Similarity in variable antigen type composition of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense populations in different sites within the mouse host

Abstract

Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense subpopulations in different sites within the body of infected mice were isolated and enumerated on day 6 of cyclically transmitted infections. Most trypanosomes were in the blood vasculature and spleen but approximately 6% occurred in lymph nodes and about 9% were extravascular. Most of the extravascular trypanosomes were in the peritoneal and pleural cavities; significant numbers also occurred in the brain and kidneys. Six major variable antigen types (VATs) were detected by immunofluorescence using specific antisera and monoclonal antibodies. The prevalence of each VAT was essentially the same in subpopulations in the blood, mesenteric and inguinal lymph nodes, brain, kidneys and peritoneal and pleural cavities. This similarity of VAT composition in different subpopulations is probably caused by high rates of dynamic interchange of trypanosomes between sites. Extravascular trypanosomes, therefore, form a significant proportion of the total population in acute infections of mice but they do not appear to play any special role in the population biology of antigenic variation at this stage of infection.