ovalbumin and Fascioliasis

Immune responses to heat-killed Brucella abortus strain 19 and to ovalbumin were compared in 15 fluke-infected and 15 fluke-free Friesian heifers. B abortus was injected 16 weeks and ovalbumin 19 weeks after the oral administration of 1000 metacercariae of Fasciola hepatica. Agglutinating antibody responses to B abortus were similar in both groups. Immediate type hypersensitivity to ovalbumin was apparently suppressed in fluke-infected animals when assessed by active and passive cutaneous anaphylaxis two weeks after sensitisation. However, when assessed by Schultz-Dale responses of intestine, in vitro, 36 weeks after sensitisation there was no difference between the groups. The heifers were subsequently given live Salmonella dublin intravenously. The fluke-infected animals which became carriers of S dublin had the most persistently elevated titres of agglutinating antibodies in their sera and the highest incidence of immediate-type hypersensitivity, as assessed by Schultz-Dale responses of intestine, but the weakest cutaneous delayed hypersensitivity reactions to S dublin. The latter might have been related to lymphopenia which developed after fluke infection. The increased susceptibility of fluke-infected cattle to S dublin cannot be attributed to impaired agglutinin responses but may result from effects on cell-mediated mechanisms.

Topics: Agglutinins; Animals; Antigens; Antigens, Bacterial; Brucella abortus; Cattle; Cattle Diseases; Fasciola; Fascioliasis; Female; Muscle, Smooth; Ovalbumin; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis; Salmonella; Skin Tests

Topics: Ancylostomatoidea; Animals; Antibody Formation; Dust; Fasciola hepatica; Fascioliasis; Helminthiasis; Hemocyanins; Hookworm Infections; Immunoglobulin E; Ovalbumin; Rats

Topics: Animals; Antibody Formation; Fasciola hepatica; Fascioliasis; Female; Hookworm Infections; Immunoglobulin E; Ovalbumin; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis; Rats