Interrelationship of eosinophilia and IgE antibody production to larval ES antigen in Toxocara canis infected mice.

In order to elucidate the relationship between eosinophilia and IgE antibody production in parasitic infection, the degree of eosinophilia and IgE antibody levels to larval ES antigen of Toxocara canis were investigated in eight inbred strains of mice after infection with T. canis. Eosinophilia was far higher in degree in SJL mice than in the other inbred strains. However, IgE antibody levels to larval ES antigen in SJL mice were the lowest among those inbred strains. Similarly, the degree of eosinophilia in AKR mice was slightly higher than those in the other strains except SJL mice, but IgE antibody levels to larval ES antigen in AKR mice was as low as that in SJL mice. Consequently, high responders for eosinophilia were not always high responders for IgE antibody production to larval ES antigen. Inheritance of the two traits, marked eosinophilia and poor IgE antibody production to larval ES antigen in T. canis infected SJL mice, were investigated using F1 hybrid and back-cross mice. The former was regulated by more than one gene, while the latter was a recessive trait. The degree of eosinophilia after infection showed no relationship with the total numbers of larvae recovered from T. canis infected inbred mice.