Experimental infections with Fasciola in snails, mice and rabbits

Abstract

Experimental infection trails of Lymnaea (cailliaudi) natalensis snails with miracidia of Fasciola hepatica revealed neither cercariae nor larval stages shed. Infection of white mice with metacercariae from field-collected snails proved to be negative for Fasciola eggs and immature juveniles or adults after 84 days post infection. The infection of eight rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) has succeeded; two rabbits were infected, with a very low infection rate. Faeces of rabbits were negative for eggs. The worm burden was one and three worms from 40 fed metacercariae. The obtained fluke measures 23 mm in length by 4 mm in width. The tegument is covered with sharp-ending spines. The uterus contains few eggs. The intrauterine eggs measured 158 microm x 80 microm. According to the morphological characters of these flukes, they belong to F. gigantica.

Quantitation of cytokine mRNA by real-time RT-PCR during a vaccination trial in a rabbit model of fascioliasis

“…Rabbits are used as models in a wide variety of studies, including for evaluation of novel antibiotic formulations as therapy against bacterial or parasitic infections (el-Bahy, 1997; Force et al, 2008), for production of high-quality antiserum, in studies of immunoglobulin structure and regulation (Kindt, 1975), in studies of B cell development (Yang et al, 2005), in studies of myxomatosis, coccidioidomicosis and trematodiasis (Clemons et al, 2007; Fouchet et al, 2008; Hussein and Khalifa, 2008; Silva et al, 2004), and in vaccination studies against parasites and viral infections (Espino and Hillyer, 2004; Palmer et al, 2006). The main goal of our laboratory is to identify Fasciola hepatica antigens with potential for use in vaccines, and we often use a rabbit model of fascioliasis to evaluate the effectiveness of these antigens.…”

Influence of levamisole and Freund's adjuvant on mouse immunisation with antigens of adults of the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica Linnaeus, 1758

“…Data about worm recovering from liver were similar with previously reported ones (Olazabal-Manso et al 1999), where 23% of worms were recovered from infected experimentally rats or mice. Although 0 to 7.5% of worm recovering from mice or rabbits experimentally infected has also been reported (Hussein and Khalifa 2008). The worms recovered in this study were alive, as they were moving; 5-7 mm long and 2 mm wide.…”

An overview of cercariae from the Egyptian inland water snails

“…Results of experimental infection confirmed the susceptibility of this snail species to be infected with F. gigantica [52] and F. hepatica [52,53]. It is worth mentioning that in 2008 Hussein and Khalifa reported failure to infect R. natalensis with F. hepatica [54]. In 2001, Lotfy et al concluded that F. gigantica was better adapted to R. natalensis snails than F. hepatica.…”