactivity was found in adult worms isolated from infected rats killed at 2-day intervals throughout the course of the infection. Adult N. brasiliensis did not ingest an appreciable quantity of host blood.