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First published online July 2, 2004
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 2725-2733 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01090

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Immune response to fleas in a wild desert rodent: effect of parasite species, parasite burden, sex of host and host parasitological experience

Irina S. Khokhlova¹, Marina Spinu², Boris R. Krasnov^3,* and A. Allan Degen¹

¹ Desert Animal Adaptations and Husbandry, Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel
² University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Manastur str. 3-5, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
³ Ramon Science Center and Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, PO Box 194, Mizpe Ramon 80600, Israel

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: krasnov{at}bgu.ac.il)

Accepted 18 May 2004

We studied immune responses of the jird Meriones crassus to different flea species belonging to the same family. We used jirds maintained in an outdoor enclosure (enclosure; N=18) and parasitized by fleas Xenopsylla conformis mycerini and Xenopsylla ramesis, and also jirds born in the laboratory to previously parasitized mothers (laboratory animals; N=23). We asked (i) whether cross-immunity to different fleas occurs, (ii) whether there is a sex difference in immune responses to flea parasitism and (iii) whether the severity of the immune responses depends on parasite load. In the enclosure animals, immune response to antigen from the unfamiliar flea Synosternus cleopatrae pyramidis did not differ from those to antigens from the familiar fleas. In contrast, laboratory rodents demonstrated no difference in the immune response between S. c. pyramidis antigen and either the phytohemagglutinin treatment or controls, although their responses to antigens of fleas familiar to their mothers (X. c. mycerini and X. ramesis) were significantly higher than those to antigen of S. c. pyramidis and phytohemagglutinin. The results clearly demonstrated that (i) cross-reactivity in rodent responses to different flea species occurred for enclosure but not for laboratory jirds and (ii) immune-naïve animals whose mothers were parasitized by fleas had some degree of immunity against fleas. The only sex difference in immunological parameters was the higher level of circulating immune complexes in females than in males. Only phagocytic activity was affected by flea burden, decreasing with an increase in flea numbers.

Key words: rodent, Meriones crassus, flea, immune response, cross-immunity, maternal transfer, sex difference

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