Eosinophilia as a marker of resistance to Teladorsagia circumcincta in Scottish Blackface lambs

Faecal egg counts and peripheral blood eosinophil counts were taken from Scottish Blackface lambs following natural, predominantly Teladorsagia circumcincta infection. Peripheral eosinophil concentrations were higher in animals with lower egg counts but only in lambs that were at least 3 months of a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Parasitology 2002-05, Vol.124 (5), p.553-560
Main Authors: STEAR, M. J., HENDERSON, N. G., KERR, A., MCKELLAR, Q. A., MITCHELL, S., SEELEY, C., BISHOP, S. C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal productions
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
eosinophil
Eosinophilia
Eosinophils
Experimental helminthic diseases. Models
Feces - parasitology
Fecundity
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Helminthic diseases
indicator trait
Infectious diseases
Leukocyte Count
marker
Medical sciences
nematoda
Parasite Egg Count
Parasites
Parasitic diseases
sheep
Sheep - immunology
Sheep Diseases - immunology
Sheep Diseases - parasitology
Teladorsagia circumcincta
Terrestrial animal productions
Trichostrongyloidea - immunology
Trichostrongyloidiasis - immunology
Trichostrongyloidiasis - parasitology
Trichostrongyloidiasis - veterinary
Vertebrates
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Summary:Faecal egg counts and peripheral blood eosinophil counts were taken from Scottish Blackface lambs following natural, predominantly Teladorsagia circumcincta infection. Peripheral eosinophil concentrations were higher in animals with lower egg counts but only in lambs that were at least 3 months of age. The reduced egg counts were due to reduced fecundity of T. circumcincta; there was no association with the number of adult T. circumcincta. Associations with the number of parasites from other species of gastrointestinal nematodes appeared to be neutral or favourable. Estimated heritabilities for eosinophil concentrations in 4- and 5-month-old lambs were 0·48±0·16 and 0·43±0·17, respectively. Therefore, under defined circumstances, eosinophil concentrations may be a useful indicator of resistance to predominantly T. circumcincta infection.
ISSN:0031-1820
1469-8161
DOI:10.1017/S0031182002001580