Adoptive transfer of immunity to Trichinella spiralis in mice: Generation of effective cells by different life cycle stages

Adoptive transfer of immunity with day 8 mesenteric lymph node cells (MLNC) taken from NIH mice after a chemically abbreviated infection of 3 days duration was as effective as transfer with cells taken from mice which had received an uninterrupted infection. Using a surgical transplantation technique it was demonstrated that adult T. spiralis were not capable of stimulating cells effective upon adoptive transfer. The potent immunogenicity of the early stages of infection was emphasized by data showing that very low numbers of muscle larvae were efficient in stimulating effective mediator cells. Neither the time at which MLNC were taken for transfer after transplantation of adult worms nor the age of adult worms transplanted affected the failure of this life cycle stage to stimulate cells capable of mediating worm expulsion. It is proposed that expulsion of T. spiralis from the gut may be achieved by more than one effector mechanism, and that early and late intestinal stages stimulate these mechanisms differentially.