Susceptibility of severe combined immuno-deficient (SCID) mice to Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense |
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Authors: | Inoue,Narumi,Mbati,Hirumi,Situakibanza,& Hirumi |
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Affiliation: | The Research Centre for Protozoan Molecular Immunology, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro Hokkaido, Japan; Department of Veterinary Physiology, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro Hokkaido, Japan; Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya; Kinshasa University Hospital, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo |
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Abstract: | Susceptibility of severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice to 7 isolates of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and 2 isolates of T. b. rhodesiense was examined in terms of their infectivity, course of parasitaemia, packed cell volume (PCV) and survival period in comparison with that of normal immunocompetent (BALB/c) mice. All isolates of T. b. gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense caused high (> 1 × 108 parasites/ml) parasitaemia in the SCID mice, the survival periods ranged from 5 to 47 days. On the other hand, 5 of 7 isolates of T. b. gambiense developed chronic infection in the BALB/c mice with sporadic but persistent parasitaemia with less than 5 × 106 parasites/ml. All the mice tested in this group survived more than 60 days after infection. In contrast, the 2 remaining isolates of T. b. gambiense and both isolates of T. b. rhodesiense showed high virulence in the BALB/c mice and killed all of them within 30 days after infection. The results demonstrate that the SCID mice, in which functional B- and T-cell-mediated immunities are congenitally lacking, are highly susceptible for 'low-virulence' T. b. gambiense . This makes SCID mice useful tools for the isolation of parasites from T. b. gambiense sleeping sickness patients and the propagation of large amounts of such parasites. |
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Keywords: | T. b. gambiense T. b. rhodesiense SCID mouse susceptibility |
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