The ability of Cryptosporidium meleagridis to produce patent infection was studied in adult C57BL/6 mice that were immunosuppressed with dexamethasone phosphate provided in the drinking water at a dosage of 16 μg/ml. Four days after the onset of immunosuppression, mice were orally challenged with 1, 3, 10, or 1,000 C. meleagridis TU1867 oocysts per mouse. The mice were monitored daily for 18 days postinoculation for oocyst shedding. Five of 10 mice given a single oocyst, 4 of 5 mice given 3 oocysts, and all 9 mice given either 10 or 1,000 oocysts became infected and began shedding oocysts 5–7 days after challenge and continued to shed oocysts until the end of the experiment on day 18 postchallenge. Approximately 107 oocysts per mouse per day were excreted, regardless of the challenge dose. Neither the noninfected, immunosuppressed nor the inoculated, nonimmunosuppressed control mice shed oocysts. The excreted oocysts were confirmed to be those of C. meleagridis by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. We show that C. meleagridis, originally classified as an avian pathogen but recently found in humans with cryptosporidiosis, can produce patent infection in mice infected with a single oocyst. Moreover, we demonstrate that the immunosuppressed C57BL/6 adult mouse is an ideal host for the propagation of clonal populations of C. meleagridis isolates for laboratory studies.
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June 2003
Research Article|
June 01 2003
Development of Patent Infection in Immunosuppressed C57BL/6 Mice with a Single Cryptosporidium meleagridis Oocyst
Kehe Huang;
Kehe Huang
aCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China
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Donna E. Akiyoshi;
Donna E. Akiyoshi
bDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, Massachusetts 01536
cTo whom correspondence should be addressed. donna.akiyoshi@tufts.edu
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Xiaochuan Feng;
Xiaochuan Feng
bDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, Massachusetts 01536
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Saul Tzipori
Saul Tzipori
bDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, Massachusetts 01536
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J Parasitol (2003) 89 (3): 620–622.
Citation
Kehe Huang, Donna E. Akiyoshi, Xiaochuan Feng, Saul Tzipori; Development of Patent Infection in Immunosuppressed C57BL/6 Mice with a Single Cryptosporidium meleagridis Oocyst. J Parasitol 1 June 2003; 89 (3): 620–622. doi: https://doi.org/10.1645/0022-3395(2003)089[0620:DOPIII]2.0.CO;2
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