The effects of host sex on enteric response to infection with Trichinella spiralis.

The effects of host sex on enteric inflammatory response to primary infection with Trichinella spiralis were examined. Enteritis in female mice was greater than that in male mice on days 7, 9 and 11 postinfection (PI) and similar to that in male mice by day 13 PI. Male and female mice given daily injections of 33 or 66 mg/kilo of cortisone acetate exhibited significantly reduced enteritis on days 7, 9 and 11 PI below that seen in uninjected, male and female mice. On days 7, 9 and 11 PI larviposition in vitro by adult worms isolated from uninjected female mice was significantly less than that for adult worms isolated from male mice. Suppression of enteritis below detectable levels in male and female mice by administration of cortisone acetate resulted in similar rates of larviposition by adult worms isolated from male or female mice (day 7 PI, 33 mg/kilo cortisone acetate; days 7, 9 and 11 PI, 66 mg/kilo cortisone acetate). A significantly greater percent of adult worms was recovered from the anterior half of the small intestines of uninjected male than from uninjected female mice on days 7, 9 and 11 PI. The percent of adult worms recovered on these same days from the anterior half of the small intestine of male and female mice injected with cortisone was similar.