Age-influenced population kinetics and immunological responses of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leishmania donovani</Emphasis> in hamsters |
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Authors: | Nasib Singh Mukesh Samant Shraddha K Gupta Awanish Kumar Anuradha Dube |
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Institution: | (1) Division of Parasitology, Central Drug Research Institute, P.O. Box No. 173, Lucknow, 226 001, India |
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Abstract: | Susceptibility of animals to infections depends upon various factors including sex and age of the host, which plays a pivotal
role. In this communication, we have investigated the “intake” of Leishmania donovani infection in young (3–4 weeks old) and adult (15–16 weeks old) golden hamsters. The splenic parasite load in young hamsters
on day 15 post infection (p.i.) was 54 ± 4 amastigotes/100 macrophage nuclei and increased to 106.3 ± 3.5 on day 30 p.i. However,
adult group showed 2.2-(P < 0.001) and 1.75-fold (P < 0.001) lesser parasite burden on these days, respectively. But as the disease progresses further, differences in parasite
burden become less significant, as revealed by comparable levels of parasite loads at 2 months p.i. Spleen weight measurements
correspond to the above observations. In the young group, the levels of antileishmanial antibody rise two and 4.5 times on
days 15 and 30 p.i., respectively, as compared to only 1.3 and 2.3 times increase in their respective adult counterparts.
However, after 2 months of infection both groups recorded analogous (12-fold) rise in antibody levels. Both mitogenic and
antigenic responses in adult hamsters were less suppressed compared to young hamsters on days 15 and 30 p.i. However, both
groups exhibited highly suppressed cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses after 2 months of infection. These findings implicate
that age of the host may influence the susceptibility and resistance to Leishmania infection. |
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