pmc logo imageJournal ListSearchpmc logo image
Logo of iaiInfect Immun SubscriptionsInfect Immun Web Site
Infect Immun. 1997 January; 65(1): 335–338.
PMCID: PMC174599
Infestation with pathogen-free nymphs of the tick Ixodes scapularis induces host resistance to transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi by ticks.
S K Wikel, R N Ramachandra, D K Bergman, T R Burkot, and J Piesman
Department of Entomology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater 74078, USA.
Abstract
Female BALB/c mice were infested four times with pathogen-free Ixodes scapularis nymphs prior to infestation with nymphs infected with Borrelia burgdorferi B31. Each infestation was separated by a 14-day tick-free period. Mean weights of fed ticks and percentage reaching repletion did not indicate development of acquired resistance. Only 16.7% of mice repeatedly infested with pathogen-free ticks prior to infected I. scapularis nymph challenge became positive for B. burgdorferi. One hundred percent of control mice infested only with infected ticks were culture positive for B. burgdorferi.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (181K).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
  • Allen, JR. Immunology of interactions between ticks and laboratory animals. Exp Appl Acarol. 1989 Jun;7(1):5–13. [PubMed]
  • Anderson, JF. Epizootiology of Borrelia in Ixodes tick vectors and reservoir hosts. Rev Infect Dis. 1989 11 Suppl 6:S1451–S1459.Sep–Oct; [PubMed]
  • Barthold, SW; Fikrig, E; Bockenstedt, LK; Persing, DH. Circumvention of outer surface protein A immunity by host-adapted Borrelia burgdorferi. Infect Immun. 1995 Jun;63(6):2255–2261. [PubMed]
  • Bell, JF; Stewart, SJ; Wikel, SK. Resistance to tick-borne Francisella tularensis by tick-sensitized rabbits: allergic klendusity. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1979 Sep;28(5):876–880. [PubMed]
  • Bergman, DK; Ramachandra, RN; Wikel, SK. Dermacentor andersoni: salivary gland proteins suppressing T-lymphocyte responses to concanavalin A in vitro. Exp Parasitol. 1995 Nov;81(3):262–271. [PubMed]
  • Burkot, TR; Piesman, J; Wirtz, RA. Quantitation of the Borrelia burgdorferi outer surface protein A in Ixodes scapularis: fluctuations during the tick life cycle, doubling times, and loss while feeding. J Infect Dis. 1994 Oct;170(4):883–889. [PubMed]
  • de Silva, AM; Telford, SR, 3rd; Brunet, LR; Barthold, SW; Fikrig, E. Borrelia burgdorferi OspA is an arthropod-specific transmission-blocking Lyme disease vaccine. J Exp Med. 1996 Jan 1;183(1):271–275. [PubMed]
  • Dizij, A; Kurtenbach, K. Clethrionomys glareolus, but not Apodemus flavicollis, acquires resistance to Ixodes ricinus L., the main European vector of Borrelia burgdorferi. Parasite Immunol. 1995 Apr;17(4):177–183. [PubMed]
  • Gebbia, JA; Bosler, EM; Evans, RD; Schneider, EM. Acquired resistance in dogs to repeated infestation with Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) reduces tick viability and reproductive success. Exp Appl Acarol. 1995 Oct;19(10):593–605. [PubMed]
  • Kurtenbach, K; Dizij, A; Seitz, HM; Margos, G; Moter, SE; Kramer, MD; Wallich, R; Schaible, UE; Simon, MM. Differential immune responses to Borrelia burgdorferi in European wild rodent species influence spirochete transmission to Ixodes ricinus L. (Acari: Ixodidae). Infect Immun. 1994 Dec;62(12):5344–5352. [PubMed]
  • Lane, RS; Piesman, J; Burgdorfer, W. Lyme borreliosis: relation of its causative agent to its vectors and hosts in North America and Europe. Annu Rev Entomol. 1991;36:587–609. [PubMed]
  • Oliver, JH, Jr; Owsley, MR; Hutcheson, HJ; James, AM; Chen, C; Irby, WS; Dotson, EM; McLain, DK. Conspecificity of the ticks Ixodes scapularis and I. dammini (Acari: Ixodidae). J Med Entomol. 1993 Jan;30(1):54–63. [PubMed]
  • Piesman, J. Standard system for infecting ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) with the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. J Med Entomol. 1993 Jan;30(1):199–203. [PubMed]
  • Piesman, J. Dynamics of Borrelia burgdorferi transmission by nymphal Ixodes dammini ticks. J Infect Dis. 1993 May;167(5):1082–1085. [PubMed]
  • Ramachandra, RN; Wikel, SK. Modulation of host-immune responses by ticks (Acari: Ixodidae): effect of salivary gland extracts on host macrophages and lymphocyte cytokine production. J Med Entomol. 1992 Sep;29(5):818–826. [PubMed]
  • Ribeiro, JM. Blood-feeding arthropods: live syringes or invertebrate pharmacologists? Infect Agents Dis. 1995 Sep;4(3):143–152. [PubMed]
  • Ribeiro, JM; Mather, TN; Piesman, J; Spielman, A. Dissemination and salivary delivery of Lyme disease spirochetes in vector ticks (Acari: Ixodidae). J Med Entomol. 1987 Mar;24(2):201–205. [PubMed]
  • Roehrig, JT; Piesman, J; Hunt, AR; Keen, MG; Happ, CM; Johnson, BJ. The hamster immune response to tick-transmitted Borrelia burgdorferi differs from the response to needle-inoculated, cultured organisms. J Immunol. 1992 Dec 1;149(11):3648–3653. [PubMed]
  • Sinsky, RJ; Piesman, J. Ear punch biopsy method for detection and isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi from rodents. J Clin Microbiol. 1989 Aug;27(8):1723–1727. [PubMed]
  • Urioste, S; Hall, LR; Telford, SR, 3rd; Titus, RG. Saliva of the Lyme disease vector, Ixodes dammini, blocks cell activation by a nonprostaglandin E2-dependent mechanism. J Exp Med. 1994 Sep 1;180(3):1077–1085. [PubMed]
  • Wikel, SK. Immune responses to arthropods and their products. Annu Rev Entomol. 1982;27:21–48. [PubMed]
  • Wikel, SK. Influence of Dermacentor andersoni infestation on lymphocyte responsiveness to mitogens. Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1982 Dec;76(6):627–632. [PubMed]
  • Wikel, SK. Effects of tick infestation on the plaque-forming cell response to a thymic dependent antigen. Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1985 Apr;79(2):195–198. [PubMed]
  • Wikel, SK. Host immunity to ticks. Annu Rev Entomol. 1996;41:1–22. [PubMed]
  • Wikel, SK; Ramachandra, RN; Bergman, DK. Tick-induced modulation of the host immune response. Int J Parasitol. 1994 Feb;24(1):59–66. [PubMed]
  • Willadsen, P. Immunity to ticks. Adv Parasitol. 1980;18:293–311. [PubMed]