Trichinella infectivity and antibody response in experimentally infected pigs

The objective of the present study was to investigate the infectivity and antibody response of four Trichinella species (Trichinella spiralis, Trichinella britovi, Trichinella pseudospiralis and Trichinella murrelli) in experimentally infected pigs. A total of 120 Large White pigs (30 animals per group) were inoculated with 10,000 muscle larvae (ML) of T. spiralis, T. britovi, T. pseudospiralis, and T. murrelli. The pigs were sacrificed at 12-21 days post-infection (dpi) to examine the viability and infectivity of ML. A total of 54 Large White pigs (6 animals per group) were inoculated with 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000 and 10,000 T. spiralis ML. The pigs were sacrificed, and the average numbers of larvae per gram (lpg) from six different muscle tissues were calculated at 120 dpi. The results showed that the larvae first be detectable for T. spiralis, T. britovi, and T. pseudospiralis at 16 dpi, 17 dpi, and 16 dpi, respectively. Viable larvae and average lpg were significantly increased with time from 17 to 21 dpi. The T. spiralis ML burden was dependent of the inoculation dose with an average lpg of 0.003, 0.005, 0.007, 0.17, 0.82, 2.89, 4.90, 28.30 and 226.18, respectively. The IgG antibody response was dose-dependent to generate and increased throughout the experimental period. And the IgG1 isotype was significantly higher than IgG2a, which meant that T. spiralis infection induced the Th2 immune response. The time of detecting IgM antibodies was significantly earlier than IgG antibody detection. These results provide important information in the primary characterization of pigs infected with Trichinella.

Automated summary

The study investigated infectivity and antibody response of four Trichinella species in pigs. Results showed that larvae were detectable for T. spiralis, T. britovi, and T. pseudospiralis at 16, 17, and 16 days post-infection, respectively. Inoculation dose affected T. spiralis ML burden, and IgG antibody response was dose-dependent, with IgG1 significantly higher than IgG2a. IgM antibodies were detected earlier than IgG antibodies.