The effect of changes in the gastric pH value on experimental trichinosis

The effect of increasing or decreasing the gastric pH of mice on the course of experimental infection with Trichinella spiralis was studied, by administration of 1% NaHCO3 in PBS (pH 9.0) or 1% HCl in PBS (pH 5.0) to mice half an hour prior to infection respectively. The results revealed that raising the gastric pH led to a significant increase in the adult worm count with all increase in their fecundity both in vivo and in vitro. On on the other hand, the more acidic gastric pH induced prior to infection led to its amelioration. This was obvious by the significant reduction in the adult worm count and their inability to give birth to newborn larvae. Several factors may be incriminated, among which are decreased larval infectivity and affection of the maturation of the reproductive organs, mainly the uterus and the testis. Changes in their morphology were observed by both light and transmission electron microscopic studies, which could account for the impairment in their functions, namely embryogenesis and spermatogenesis.