Evaluation of cellular immune response provoked by experimental infection with Cryptosporidium spp. in mice

Abstract

Experimental infection was induced in immunosupreesed and non-immunosupressed mice using inoculation of two different Cryptosporidium spp. isolates: faecal origin and river water origin; then the infectivity rate and cellular immunological status were examined in these groups of mice. The results indicated that these two isolates induced experimental infection in immunosuppressed and non-immunosuppressed mice with no significant differences in infectivity rate between groups. Immunosuppressed mice infected with feacal or water origin oocyst showed low and significant values of transformed lymphocytes 8.68% ± 0.65%, 9.18% ± 1.09 respectively and phagocytic index 10.1% ± 1.66 and 11.2% ± 0.19 respectively. It concludes that lymphocyte transformation and phagocytosis index are good indicators to evaluate the cellular immune response in infected experimental mice with Cryptosporidium.

Keywords

• cellular immune, Cryptosporidium