Journal
EXPERIMENTAL PARASITOLOGY
Volume 105, Issue 3-4, Pages 192-200Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2003.12.016
Keywords
Necator americanus; hookworm; golden hamster; morphology; reproductive system; scanning electronic microscopy; light microscopy
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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.
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