Effect of dietary zinc on larval burdens, tissue eosinophil numbers, and lysophospholipase activity of Ascaris suum infected mice.

The effect of dietary zinc on larval burdens, tissue eosinophil numbers, and lysophospholipase (LPL) activity in the lungs and livers of BALB/c mice infected with Ascaris suum was evaluated. A suum larval numbers were increased in both liver and lungs in low zinc groups during primary and secondary infection as assessed at days 2 and 7 after egg administration. In the same groups, LPL activity and eosinophil numbers were reduced at both time points and in both tissues, with the exception of lung eosinophils in nonimmunized mice, since these animals did not develop an eosinophil response during primary infection.