Evagination of metacestodes of the WFU strain of Taenia crassiceps and evaluation of the impact of immune suppression of hamsters during tapeworm development.

Taeniosis-cysticercosis caused by Taenia crassiceps (Zeder, 1800) is a useful experimental model for biomedical research, in substitution of Taenia solium Linnaeus, 1758, studied during decades to develop effective vaccination, novel anti-helminthic drugs and diagnostic tools. Cysticercosis in mouse (Mus musculus Linnaeus) is achieved by the larval subculturing of the Wake Forest University (WFU) strain of T. crassiceps.

Laboratory animal models for human Taenia solium.

Human beings are the only hosts of adult Taenia solium; thus, many aspects of the host-parasite relationship are unknown. The development of successful experimental models of taeniasis allows in-depth investigations of the host-parasite relationship. We established experimental models in hamsters, gerbils and chinchillas.

Portrait of human tapeworms.

The tapeworms of the genus Taenia that infect human beings are T. solium, T. saginata and T.

Induction of protection against porcine cysticercosis by vaccination with recombinant oncosphere antigens.

Two recombinant Taenia solium oncosphere antigens, designated TSOL18 and TSOL45-1A, were investigated as vaccines to prevent transmission of the zoonotic disease cysticercosis through pigs. Both antigens were effective in inducing very high levels of protection (up to 100%) in three independent vaccine trials in pigs against experimental challenge infection with T. solium eggs, which were undertaken in Mexico and Cameroon.

[Taeniasis and detection of antibodies against cysticercus among inhabitants of a rural community in Guerrero State, Mexico].

Objective: To assess the frequency of Taenia solium carriers and its relationship with human cysticercosis in a Mexican locality.

Material And Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1998, in a locality of Guerrero State, Mexico. Four hundred and three fecal samples were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect Taenia sp coproantigen.

Kinetics of Taenia solium antibodies and antigens in experimental taeniosis.

Two groups of hamsters were infected with Taenia solium cysticerci, one of which was suppressed with methyl-prednisolone acetate on the day of infection and every 14 days thereafter. The other did not receive steroid treatment. Faecal and serum samples were taken prior to infection and then at weekly intervals.