Host cytokine production, lymphoproliferation, and antibody responses during the course of Ancylostoma ceylanicum infection in the Golden Syrian hamster

The Syrian Golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) has been used to model infections with the hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum. New molecular immunological reagents to measure cellular immune responses in hamsters were developed and used to determine the impact of A. ceylanicum hookworm infection on host cytokine responses and lymphoproliferation. Initial larval infection with 100 third-stage A. ceylanicum larvae resulted in predominant Th1 responses (upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines) that lasted for the duration of larval migration and continued up to 14 days postinfection (prepatency). Subsequently, development of larvae into egg-laying adult hookworms (patency) coincided with a switch to Th2 predominant responses (interleukin-4 [IL-4]) as well as a marked increase in IL-10 production. This switch also concurred with reduced host lymphoproliferative responses to hookworm antigens. The findings demonstrate a similarity in immune responses between hamsters and humans infected with hookworms, suggesting that hamsters will be a useful animal model species for examining host immunity to human hookworm infections.