Stage-specific antibody-dependent eosinophil-mediated destruction of Trichinella spiralis

Abstract

THE nematode Trichinella spiralis provides a model in which host responses to helminth infection can be studied. In trichinosis, there are three phases against which host resistance might develop. First, resistance may be directed against adult worms in the gut, which develop there after inoculation of the host by infective larvae. Second, resistance may be directed against newborn larvae, which penetrate the gut mucosa and pass by way of the bloodstream to the skeletal muscles. Finally, it may be directed against larvae in the muscle cells, which mature in 2–3 weeks into infective third-stage larvae¹. In the study reported here we investigated the ability of white cells to kill each of the three stages of the life cycle of the parasite, that is, adult worms, newborn larvae, and muscle larvae. We describe here an antibody-dependent eosinophil-mediated destruction mechanism specific for the newborn larval stage of T. spiralis.