Eosinophil responses of permissive and nonpermissive hosts to the young adult worms ofAngiostrongylus cantonensis

Abstract

Blood and bone marrow eosinophilia was assessed in nonpermissive (guinea pigs) and permissive (rats) hosts following the pulmonary arterial transfers of live or dead young adult worms of Angiostrongylus cantonensis. Guinea pigs showed a marked eosinophilic response to live worms but only a slight response to dead worms. Neither IgE nor haemagglutinating antibodies correlated with the induction of this eosinophilia. In contrast, the rat responded to neither form of the young adult worm. When the guinea pig and the rat were injected with whole worm extract (WWE) of the young adult worms either by an osmotic mini-pump connected to the jugular vein or by intermittent intravenous injections, the former animal showed blood eosinophilia but the latter failed to do so. Guinea pigs also developed blood eosinophilia after continuous exposure to the excretory and secretory products of the young adult worms, administered by the mini-pump. Eosinophil responses to WWE could be induced both in athymic CD-1 (ICR) nude mice and in its heterozygous litter mates, suggesting that T cell-independent mechanism(s) could be involved in the induction of blood eosinophilia in the nonpermissive, mouse host. These data clearly indicate that the eosinophilia-inducing factor(s) and the mechanism of eosinophilia are different in permissive and nonpermissive hosts.

Microglia activation: one of the checkpoints in the CNS inflammation caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection in rodent model

“…These results are in line with other researchers' reported findings that worm degeneration and eosinophil degranulation in non-permissive hosts may differ from those in their normal definitive hosts, and the growth rates of A. cantonensis larvae in mice are less than in rats (Ishida and Yoshimura 1986). Different hosts have different immune responses, so their cytokines are also diverse.…”

Neuronal Apoptosis: Pathological Basis of Behavioral Dysfunctions Induced by Angiostrongylus cantonensis in Rodents Model

“…The major pathological damages in human CNS induced by A. cantonensis infection include; (1) meningitis with a predominance of eosinophils and plasma cells; (2) multiple microcavities, tortuous tracks, and microscopic hemorrhage surrounded by inflammatory cells and neuron lesions in the brain and spinal cord parenchyma; (3) granulomatous response to the dead worms; (4) nonspecific vascular reactions, thrombosis, and aneurysm formation [ 42 , 44 ]. In A. cantonensis -infected mammalian brains (permissive host rats and nonpermissive hosts, including mice, rabbits, and guinea pigs), similar pathological changes were also found in CNS [ 23 , 24 , 28 , 29 , 45 , 46 ]. In this study, plaque-like lesions also showed in various regions in infected animals.…”