Worm recovery and precipitin antibody response in guinea pigs and rats infected with Clonorchis sinensis.

ABSTRACT

Guinea pigs (Hartley strain) and rats (Wistar strain) were each fed 200 and 100 Clonorchis sinensis metacercariae, respectively. Five animals from each species were sacrificed weekly between 1-8 weeks postinfection (WPI) and then at 12, 16, 20 and 30 WPI for collection of worms, bile and sera. The overall worm recovery rates for guinea pigs and rats were 18.7% and 12.4%, respectively. Only one of the five rats examined at 20 WPI still harbored one worm, while all were worm-free at 30 WPI. By a double diffusion test, no antibodies were detected against C. sinensis adult antigens in the bile juice. Serum antibodies were detected in at least 95% of the infected guinea pigs between 4-30 WPI and rats between 3-16 WPI. Precipitin antibodies seemed to be correlated with the presence of live worms in rats that had been infected for more than 12 weeks.