Humoral immunity in the prepatent primary infection of dogs with Echinococcus granulosus

Twenty-one parasite-naive dogs were infected with 60,000 protoscolices of Echinococcus granulosus. Transformation of peripheral lymphocytes was investigated before and 29 days after the infection, immunoglobulin concentration and anti-hydatid fluid protein (HFP) titers in serum and feces before and at 35 days of infection, skin reactivity to HFP at 36 days, and characteristics of the parasites at 40 days. The infection caused a significant depression of the spontaneous, lipopolysaccharide-stimulated, and purified protein derivative-stimulated blastogenesis. Responses to phytohemagglutinin were unchanged and reactivity to concanavalin A was enhanced with the infection. Only the concentrations of IgG and IgA in the serum and IgA in the feces increased significantly after infection. Fifteen (71%) dogs produced significant serum titers of anti-HFP hemagglutinins but copro-antibodies were detectable in only 3 dogs at minimum titers. Titers were abolished by treatment with 2-mercaptoethanol. The serum of 11 (52%) dogs transferred passive cutaneous anaphylaxis to guinea pigs but none transferred skin reactivity to pups or rabbits. Five and 1 (but not 0.2) micrograms of HFP caused skin reactivity in 4 parasite-naive dogs. Nineteen (90.5%) infected dogs reacted significantly to skin inoculation of 0.2 microgram of HFP at 0.5 hours and 13 (62%) at 6 hours. The 7 dogs with the highest anti-HFP serum titers or the greatest skin reactivity at 6 hours had significantly less mature or fewer tissue parasites, respectively, than the 7 dogs with the smallest responses. Since there was evidence that the specific immunity was still developing at the time of the study, these results indicate that immunological diagnosis of, and artificial immunization against, canine echinococcosis are feasible.