Influence of Antibodies in Mother’s Milk on Antigenic Variation of Giardia lamblia in the Murine Mother-Offspring Model of Infection

In the present study, neonatal ZU.ICR mice and their mothers were infected with trophozoites of Giardia lamblia clone GS/M-83-H7 expressing the variant surface protein (VSP) H7. The infection experiments included a detailed analysis of the specificities of anti-Giardia immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies in mother’s milk and a determination of the effects of the milk antibodies on both the growth of the parasite during in vitro cultivation and colonization of the parasite within the intestine of suckling offspring. These investigations revealed that transiently emerging milk IgA antibodies against a variant-specific 314-amino-acid N-terminal region of VSP H7 exhibit a strong parasiticidal effect on VSP H7-type trophozoites both in vitro and in vivo. These findings indicated that parasiticidal effects of local IgA antibodies against the N-terminal part of VSP H7 select for new variant types within the intestinal parasite population of suckling mice. The selective influence of such antibodies promotes in vivo antigenic variation of G. lamblia clone GS/M-83-H7 and modulates the early course of parasite infection in these animals.