Influence of an Hymenolepis diminuta infection on IgE and IgA bound to mouse intestinal eosinophils.

Infection of mice with Hymenolepis diminuta, which is an 'exclusively' intestinal cestode, affects the number of eosinophils and non-eosinophilic cells with IgE or IgA on their surface in the lamina propria. Presence of IgE on eosinophils is basically a primary infection response, while after reinfection the response is primarily characterized by IgA. For IgE- as well as for IgA-bearing eosinophils the response is most abundant in the second quarter of the intestine which is the parasite's preferred habitat. For non-eosinophilic cells the effect is smaller and limited to the IgE-bearing cells, with the most significant effect in the second quarter of the intestine.