Abstract:
Hookworm infection affects millions globally, leading to chronic conditions like malnutrition and anaemia. Among the hookworm species, Ancylostoma ceylanicum stands out as a generalist, capable of infecting various hosts, including humans, cats, dogs and hamsters. Surprisingly, it cannot establish in mice, despite their close phylogenetic relationship to hamsters. The present study investigated the development of A. ceylanicum in immunodeficient NSG mice to determine the contribution of the immune system to host restriction. The infections became patent on day 19 post-infection (PI) and exhibited elevated egg production which lasted for at least 160 days PI. Infective A. ceylanicum larvae reared from eggs released by infected NSG mice were infectious to hamsters and capable of reproduction, indicating that the adults in the NSG mice were producing viable offspring. In contrast, A. ceylanicum showed limited development in outbred Swiss Webster mice. Furthermore, the closely related canine hookworm Ancylostoma caninum was unable to infect and develop in NSG mice, indicating that different mechanisms may determine host specificity even in closely related species. This is the first report of any hookworm species completing its life cycle in a mouse and implicate the immune system in determining host specificity in A. ceylanicum.
摘要:
钩虫感染影响全球数百万人,导致营养不良和贫血等慢性病。在钩虫物种中,cycloustomaceylanicum突出作为一个通才,能够感染各种宿主,包括人类,猫,狗和仓鼠。令人惊讶的是,它不能在老鼠身上建立,尽管它们与仓鼠有着密切的系统发育关系。本研究调查了免疫缺陷型NSG小鼠中ceylanicum的发育,以确定免疫系统对宿主限制的贡献。感染在感染后(PI)第19天变为专利,并表现出持续至少160天PI的产蛋量增加。从感染的NSG小鼠释放的卵中饲养的感染性头孢霉素幼虫对仓鼠具有传染性,并且能够繁殖,表明NSG小鼠中的成虫正在产生有活力的后代。相比之下,头孢霉素在瑞士韦伯斯特近交小鼠中表现出有限的发育。此外,密切相关的犬钩虫Ancylostomacaninum无法在NSG小鼠中感染和发育,表明即使在密切相关的物种中,不同的机制也可能决定宿主的特异性。这是任何钩虫物种在小鼠中完成其生命周期的第一份报告,并暗示免疫系统决定了头孢曲霉中的宿主特异性。