Presence and characterization of lymphocytotoxins in acute and chronic Plasmodium berghei malaria.
The role of lymphocytotoxic antibodies in elimination of lymphocytes and characterization of these antibodies during Plasmodium berghei infection was examined in BALB/c mice. When assayed at 15 degrees, an increase in lymphocytotoxic levels above base line values was detected in acute infection when parasitaemia exceeded 10%. There was an increase in lymphocytotoxins with increase in parasitaemia to a plateau beyond 25% parasitaemia. When assayed at 37 degrees, lymphocytotoxic activity during acute infection was lower than at 15 degrees but the increase detected was significant. During chronic infection there was a lower increase in the activity detected at 15 degrees and no significant increase in activity assayed at 37 degrees (P greater than 0.05). In addition, peripheral blood lymphocyte counts also dropped during acute infection while there was little change in lymphocyte numbers in the chronic infection group. The lymphocytotoxic antibodies present in sera of infected mice were predominantly of IgM class during acute infection and IgM or IgG class during chronic infection. The relevance of these observations to plasmodium infection is discussed.
Wangoo
A
A
Department of Parasitology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Ganguly
N K
NK
Mahajan
R C
RC
D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum / Q000276:immunology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000276:immunology; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D008288:Malaria / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010962:Plasmodium berghei
D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M