The use of host strain variation to assess the significance of mucosal mast cells in the spontaneous cure response of mice to the nematode Trichuris muris.

A proportion of DBA/2 mice do not reject the large intestinal nematode parasite Trichuris muris. In this strain and the early rejecting NIH and the late rejecting CBA/Ca strains the kinetics of the mast cell accumulation in a primary infection were similar with peak mast cell numbers being recorded on day 20 post-infection. Comparisons between rejector and non-rejector DBA/2 mice showed no differences in the mast cell accumulation. There was no rise in mast cell numbers in response to a secondary infection, in either the NIH or CBA/Ca strains, for at least 3 days after the infection had been expelled. It is suggested that mucosal mast cell accumulation is not induced by a simple response to parasite factors, that the cells are not directly involved in the expulsion of T. muris and that any role they play in the spontaneous cure response is subject to more complex control.