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Title: Altered resistance to Trichinella spiralis infection following subchronic exposure of adult mice to chemicals of environmental concern

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:5605885

The effects of subchronic chemical exposure on expulsion of adult Trichinella spiralis from the small intestine of mice and encystment of newborn larvae in the host's musculature were investigated. Exposure to diethylstilbestrol, benzo(a)pyrene, tris-(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate, cyclophosphamide, phorbol myristate acetate, and dimethylvinylchloride prior to infection of mice with 200 infective larvae resulted in larger worm burdens in treated animals than in controls 14 days after infection. Worm expulsion was not affected by exposure to tris-(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate, orthophenylphenol, and indomethacin. Increased burdens of muscle-phase larvae were found in animals that maintained significant numbers of adult worms in the gut at 14 days, except in mice administered diethylstilbestrol and dimethylvinylchloride. Exposure to diethylstilbestrol and cyclophosphamide resulted in decreased inflammatory reactions in the tissues of the small intestine and development of bone marrow eosinophilia in infected mice. Marrow eosinophilia was likewise decreased in mice given tris-(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl)phosphate before infection. Additional studies with diethylstilbestrol administered either before, at the time of, or after infection showed inhibition of worm expulsion. Drug exposure during a primary infection inhibited the expulsion of a second T. spiralis infection, but did not affect worm elimination when given during a second infection. Treatment with diethylstilbestrol after artificial sensitization of mice with Trichinella antigens decreased delayed hypersensitivity responses to the sensitizing antigen. Immune functions, assessed by lymphoproliferative responses to mitogens and antibody responses to sheep red blood cells, generally correlated with altered host resistance to T. spiralis infection.

OSTI ID:
5605885
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English