Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T15:47:36.981Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nippostrongylus (Nematoda) in protein-malnourished rats: host mortality, morbidity and rehabilitation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

Anne Keymer ,
D. W. T. Crompton  and
D. E. Walters
Anne Keymer
Affiliation:
The Molteno Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CambridgeCB2 3EE
D. W. T. Crompton
Affiliation:
The Molteno Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CambridgeCB2 3EE
D. E. Walters
Affiliation:
ARC Statistics Group, Department of Applied Biology, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, CambridgeCB2 3DX
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The synergistic relationship between host nutrition and the effects of Nippostrongylus was investigated experimentally in rats fed a diet containing 1% (w/w) protein. Rats were infected with 10 doses of N. brasiliensis varying from 0.35 to 99 larvae/g and their daily food intake and weekly body mass were compared with those of uninfected rats fed the same diet for a period of 9 weeks. The deterioration of the uninfected rats observed as a result of protein-energy malnutrition was found to be accelerated in a dose-dependent manner in the rats infected with N. brasiliensis. Analysis of food intake and body mass measurements demonstrated that this acceleration was related to a decrease in food intake and indicated a likely alteration in nutrient utilization, both of which were established by the end of the first week of the infection. Remission from the combined effects of malnutrition and infection was achieved by offering the rats a high-protein diet (20% w/w), whereupon rehabilitation was found to be complete within a period of 9 days. The implications of the results and the possible mechanisms involved in their generation are discussed in relation to the frequent coexistence of helminthiasis and malnutrition.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 86 , Issue 3 , June 1983 , pp. 461 - 475
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Alleyne, G. A. D., Hay, R. W., Picou, D. I., Stanfield, J. P. & Whitehead, R. G. (1977). Protein-energy Malnutrition. Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd, London.Google Scholar
Chapman, H. D., Fernandes, D. L. & Davison, T. F. (1982). A comparison of the effects of infection with Eimeria maxima and dietary restriction on weight gain, plasma metabolites and liver glycogen in the immature fowl, Gallus domesticus. Parasitology 84, 205–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crompton, D. W. T. (1983). Nutrition and parasitic infection. Federation Proceedings (in the Press).Google Scholar
Crompton, D. W. T., Arnold, S., Coward, W. A. & Lunn, P. G. (1978). Nippostrongylus (Nematoda) infection in protein-malnourished rats. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 72, 195–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crompton, D. W. T., Walters, D. E. & Arnold, S. (1981). Changes in the food intakeand body weight of protein-malnourished rats infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Nematoda). Parasitology 82, 23–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dargie, J. D., Berry, C. I. & Parkins, J. J. (1979). The pathology of ovine fascioliasis: studies on the feed intake and digestibility, body weight and nitrogen balance of sheep given rations of hay or hay plus a pelleted supplement. Research in Veterinary Science 26, 289–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, H. E. (1976). Synergism of malnutrition and infectious disease. In Nutrition in Preventive Medicine (ed. Beaton, G. H. and Bengoa, J. M.), pp. 193–209. W.H.O., Geneva.Google Scholar
Haley, A. J. (1962). Biology of the rat nematode, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Travassos, 1914). II. Preparasitic stages and development in the laboratory rat. Journal of Parasitology 48, 13–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, A. (1981). Aspects of parasitic infection and host nutrition. Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Keymer, A. E., Crompton, D. W. T. & Sahakian, B. M. (1983). Parasite-induced learned taste aversion involving Nippostrongylus in rats. Parasitology 86, 455–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, J. (1980). Scanning electron microscope studies of the small intestine of rats maintained on a low protein diet and infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. Parasitology 80, 39–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCance, R. A. & Widdowson, E. M. (1974). The determinants of growth and form. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 185, 1–17.Google ScholarPubMed
Nesheim, M. C., Crompton, D. W. T., Arnold, S. & Barnard, D. (1977). Dietary relations between Moniliformis (Acanthocephala) and laboratory rats. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 197, 363–83.Google ScholarPubMed
Scofield, A. M. (1980). Effect of level of infection with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis on intestinal absorption of hexoses in rats. International Journal for Parasitology 10, 375–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Solomons, N. W. & Keusch, G. T. (1981). Nutritional implications of parasitic infections. Nutrition Reviews 39, 149–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steel, J. W., Symons, L. E. A. & Jones, W. O. (1980). Effects of level of larval intake on the productivity and physiological and metabolic responses of lambs infected with Trichostrongylus colubriformis. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 31, 821–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sykes, A. R., Coop, R. L. & Rushton, B. (1980). Chronic subclinical fascioliasis in sheep: effects on food intake, food utilization and blood constituents. Research in Veterinary Science 28, 63–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Symons, L. E. A. (1976). Malabsorption. In Pathophysiology of Parasitic Infection (ed. Soulsby, E. J. L.), pp. 11–21. New York, San Francisco and London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Symons, L. E. A. & Jones, W. O. (1970). Nematospiroides dubius, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and Trichostrongylus colubriformis: protein digestion in infected mammals. Experimental Parasitology 27, 496–506.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weatherley, N. F. (1971). Effects on litter size and litter survival in Swiss mice infected with Trichinella spiralis during gestation. Journal of Parasitology 57, 298–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Widdowson, E. M. & Cowen, J. (1972). The effect of protein deficiency and calorie deficiency on the reproduction of rats. British Journal of Nutrition 27, 85–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed