Schistosoma mansoni Infections in Cercopithecus sabaeus Monkeys

Abstract

Cercopithecus sabaeus (green) monkeys discharged eggs up to 3.5 years after initial exposure and for a comparable period after reexposure. The number and development of worms from challenge infections were similar to initial infections, but excretion of eggs was delayed after challenge. Monkeys exposed repeatedly to moderate or small numbers of cercariae tolerated a burden of worms that would have been lethal as a single initial infection. There was evidence that worms lived for 5 years, and without regression in size. Large accumulations of eggs still occurred in the liver and intestine after 5 years, and the relative numbers of immature, mature, and degenerate eggs were similar to early stages of first infections. The response of the green monkey to S. mansoni is in marked contrast to that of Macaca mulatta, which suppresses excretion of eggs after 6 to 9 months and quickly acquires strong resistance to challenge infections. The longer output of eggs by the green monkey is more like what occurs in man. A corresponding comparison of acquired resistance is not possible because too little is known about resistance imposed against schistosomes in the human host. The rhesus and the green monkeys may provide a valuable experimental model for investigating the immune mechanism against schistosomes. The green monkey may be useful in the evaluation of schistosomicidal drugs. The need for experimental hosts of human schistosomes that react to the infections more like man than the commonly used Macaca mulatta (rhesus) monkey was emphasized by Sadun et al. (1966a). Their studies and those of Sadun and Bruce (1964) on the biology and pathology of schistosomiasis in 10 species of primates showed that worm recovery rates were highest in three species of Macaca, but self-cure occurred within a few months. The baboon and chimpanzee discharged eggs for much longer periods, but worm recovery was relatively low. For other species, the infections were abortive from the beginning. Only the chimpanzee developed pipe-stem fibrosis of the liver. The need for information on other primate hosts was noted by the above authors. Information on acquired resistance among primate hosts is essentially limited to the rhesus monkey. For man, too little is known to recognize a suitable model. The current study is concerned with another primate, Cercopithecus sabaeus, the green Received for publication 22 May 1967. * Assigned to Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, D. C. (20012), with duty station at the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. t Present address: Tropical Disease Section, Ecological Investigations Program, Communicable Disease Center, U. S. Public Health Service, San Juan, Puerto Rico. monkey, and includes observations on the length of the prepatent period, duration and pattern of egg discharge, life-span of the infection, distribution and condition of eggs in tissues, and acquired resistance. These objectives were not all completed as originally planned, due to closing of this laboratory. A number of investigators have exposed the green monkey to human schistosomes for limited objectives, and only a few animals were involved, or the infections were of short duration (Archibald, 1923; Black, 1932; Vogel and Minning, 1953; Kuntz, 1955; Vogel, 1962; Hsii and Hsii, 1962; Meisenhelder and Thompson, 1963; and Ritchie et al., 1964). The green monkey was found to discharge eggs for relatively long periods. In contrast to M. mulatta, challenge infections developed to maturity in animals that had been infected