Abstract
Buffaloes, as highly susceptible definitive hosts of Fasciola gigantica, suffer from a high infection rate of fasciolosis, which causes enormous economic losses. Repeat infection is responsible for this high rate; thus, elucidating the protective immunity mechanism in repeat infection is decisive in fasciolosis prevention. Herein, a secondary experimental infection model was established to preliminarily reveal the protective immunity that occurs in repeat infection. In brief, animals were assigned to three groups: group A (uninfected control), group B (primary infection) and group C (secondary infection). Buffaloes were autopsied 20 weeks post-infection for measurements of the recovered flukes and hepatic examination. In addition, the detection of specific antibody (IgG) responses to F. gigantica excretory-secretory product (FgESP) throughout the whole period and weight gain throughout the first 4 months as a percentage (%) of the starting weight were also determined. The serum hepatic enzyme gamma glutathione transferase (GGT) levels were monitored to assess hepatic damage throughout the study period. Infection establishment was compared between group B and group C. Similar specific IgG patterns were observed between group B and group C, and hepatic damage was more severe in group C than group B. Significant differences in weight gain as a percentage of the start weight were observed between group A and group B at the 3rd and 4th months postprimary infection, while significant differences were not observed between group A and group C or group B and group C. Our results suggest that challenge infection cannot induce resistance against F. gigantica in buffaloes, which is consistent with the protective immunity against Fasciola hepatica reinfection observed in sheep and goats.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the researchers and farming staff of the Buffalo Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Guangxi Zhuang Nationality Autonomous Region, for their assistance and collaboration.
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Project financial support was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 31960706).
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Wei-Yu Zhang conceived and designed the study. Wen-Da Di critically revised the manuscript. Jin-Hui Wang performed the experiment, analysed the data and drafted the manuscript. Kang-Xin He, Zhen-Di Wang, Xiao-Ge Han, Zhen Meng, Xiang-Xiang Yuan and Zheng-Jiao Wu helped in the implementation of the study. Chong-Li Wen helped in buffalo feeding of the study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The animal study and experimental procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of the School of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University. The animals used in this study were handled in accordance with good animal practices as required by the Animal Ethics Procedures and Guidelines of the People’s Republic of China.
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Wang, JH., He, KX., Wang, ZD. et al. Effect of primary and secondary Fasciola gigantica infection on specific IgG responses, hepatic enzyme levels and weight gain in buffaloes. Parasitol Res 121, 1709–1718 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07519-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07519-2