Alterations in White Blood Cell Count in the Mice Experimentally Infected with Toxocara canis Larvae

A study on white blood cells(WBC) in BALB/c mice infected with Toxocara canis larvae was carried out. Mice were divided into 4 groups ; group I and group II was given a single dose of 30 and 100 infective eggs, respectively,and group III and group IV was given 100 eggs weekly for 2 weeks and 50 egg for 4 weeks from I week after an inital administration of 30 eggs. respectively. Total WBC and differential count of WBC were examined at 2 week intervals up to the 20th week.

An immediate leucocytosis took place; slight in group I, mild in group II, moderate in group III and marked in group IV.

In differential count, neutrophils in group I and group II reached the lowest level in the 2nd week, then returned to within normal limits, while in group III and gruop IV showed a rise, respectively. Eosinophils in group I and group II respectively reached a maximum peak in the 2nd week and in group III and group IV respectively showed a quiker and more intense rise in the earlier stage, and decreased rapidly for the next several weeks, then fell gradually. Lymphocytes in group I decreased gradually up to the 6th week, then returned to within normal limits, but in groups II, III and IV showed a more or less rapid decrease in the earlier stage and persisted up to the end of observation without remarkable variation, Monocytes in groups I and II were within normal limits, and in groups III and IV showed some monocytoses. No alterations were noted in the basophile count.