Specific antibody levels in the serum of Heligmosomoides polygyrus-infected mice.

Sera from ICR/CD mice were assayed by radial immunodiffusion following oral infection and challenge with Heligmosomoides polygyrus larvae. Infection of these mice was found to alter the concentrations and classes of immunoglobulins, as well as the levels of antiparasitic antibody. Challenge of single- or multiple-infected mice with viable larvae resulted in the appearance of anti-H. polygyrus IgA and IgG in the serum. The kinetics of the detection for both of these antibody classes were consistent with an anamnestic response to an antigen isolated from adult nematodes. There also appeared to be an association in resistant mice of serum IgA levels with early and late events in the life cycle of the parasite.