T lymphocyte-dependent and -independent intestinal smooth muscle dysfunction in the T. spiralis-infected mouse

We examined the profile of increased intestinal muscle contractility after primary infection with Trichinella spiralis in the mouse, correlating it with parasite expulsion. We also examined the extent to which the changes in muscle contraction were T lymphocyte dependent, by infecting athymic and SCID mice. Infection was accompanied by increased tension development by intestinal muscle. Two components of this response were identified, a rapid peak increase in tension generation observed on day 6 postinfection, and a smaller but sustained increase in tension evident thereafter in euthymic BALB/c mice. The peak muscle response was significantly delayed in infected athymic and SCID mice, along with a corresponding reduction in the magnitude of the sustained component. These changes were accompanied by reduced parasite expulsion in athymic and SCID mice, compared with euthymic mice. Reconstitution of T cell function in athymic mice restored both the acute and sustained profile of muscle contraction seen in euthymic mice, and this was accompanied by faster expulsion of the worms. These results identify T cell-dependent and -independent components of the muscle response to nematode infection in the mouse and suggest that the onset of the peak contractile response, as well as the magnitude of the sustained muscle response, contributes to parasite eviction from the gut.