Effect of Hibernation on Course of Infection and Immune Response in Citellus tridecemlineatus Infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The course of infection of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis in the abnormal host Citellus tridecemlineatus is prolonged, with comparatively few larvae developing to adults. Twenty-three animals placed in hibernation either soon after a single infection, or after mature worms were present lost the infection during the hibernation period, with the exception of one animal having a single adult worm. Antisera from ground squirrels receiving multiple infections were titrated using the tanned-cell hemagglutination technique. Hibernating ground squirrels of this group showed a dramatic drop in antibody titer over the 10-week hibernation period, with a major part of the decrease occurring in the 1st 4 weeks of hibernation. In one such group, the median titer before hibernation was 1:1,280, after 4 weeks 1:320, and after 10 weeks hibernation the median hemagglutination titer was 1:80. The nonhibernating controls showed little or no decrease in antibody over this same period. The serum antibody titer increased during the 11 days following arousal from hibernation.