Histopathology of the small intestinal mucosa in Nematodirus spathiger infection in rabbits

Abstract

Rabbits were experimentally infected with two levels (5000 and 17 000) infective larvae of Nematodirus spathiger. Histological (villus length, mucosa to serosa ratio, crypt surface) and biochemical (protein content, alkaline phosphatase and leucine aminopeptidase activities) measurements relating to the small intestinal mucosa were examined along the entire length of the organ. In the proximal intestine, the presence of worms was associated with villus abrasion, increased crypt surface and decreased alkaline phosphatase and leucine aminopeptidase activities. Conversely, beyond the main site of infection in the distal small intestine, some signs of hypertrophied villi and crypts were noted without any changes in enzyme activities. These distal variations were similar to those previously described in experimental Trichostrongylus colubriformis infections of rabbits. These results tend to confirm the use of the rabbit as an experimental model to study Nematodirus infection. They also suggest that the distal adaptive process in the nematode-parasitized small intestine could occur independently of the worm species.

Development of Nematodirus spathiger (Nematoda, Molineoidea) in the rabbit and comparison with other Nematodirus spp parasites of ruminants

“…Nevertheless, the study of these life cycles in an experimental host has been realized only for N. battus (Gallie 1972(Gallie , 1973a(Gallie , 1973b. Knight (1977), Hoste and Fort (1992) and Hoste et al (1993) showed that the development of N. spathiger can occur entirely in the rabbit (eggs are found in the faeces of the host) but the aim of their experiments was restricted to the use of rabbits as an experimental host instead of ruminants for histopathological studies.…”