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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Ruminant Diseases and Immunology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #86611
Title: EFFECTS OF ORALLY ADMINISTERED ADULT RAT ILEAL SCRAPINGS IN REDUCING CRYPTOSPORIDIUM PARVUM INFECTION IN INFANT RATS

Author
item AKILI, DHUHA - IOWA STATE UNIV., AMES
item HARP, JAMES

Submitted to: Research Workers in Animal Diseases Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/10/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Cryptosporidium parvum is an intracellular protozoan parasite of the mammalian intestine. In rats, C. parvum infection is age related; infants are susceptible, while adults are not. The transition from susceptibility to resistance usually takes place as the rat pups approach the age of weaning. In the present study, infant rats were orally inoculated twice daily (days 3 - day 14 of age) with a preparation of ileal scrapings taken from adult rats. The pups were inoculated with 10**3 C. parvum oocysts at 9 days of age. At necropsy (15 days of age), 15% of the rats that received the preparation were positive for C. parvum compared to 68% in the control group that did not receive the preparation. Scores for severity of infection in the ileum, as well as the degree of oocyst shedding in the feces, were both significantly lower in the group that received the preparation. This suggests the presence of a protective factor in the preparation that could be transferred from adults to infants. Infant rats that received an irradiated form of the ileal preparation were also less infected than the control group, indicating that the presence of live bacteria was not an essential factor in reducing susceptibility. However, rat pups that received a boiled form of the preparation were not protected at all, suggesting that the protective factor is not heat-stable.