Measurement of cytolytic antibody in experimental Chagas' disease using a terminal radiolabelling procedure.

The onset and development of anti-Trypanosoma cruzi cytolytic antibody during the course of infection were examined in two strains of mice that differ in their susceptibility to T. cruzi. The relative amounts of cytolytic antibody in the sera of mice were determined by a terminal radiolabeling procedure that measures the amount of 3H-thymidine incorporatedinto culture-form parasites that survive treatment with antibody and complement. The results showed that low levels of anti-T. cruzi cytolytic antibody developed during the course of infection in mice, and that there was no apparent difference in cytolytic antibody responses during the acute phase of infection in relatively resistant C57BL/6 mice and highly susceptible C3H(He)mice.