SCHISTOSOMIASIS IN CONGENITALLY ATHYMIC (NUDE) MOUSE .1. THYMIC DEPENDENCY OF EOSINOPHILIA, GRANULOMA FORMATION, AND HOST MORBIDITY

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  • 1 January 1977
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 118  (2) , 594-599
Abstract
Athymic nude mice (Nu/Nu), heterozygous littermates (Nu/+) and thymus reconstituted homozygous animals (Nu/Nu TxR) were exposed to Schistosoma mansoni cercariae. A marked impairment in the development of peripheral blood eosinophilia and hepatic granuloma was observed in the Nu/Nu animal. Host morbidity judged by organ weight, portal pressures and RES activity were less in the Nu/Nu animal. Thymus-reconstituted animals demonstrated eosinophilia, increased granuloma size and morbidity equivalent to that shown by the Nu/+ heterozygous littermates. The eosinophilia, granulomatous hypersensitivity and ultimate host morbidity, associated with murine schistosomiasis, is apparently dependent on thymic dependent lymphocyte function.

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