Nature 228, 682 - 683 (14 November 1970); doi:10.1038/228682a0

Nature of Acquired Resistance to Filarial Infection in Albino Rats

R. C. BAGAI^* & D. SUBRAHMANYAM^†

Biochemistry Division, National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Delhi.
^*Present address: Patel Chest Institute, Delhi.
^†Present address: Department of Biochemistry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.

ALBINO rats infected with the filarial parasite Litomosoides carinii acquire resistance in 3−4 months as judged by the absence of microfilariae in the peripheral blood¹. The rats at this stage have latent infection revealed by the presence of adult worms and microfilariae in the pleural cavity. In vivo studies on the factors involved suggested that circulating antibodies of these rats which include a homologous anaphylactic⁸ and reaginic³ types do not play a significant part⁴. Available data, however, indicated that the acquired resistance was related to a systemic cell-mediated immunity³ that seems to be most active in the pleural cavity⁴, where the adult worms and microfilariae were present. We report here the results of a study of the acquired resistance.

References

1.	Singh, D., and Raghavan, N. G. S., Ind. J. Mal., 16, 193 (1962).
2.	Bagai, R. C., Subrahmanyam, D., and Singh, V. B., Ind. J. Med. Res., 56, 1064 (1968).
3.	Subrahmanyam, D., and Bagai, R. C., Ann. Ind. Acad. Med. Sci., 6, 1 (1970).
4.	Bagai, R. C., and Subrahmanyam, D., Amer. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 17, 833 (1968).
5.	Umbreit, W. W., Burris, R. H., and Stauffer, J. F., in Manometric Techniques (Burgess, New York, 1959).
6.	Taliaferro, W. H., Ann. NY Acad. Sci., 69, 745 (1957).
7.	Leyey, R. H., and Medawar, P. B., in Antilymphocytic Serum (Ciba Foundation study group) (Churchill, London, 1967).
8.	Gray, J. G., Monaco, A. P., Wood, M. L., and Russel, P. S., J. Immunol., 96, 217 (1966).
9.	Kassai, T., Szepes, G., Rethy, L., and Toth, G., Nature, 218, 1055 (1968).
10.	Domingo, E. O., and Warren, K. S., Amer. J. Pathol., 52, 613 (1968). (1965).
11.	Wagland, B. M., and Dineen, J. K., Austral. J. Exp. biol. Med. Sci., 43, 429
12.	Larsh, jun., J. E., Amer. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 16, 123 (1967).
13.	Jordan, P., Brit. Med. J., 1, 1020 (1960).