Impeded Establishment of the Infective Stage of Trichinella in the Intestinal Mucosa of Mice by Passive Transfer of an IgA Monoclonal Antibody

Abstract

Our previous study showed that the IgA monoclonal antibody (mAb) HUSM-Tb1 forms immunoprecipitates on the cuticular surface of infective larvae of Trichinella britovi, and that intraperitoneal injection of this mAb to mice 5 hr before challenge infection confers a high level of protection against intestinal T. britovi. The same treatment produced a similar effect in BALB/c mice inoculated orally with Trichinella pseudospiralis larvae, indicating that the effects may be seen upon most members of the genus Trichinella. Worms recovered from the intestinal mucosa at 1 hr after challenge infection with T. pseudospiralis was few in mice passively immunized with the mAb, whereas a substantial number of worms were recovered from the mucosa of control groups. These results suggest that the IgA mAb impedes establishment of infective Trichinella worms in the intestinal mucosa. Trichinella worms inoculated orally into BALB/c mice vaccinated with ultraviolet-irradiated muscle larvae 3 weeks earlier were expelled between days 4 and 7 after challenge infection. Although the mAb HUSM-Tb1 originated from the mesenteric lymph node cells of mice vaccinated repeatedly with such irradiated larvae, IgA-mediated expulsion does not seem to play an important role in this vaccination model.