IMMUNOLOGICAL RESPONSE IN RABBITS INFESTED WITH RHIPICEPHALUS-SANGUINEUS

In order to clarify the importance of humoral antibody in host resista nce to ticks, in the present work we studied the immunological respons e of rabbits infested with larvae, nymphs or adults of Rhipicephalus s anguineus, using extracts of eggs (EE), larvae (LE), nymphs (NE), male salivary glands (MSGE), male midguts (MME), female salivary glands (F SGE) and female midguts (FME). When serum from rabbits infested with l arvae or nymphs was tested using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, no reactions were observed with any of the extracts including the homolo gous LE or NE. In sera from rabbits infested with adult ticks, the rea ctions were observed in both homologous (MSGE, MME, FSGE and FME) and heterologous (EE, LE and NE) system. However, differences were seen re garding the type of antigen used. When the experiment was carried out using extracts from adults higher responses were found. With FSGE and FME antigens, antibody levels were systematically higher than those ob served when MSGE and MME were used.