Trypanosoma cruzi infection in B-cell-deficient rats.

The effect of neonatally initiated injections of anti-mu rabbit antiserum on immunity of rats against Trypanosoma cruzi infection was investigated in vivo. Anti-mu treatment resulted in a loss of immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG2a synthesis and, subsequently, of antibody production. These rats so treated were shown to be significantly more susceptible to the acute phase of the infection than the control rats treated with normal rabbit serum, as measured by increased parasitemia and mortality. These results indicate the essential role of antibodies, probably in association with complement or effector cells or both, in immunity to acute Chagas' disease.