Immunological responses of rabbits artificially infested with the cattle grubs Hypoderma bovis (L.) and H. Lineatum (De Vill.) (Diptera: Oestridae)

Boulard Chantal and Weintraub J. 1973. Immunological responses of rabbits artificially infested with the cattle grubs Hypoderma bovis (L.) and H. lineatum (De Vill.) (Diptera : Oestridae). International Journal for Parasitology3: 379–386. Immunological responses against first-instar larvae of Hypoderma bovis (L.) and H. lineatum (De Vill.) were traced in artificially infested rabbits in which larvae grew normally in the first instar but did not survive to the second instar. Passive haemagglutination demonstrated a rapid rise in antibody titres during the first 2 months to maximum levels that persisted until about 200 days of the infestation. Immunoelectrophoretic analyses of the sera demonstrated that larval metabolic products were more important than breakdown products of dead larvae in stimulating the production of antibodies. Larval collagenase, which seemed to induce the most significant immune response, was inhibited by homologous antibodies in the serum of a hyperimmunized rabbit. The implications of these results for infestations in the normal bovine host were discussed, with emphasis on the need to identify antigenic fractions other than collagenase, which by itself had not produced total control of larvae in previous vaccination tests.