Experimental studies on prevention of trichinosis by food irradiation (Co60)

A systemic study was performed to elucidate the effects of 60Co irradiation on maturation or fecundity of Trichinella spiralis by assessing from parasitological, morphological and immunological points of view. Pieces of muscle tissue of mice infected with T. spiralis were irradiated with 60Co at doses of 50, 75, 100, 150 and 200 Gy. These irradiated tissue (Experimental group) and non-irradiated tissues (Control group) were fed to healthy mice. Half of the mice were sacrificed 6 days after the ingestion. The number of adult worms were counted and subjected to statistical analysis, which disclosed a good correlation between the dose of 60Co irradiation and worm damage; the higher the dose the more damage parasites had, and no adults were recovered if the tissue had been irradiated with more than 150 Gy prior to infection. The same tendency was true for the histopathology of the intenstines of host mice; the higher the dose the less tissue damage. Circulating antigens of T. spiralis and antibodies against T. spiralis were detected in every serum examined by ELISA. The remaining mice were sacrificed 30 days after the ingestion. The numbers of muscle larvae were counted and subjected to statistical analysis, which disclosed a good correlation between th dose of 60Co irradiation and worm damage, and no larvae were recovered if the tissue had been irradiated with more than 75Gy. Higher concentrations of circulating antigens of T. spiralis and antibodies against T. spiralis were detected in the serum samples taken with muscle larvae. Thus this study established that 60Co irradiation of more than 150 Gy caused complete damage on maturation, and that irradiation of more than 75 Gy caused complete damage on the fecundity of T. spimalis. (author)