IgG1 HYPERGAMMAGLOBULINAEMIA IN CHRONIC PARASITIC INFECTIONS IN MICE: MAGNITUDE OF THE RESPONSE IN MICE INFECTED WITH VARIOUS PARASITES
- 1 August 1979
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Immunology & Cell Biology
- Vol. 57 (4), 369-387
- https://doi.org/10.1038/icb.1979.38
Abstract
Mice chronically infected with 3 metazoan and 1 protozoan parasite contain in their circulation levels of IgG1 which are increased over the levels in uninfected mice by at least 10. In the case of infection with the larval cestode, Mesocestoides corti. the serum IgG1 concentration can reach > 50 mg/ml and, with a half-life of < 2 days, the number of cells engaged in IgG1 production is approximately 2 108. The IgG1 hypergammaglobulinaemia is not seen in infected hypothymic nude mice. Biosynthetic labelling studies with organ and tissue cultures established that in two of the chronic infections the organs principally involved in IgG1 synthesis were those pathologically involved or those "in line" for antigen capture: i.e. liver and spleen in the case of M. corti which is located in the liver and the peritoneal cavity, and various intestinal lymph nodes in the case of the gut-dwelling nematode, Nematospiroides dubius. This apparently exaggerated response to chronic parasitic infection is of interest simply because of the potential magnitude of the effect and the fact that it involves an Ig isotype with very poorly defined biological function.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- IgG1 HYPERGAMMAGLOBULINAEMIA IN CHRONIC PARASITIC INFECTIONS IN MICE: EVIDENCE THAT THE RESPONSE REFLECTS CHRONICITY OF ANTIGEN EXPOSUREImmunology & Cell Biology, 1979
- NEMATOSPIROIDES DUBIUS: SUSCEPTIBILITY TO INFECTION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESISTANCE IN HYPOTHYMIC (NUDE) BALB/c MICEImmunology & Cell Biology, 1978