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Biomedical subjects

M E Rose

Publications and source records attributed to M E Rose.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Failure of nude (athymic) rats to become resistant to reinfection with the intestinal coccidian parasite Eimeria nieschulzi or the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis.

The course of each of three successive infections with Eimeria nieschulzi in nude (athymic) rats was the same as the primary infection in nu/+ animals, with the production of more oocysts. This indicates that resistance to reinfection with this parasite is mediated by T lymphocytes but that these cells do not control the duration of the life cycle, since oocyst production was not prolonged in the nu/nu rats. After the three infections with E. nieschulzi, the rats were exposed twice to the intestinal nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, and the nu/nu were completely susceptible even to the second infection. Egg production by both infections in the nu/nu animals was similar and continued at a high plateau level for 28 days before falling to a low level. It appears that the strain of N. brasiliensis used in this study is unable to sustain high egg production for more than 4 weeks in T cell deficient rats.

Animals

Immunity to coccidiosis: T-lymphocyte- or B-lymphocyte-deficient animals.

Comparisons were made between infections with Eimeria spp. in normal animals and in animals with functional deficiencies in either T-lymphocytes (athymic nude rats) or B-lymphocytes (bursectomized chickens). Approximately three times more oocysts of E. nieschulzi were passed during a primary infection in the nu/nu rats, and in contrast to the nu/+ rats, they were completely susceptible to reinfection. Nu/nu rats did not produce agglutinating antibodies to sporozoites, and injections of serum from immunized nu/+ rats caused a reduction of oocyst production during a primary infection in both nu/nu and nu/+ rats. In chickens, oocyst production in primary infections with E. maxima or with E. acervulina was increased 1.5 to 2-fold in the bursectomised (BX) groups, and the clinical effects of infection with E. maxima were greater than in controls. The BX birds were slightly more susceptible than the controls to challenge inoculations of oocysts, but nevertheless, they were very substantially immune. Tests for the functioning of B- and T-lymphocytes indicated that in the BX birds there was a severe deficiency of B-cell function, but near-normal T-cell function. The results show that T-lymphocytes are essential for immunity and that, although they may function partly as helper cells for immunoglobulin production, their major effect is exerted via some other mechanism.

Agglutinins

Peripheral blood leucocyte response to coccidial infection: a comparison of the response in rats and chickens and its correlation with resistance to reinfection.

The peripheral blood leucocyte (PBL) response to infection with two species of the intestinal protozoan Eimeria shows a remarkably similar pattern in both rats and chickens. Like resistance to these parasites, the PBL response to reinfection is species-specific and it coincides with the inhibition of development of the parasite and with cellular infiltration of the lamina propria. In primary infections, the numbers of PBL increased biphasically and significant changes were found in the count of polymorphonuclear cells (PMN), lymphocytes, and large mononuclear cells (LMN). A consistent pattern of two increases in PMN, some lymphopenia, and two increases in LMN was found in rats and chickens. The response to secondary infections was more rapid and much briefer, particularly in chickens in which significant changes were detected within hours of infection and consisted of an almost equal increase in PMN and in lymphocytes. This secondary response occurred only in animals challenged with the homologous species. It was not evoked by challenge with a related species which develops in approximately the same area of the intestine.

Animals

Whipple's disease of the lung.

Described here is a unique case of Whipple's disease in a 54 year old man with chronic severe cough and gastrointestinal symptoms in whom the initial diagnosis of Whipple's disease was made by lung biopsy. This is, to our knowledge, the first reported case in which the bacilliform structures of Whipple's disease have been demonstrated in tissues from other than the gastrointestinal tract of lymph nodes. Subsequently, a peroral biopsy of the small intestine was performed and revealed identical and pathognomonic features of Whipple's disease. The pulmonary roentgenologic findings are described and the histologic differential diagnosis of histiocytic infiltrates in the lung, which may be histologically similar to Whipple's disease, are briefly reviewed.

Histiocytes