Kinetics of antibodies in rabbits experimentally infected with Cysticercus pisiformis

Rabbits were infected orally with the eggs in gravid proglottid secreted from dogs experimentally infected with different numbers of Taenia pisiformis.The mature cysticerci were isolated from the rabbits sacrificed on week 10 post-infection,and counted.Circulating antibody levels were monitored weekly by ELISA based on crude antigens of Cysticercus pisiformis.The antibody levels started to increase on week 3 post-infection and was up to the highest level on week 8 post-infection.Rabbits remained seropositive up to the end of the experiment(on week 10 post-infection).The results demonstrated that a positive relationship existed between the number of cysts and the titers of circulating antibodies or the burdens of infection,which would lay a foundation for epidemiological investigation and prevention of C.pisiformis.