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Effects of in vitro conditions on the survival of Alaria alata mesocercariae

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different concentrations of table salt (NaCl) and ethanol (v/v) solutions on the viability of Alaria alata mesocercariae. Furthermore, the survival of A. alata mesocercariae during simulated human gastric digestion was evaluated. For this purpose, A. alata mesocercariae migration technique (AMT) was used for the isolation of the parasite from high-positive A. alata mesocercariae meat from wild boar, raccoon, raccoon dog, and badger meat. In total, we have studied the behavior of 582 larvae under different conditions (NaCl, ethanol, and artificial gastric juice) in three independent in vitro experiments. The larvae survived at a NaCl concentration of up to 2.0 % until day 21 with a median survival time of 11 days. At 3.0 % NaCl concentration, the larvae lost their vitality after less than 24 h. In addition, it was found that ethanol concentrations from 8.0 to 70.0 % were effective at reducing survival of A. alata mesocercariae within a short period of time (<1 min). Finally, our studies have revealed that it required 120 min to reliably inactivate all A. alata mesocercariae within HCl-pepsin digestion solution with a pH of 1.5–2.0 at 37 °C. Consequently, the results showed that 3.0 % is the minimum concentration of NaCl in meat products recommended for human consumption because at lower NaCl concentration the parasite survived for a substantial period of time. Finally, the common concentrations of ethanol used for the disinfection of surfaces in household and/or laboratory, are sufficient for the inactivation of A. alata mesocercariae.

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Acknowledgments

The first author wishes to acknowledge the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) for the Doctoral Scholarship. For their comprehensive and qualified technical assistance in the present study, we would like to thank Lia Kieker, Heiko Wellner, and Lutz Gumpert. Furthermore, we would like to express our gratitude to DVM Jasem Saffaf for his commitment to the project. This work was financially supported by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) through the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), grant number 2810HS017 and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), grant number 1329–514. None of the authors of this manuscript has declared any conflict of interest within the last 3 years which may arise from being named as an author on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Food Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Hiromi González-Fuentes, Martin Koethe, Ernst Luecker & Ahmad Hamedy

  2. Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany

    Hiromi González-Fuentes & Eberhard von Borell

  3. Faculty of Life Sciences, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Katharina Riehn

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  1. Hiromi González-Fuentes
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  2. Katharina Riehn
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  3. Martin Koethe
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  5. Ernst Luecker
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  6. Ahmad Hamedy
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Correspondence to Hiromi González-Fuentes.

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González-Fuentes, H., Riehn, K., Koethe, M. et al. Effects of in vitro conditions on the survival of Alaria alata mesocercariae. Parasitol Res 113, 2983–2989 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-3960-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-3960-3

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