Evaluation of an Animal Model System for Cryptosporidiosis: Therapeutic Efficacy of Paromomycin and Hyperimmune Bovine Colostrum-immunoglobulin

Several immunodeficient rodent models currently exist in which persistent, largely asymptomatic, Cryptosporidium parvum infections can be established. Piglets, in contrast, develop a self-limiting diarrheal illness. We have consequently developed an animal model system in which scid mice were used to screen drugs for inhibitory activity against C. parvum, after which the drugs' therapeutic potential was evaluated with piglets. Paromomycin and hyperimmune bovine colostrum-immunoglobulin were selected to evaluate this system. C. paravum infections in suckling scid mice tended to be associated with villus surfaces, while in weaned and in older scid mice infections were more commonly localized in abscessed crypts. Rates of oocyst shedding in suckling scid mice were 50 to 200 times higher than in weaned mice and therefore made suckling mice a considerably more sensitive model for drug testing. Paromomycin given in high doses over 9 to 10 days was not toxic to either scid mice (3,000 mg/kg of body weight per day) or piglets (500 mg/kg/day). Paromomycin treatment was very effective against villus surface infections in suckling mice and considerably less effective against infections in inaccessible sites such as abscessed crypts and stomach pits seen in weaned and adult scid mice. The therapeutic efficacy of paromomycin in piglets depended on the severity of the diarrheal illness. Mild to moderate diarrhea and infection were cleared after paromomycin treatment of piglets infected with one C. parvum isolate. However, paromomycin had no impact on severely affected piglets infected with a second isolate, presumably because of a rapid transit time through the gut. In contrast to paromomycin hyperimmune bovine colostrum-immunoglobulin treatment reduced the rate of C. parvum infection moderately in scid mice and only slightly in piglets, again probably because of a rapid transit time through the gut and inactivation in the stomach. It was also clear that the impact of effective drugs against C. parvum can be detected within 5 days after the onset of treatment in either model.