Scanning electron microscope studies of the mucosa of rats infected withHymenolepis dimlnuta(Cestoda)

Abstract

AbstractThe intestinal morphology or rats given one, 10 or 100 cysticercoids ofHymenolepis diminutawas examined by scanning electron microscopy. The presence of this tapeworm causes extensive villous atrophy and fusion. The most extreme changes in mucosal architecture were observed adjacent to the mature proglottides of the worm and in these areas the villi were reduced either to flattened plate-like structures or to low irregularly shaped undulations. The presence of one largeH. diminutaresulted in more severe pathological damage than caused by several smaller worms. Colonization of the upper region of the ileum by long filamentous bacteria was also observed in rats infected withH. diminuta.