Necator americanus: maintenance through one hundred generations in golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). II. Morphological development of the adult and its comparison with humans

Through 100 passages, the human hookworm Necator americanus was adapted to the golden hamster, Mesocricetus auratus, without either the requirement for exogenous steroids or other immunosuppressive agents, nor the requirement to infect hamsters as pups. Adult N. americanus recovered from infected hamsters were morphologically similar to those from infected humans in Sichuan Province, China, although they were smaller and the females produced fewer eggs. The natural history and kinetics of N. americanus infection was different in female and male hamsters. Female hamsters supported low intensity infections that lasted for approximately two months. In contrast, the peak intensity of infection in male hamsters was high, but this situation lasted less than for 4 weeks at which time many of the hookworms were expelled. However, even after the major parasite expulsion, the total number of hookworms consistently remained higher in chronically infected male hamsters compared with female hamsters. The hamster model of N. americanus is potentially useful for studying the development of new anthelminthic drugs and vaccines. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.