CRYPTOSPORIDIUM-PARVUM INFECTION OF HUMAN INTESTINAL XENOGRAFTS IN SCID MICE INDUCES PRODUCTION OF HUMAN TUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR-ALPHA AND INTERLEUKIN-8

The protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum invades intestinal epith elial cells and can cause life-threatening diarrhea in immunocompromis ed individuals. Despite the clinical importance of this organism, much remains to be learned about the pathogenesis of C. parvum-induced dia rrhea. To explore the role of the intestinal inflammatory response in C. parvum disease, using C. parvum oocysts we infected human intestina l xenografts in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. Seven day s after infection, we found levels of human tumor necrosis factor alph a and interleukin-8 in C. parvum-infected human intestinal xenografts that were significantly higher than those seen in uninfected control x enografts. These results demonstrate that human intestinal cells produ ce proinflammatory cytokines in response to C. parvum infection and es tablish SCID-HU-INT mice as a model system to study the interactions o f C. parvum with the human intestine.