Cryptosporidiosis in adult and neonatal mice with severe combined immunodeficiency

Abstract

Cryptosporidium parvum causes protracted diarrhoea in immunodeficient hosts. To characterize the role that T and B lymphocytes play in the eradication of the parasite from the intestinal mucosa, the course of infection in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) was studied. Twenty-nine SCID and 26 BALB/c adult mice received 10(6) oocysts intragastrically. The course of infection in the two strains was similar until 2 months after inoculation, when moderate numbers of organisms were identified in the villous and crypt mucosa of the ileum and proximal colon of SCID mice. Three months after inoculation, SCID mice developed wasting and progressive intestinal and biliary tract disease. At 5 months, mortality of 72 and 0 per cent, respectively, was observed in the SCID and BALB/c mice. Twenty-four SCID and 26 BALB/c neonatal mice were also inoculated with C. parvum. Cryptosporidiosis occurred in SCID and BALB/c mice within 2 weeks of inoculation. Subsequently, BALB/c, but not SCID mice, eradicated the parasite from their intestinal mucosa. SCID mice developed progressively severe cryptosporidiosis which killed all animals within 7 weeks. Responses mediated by B or T cells, or both, appeared to play a role in eradicating C. parvum from the intestinal mucosa, since SCID mice were more severely affected than BALB/c mice. The different course of infection in adult and neonatal SCID mice indicated that other age-related factors also played a role in containing C. parvum infection.