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In vivo albendazole treatment of Taenia crassiceps cysticerci strain WFU: proliferation, damage, and recovery

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Abstract

Taenia crassiceps has been widely experimented as a model for in vitro and in vivo studies on drug responses. The purpose of this study was to treat BALB/c mice infected with T. crassiceps strain WFU with commercially available albendazole and to analyze the reduction in parasite infrapopulations. Here, we describe the reduction and apparent damage of T. crassicceps WFU cysticerci in infected mice after antihelminthic drug treatment and subsequent inoculation of those treated parasites into a naïve host. We were able to reduce significantly the parasite counts to 33 and 48 % after albendazole treatment for 20 or 25 days and compared with the untreated mice. We also observed morphological damage such as the partial blebbing in the tegument and parenchyma of treated parasites, as well as disorganized musculature and the loss of cell membranes in subtegumental tissue section. However, larvae from albendazole-treated mice inoculated into the next host were able to become re-established in the next murine host due, probably, to the survival of proliferative parasite cells.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank L. Robert and J.A. Jimenez for providing technical assistance in preparing microscopy slides and animal management. The present study was supported by CONACyT 79686.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, México City, DF, 04510, México

    R. Zurabian, L. Aguilar-Vega, E. Terrones Vargas, M. E. Cervera Hernández & K. Willms

  2. Departamento de Probabilidad y Estadística, Instituto de Investigaciones en Matemáticas Aplicadas y en Sistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, México City, DF, 04510, México

    S. Ruíz-Velasco Acosta

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  1. R. Zurabian
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  2. L. Aguilar-Vega
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  4. M. E. Cervera Hernández
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Correspondence to R. Zurabian.

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Zurabian, R., Aguilar-Vega, L., Terrones Vargas, E. et al. In vivo albendazole treatment of Taenia crassiceps cysticerci strain WFU: proliferation, damage, and recovery. Parasitol Res 112, 3961–3968 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-013-3589-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-013-3589-7

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