Figure 5.

Germ-free mice successfully expel H. diminuta. Male C57BL/6 germ-free mice were infected with 6–8 H. diminuta and on necropsy at 5, 8, 11 and 14 days post-infection (dpi) (A) worms were counted in small intestinal washings (inset: infectivity of germ-free BALB/c mice in the same experimental paradigm), (B) blood eosinophils counted, (C) jejunal periodic-acid Schiff positive goblet cells counted, and (D-E) concanavalin A (2 μg/mL for 48 h) stimulated cytokine production from spleen cells (5 × 10⁶) measured by ELISA (data are mean ± SEM; n = 3 (day 5 and 14) or 8, 1–2 experiments; *, p < .05 compared to control uninfected mice).