Date of Completion
Spring 5-31-2021
Thesis Advisor(s)
Daniel Bolnick
Honors Major
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Disciplines
Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | Parasitology
Abstract
This study was conducted to determine if the monoclonal antibody drug infliximab could effectively suppress the fibrosis immune response in three-spine stickleback fish. Successful suppression of this response could allow for further study of cestode infection and growth without the presence of fibrosis. Infliximab’s efficacy was investigated through conducting two intraperitoneal injection experiments and examinations of the fibrosis in the body cavity of the euthanized stickleback. We used immune adjuvant alum to induce a fibrosis response without the presence of the S. solidus tapeworm parasite. Ultimately, the differences in fibrosis levels between the treatment groups that received alum and the groups that received alum+infliximab were not statistically significant. These findings suggest that infliximab is not a good candidate for attenuating the fibrosis response in three-spine stickleback and other methods of suppressing fibrosis to examine cestode growth should be pursued.
Recommended Citation
Kale, Mita, "The Effects of Infliximab on the Fibrosis Response of Three-spine Stickleback" (2021). Honors Scholar Theses. 800.
https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/srhonors_theses/800