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Attempts to Immunize Rabbits Against a Larval Cestode, Cysticercus Pisiformis.

1932; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 29; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3181/00379727-29-6029

1535-3702

Harry M. Miller, K. B. Kerr,

Parasitic Infections and Diagnostics

Cysticercus pisiformis is the larval form of Taenia pisiformis (serrata), a tapeworm found in the intestine of the dog. The larvae begin development in the liver of the rabbit and later migrate to the mesenteries, where they form typical cysticerci. Rabbits were injected with Taenia pisiformis material and subsequently fed with onchospheres of this species. Two cc. of a 1% suspension of fresh or powdered worm material in physiological saline solution were injected intraperitoneal^, subcutaneously, or intravenously at intervals of 2 or 3 days for a total of 6 injections. From 3 to 19 weeks after the last injection the control and injected rabbits were fed equal amounts of a uniform suspension of mature onchospheres by stomach tube. They were autopsied 3 to 6 weeks later, during the period when the larvae were migrating from the liver to the mesenteries in the control animals. Development of the larvae was totally inhibited in a few of the rabbits which had received injections of adult worm material. In most instances the difference in the condition presented by the livers of the control and injected animals was one of degree; in only a few cases were larvae found to be migrating in the experimental animals; while in the control rabbits migration of the larvae frequently occurred or the larvae in the liver were larger than those in the rabbits which had received injections. The data were derived from 73 animals, of which number 34 were controls. The results of one experiment are shown in Table I. A number of animals were found to have been infected previous to purchase. When this occurred among the controls, some evidence of a degree of protection against superinfection was observed.