Responses of european green lizards Lacerta viridis following administration of Leishmania agamae promastigotes

European green lizards (Lacerta viridis) were injected intraperitoneally, subcutaneously or orally with viable Leishmania agamae promastigotes. Neither promastigotes nor amastigotes were later found in blood and tissue impression smears, or in blood and selected organ cultures. However, by the use of an immunoperoxidase technique, parasite antigens were detected in the liver, stomach, small intestine, kidney, gonad, heart, lung and skin but not in the bone marrow, brain or spleen. Non-precipitating antibodies with β2-electrophoretic mobility were induced against L. agamae. They were detected in the sera by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay 3-7 days post-infection. The titres increased significantly above background levels (P < 0.001) and reached maxima after 6-7 weeks, with 27 out of 29 lizards producing antibodies. The mean serum protein concentration significantly increased after infection (P < 0.005) with no significant differences in mean values between male and female animals. Lizard sera separated into 7 components on cellulose acetate membranes with migration rates comparable to albumin, α- and β-globulins of human serum; γ-globulins were absent. Significant decreases occurred (P < 0.05) in the albumin fraction, with significant increases in the β-globulin region of anti-L. agamae sera. C-reactive protein was not detected in either normal or immune lizard sera.