Immune Responses in Parasitic Diseases

Acquired resistance to infection and the development of sterile immunity is dependent upon specific immune responses. The responses include the proliferation of thymic or T and bursal-equivalent or B lymphocytes and their production of lymphocyte mediators and immunoglobulins respectively. Although recent evidence indicates that T and B cell cooperation modulates the total immune response and that both lymphocyte populations produce selected lymphocyte mediators, an investigation of the immune response to infection can still be approached by exploring the cellular and humoral systems independently. Monospecific reagents will be developed for the rat immunoglobulins in order to specifically measure the antibody response to Trypanosoma rhodesiense infection. See also AD-A170 909.