Eimeria tenella: effects of immunity on sporozoites within the lumen of the small intestine

The effect of immunity on the numbers of sporozoites of Eimeria tenella recoverable from the lumen of the small intestine 1 hr after an oral challenge inoculum of oocysts was examined. The experiments were carried out in chickens which had been given an immunizing inoculum of oocysts 9 or 18 days earlier, and the results were compared with those obtained in a control, unprimed, but similarly challenged, group. Similar numbers of "challenge" sporozoites were found in the intestinal washes of control and 18 day primed chickens but there were fewer in the 9 day primed groups. The titers of antisporozoite IgA antibodies (measured by indirect fluorescence) were higher in the gall bladder bile of the 9 day primed groups but resistance to reinfection (measured by the output of oocysts in the feces after challenge with oocysts orally or with sporozoites intracecally) was greater in the 18 day primed group. Although fewer in number, the challenge sporozoites recovered from the intestinal washes of 9 day primed chickens appeared to be morphologically normal when examined by light microscopy. Also, they were as infective as sporozoites recovered from unprimed control, or 18 day primed, groups when injected intracecally into naive chickens. The findings indicate that, whereas reduction of the number of sporozoites of E. tenella in the lumen of the small intestine (presumably caused by the action of secreted antibodies) can be a means of reducing the effective challenge inoculum, this mechanism does not play a major role in the expression of immunity.