Effect of anthelminthic treatment on the immune response of mice.

Immunologic function was tested both in vivo and in vitro in mice undergoing prophylactic anthelminthic therapy with three agents to assess whether these drugs affected immune responses. This study was performed because investigators often are concerned about the effect of drug treatment on the induction of specific immune responses. While helminthic infestation is recognized as deleterious to the host, it is unclear whether anthelminthic treatment might be immunosuppressive. The effects of piperazine or trichlorphon administered to drinking water or fenbendazole administered in feed were insignificant in BALB/c mice. The induction of allospecific cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in vitro, influenza specific memory T cells in vivo, influenza specific antibody secretion in vivo, or influenza-specific helper T cells and CTLs in vitro were examined. Results of this study indicate that anthelminthic treatments did not interfere with immune responses.