Experimental infection and adaptation ofRodentolepis nanato the Mongolian jirdMeriones unguiculatus

Abstract

AbstractA mouse-derived strain ofRodentolepis( = Hymenolepis)nanawas transferred to the Mongolian jirdMeriones unguiculatus. It was found thatM. unguiculatushas low susceptibility toR. nanamouse isolates. Likewise, adaptation of the parasite to jird hosts, in the absence of dexamethasone treatment, was not demonstrable, at least during ten-passage trials. Nevertheless, the parasite was able to establish, grow and develop to gravid adults inM. unguiculatustreated daily with dexamethasone. Prepatent periods in dexamethasone-treated jirds in ten-passage series ranged from 10 to 17 days post-infection (DPI), the average being 12 days, and the patent periods lasted from 18 to 30 DPI, with an average of 25 days. The population pattern of faecal egg output in immunosuppressed jirds suggests that under a daily dexamethasone treatment protocol, the parasite is able to maintain egg production as long as treatment is sustained.