Guinea pigs develop cutaneous basophilia after repeated infestations by nymphs of the tick Amblyomma triste.

This study investigated the development of resistance in guinea pigs to nymphs of Amblyomma triste ticks after repeated infestations. Guinea pigs were infested thrice, at 30-day intervals, with 30 nymphs of A. triste per animal per infestation. Acquisition of resistance was evaluated by determining: nymph yielding rate, engorgement period, and weight. Skin biopsies of tick bite sites were collected at 24, 48, and 96 h after tick attachment for inflammatory cell counts. Engorged nymphs weighed 5.53 mg +/- 1.9 in re-infested hosts (56.6% less than in primary infestation) and took 6.9 days +/- 2.16 to feed in the third infestation (14.5% more than in the first infestation). Guinea pigs yielded 78%+/- 7.2 of nymphs in the re-infestation (11.6% less than in the primary infestation). In addition, a marked increase in basophil influx was observed from the first infestation onward; 69% of infiltrated cells were basophils in re-infested hosts 24 h after tick attachment. No basophils were seen at this time in primary infested animals. That number increased to 84.7% 48 h post attachment in re-infested hosts (73.2% more than in the primary infested ones) and decreased markedly 96 h post attachment in both groups (2.6% and 1% of basophils in the third and first infestation, respectively). We conclude that guinea pigs acquire resistance against nymphs of A. triste ticks after repeated infestations and that a cutaneous basophilia must play a crucial role in such a mechanism.