Figure 1

Time of infection with Trichuris muris affects kinetics of expulsion. (A) The kinetics of expulsion of T. muris from the C57BL/6 mouse host. Worms establish in all mouse strains prior to expulsion (Establishment). The normal time course of expulsion, mediated by a Th2 response, is shown in blue and delayed expulsion by the red line (Expulsion). In C57 strains, expulsion is complete by approximately Day 30 (Resolution). (B) C57BL/6 mice were infected with 200 T. muris eggs at ZT0 or ZT12, and sacrificed at day 21 or 28, and worm burden accessed in the colon and caecum, combined data from 2 independent experiments, Mann Whitney tests. (C,D) Parasite-specific IgG1 (n = 6) and IgG2c (n = 10) production on days 21 and 28 respectively. Serum was serially diluted and screened against parasite ES antigen (0.5 μg/ml); data shown is 1:320 dilution, Mann Whitney tests. (E) Total IgE (day 21; n = 8 per group). (F) Mucosal mast cell protease-1 (MCPT-1; day 21; n = 8 per group) Mann Whitney tests. Mesenteric lymph node cell (MLN) IL-13 (G) and IFNγ (H) profiles at day 21post infection either at ZT0 or ZT12 cultured with T. muris E/S (50 µg/ml) for 48 h. Supernatants analysed using cytometric bead array (CBA), n = 8. Maximum level of detection for IFNγ 3000 pg/ml. Mann Whitney tests; data is representative of 2 repeats. All bars represent median. (I) Quantification of macrophages and dendritic cells in the large intestinal lamina propria by flow cytometry 0–3 days post infection, n = 3; Kruskal-Wallis test. Immunohistochemical staining for macrophages (J) (F4/80) and dendritic cells (K) (CD11c) in gut tissue on the day of or 1 day post infection. Positive cells are stained with DAB (Brown), hameatoxylin (blue) counterstain, scale bar represents 100 μm. See also Fig. S1.