Departamento de Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Valencia, Av. Vicente Andrés Estellés s/n, 46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain.
Vet Parasitol. 2011 Dec 29;183(1-2):79-86. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2011.07.003. Epub 2011 Jul 12.
The emission of Fasciola hepatica eggs in faeces is usually subject to oscillations along time in animals as well as humans. Thus, looking for alternative biological markers reflecting eggs shed per gram of faeces (epg) with lower oscillations may be useful. This study analyzes the possible relationship between liver-fluke uterus area and epg. Uterus area (UA) development of adult F. hepatica obtained at different days post infection (dpi) in a Wistar rat model with isolates obtained from cattle, sheep, pigs and humans from the endemic human fascioliasis zone of the Northern Bolivian Altiplano was analyzed and compared with the number of eggs shed per gram of faeces as obtained through the Kato-Katz technique. The morphometric study of the UA of liver flukes was carried out using image analysis software. The multiple regression model shows that UA is dependent on dpi and isolate. The evolution of UA vs dpi followed a damped model. This work shows a positive relationship between liver-fluke UA and egg production. The complete absence of eggs in the uteri of some parasite individuals at 300 dpi was observed, which corresponds to the cessation of egg shedding in the advanced chronic stage. The results obtained suggest the necessity to characterize the isolates employed with regard to geographical as well as host origin in fascioliasis studies in which egg production is used as a biological tag.
肝片形吸虫卵在粪便中的排放通常会随时间在动物和人类中出现波动。因此，寻找反映每克粪便中排出的卵（epg）波动较小的替代生物学标志物可能是有用的。本研究分析了肝片形吸虫子宫面积与 epg 之间的可能关系。在一个威斯塔大鼠模型中，分析了不同感染后天数（dpi）获得的来自牛、羊、猪和人类的肝片形吸虫成虫子宫面积（UA）的发育情况，并与通过加藤氏厚涂片法获得的每克粪便中排出的卵数进行了比较。使用图像分析软件对肝吸虫的 UA 进行了形态计量学研究。多元回归模型表明，UA 取决于 dpi 和分离株。UA 与 dpi 的演化遵循阻尼模型。这项工作表明肝片形吸虫 UA 与产卵之间存在正相关关系。在 300 dpi 时，一些寄生虫个体的子宫中完全没有卵，这对应于晚期慢性阶段停止产卵。研究结果表明，在使用产卵作为生物学标记的肝片形吸虫病研究中，有必要对分离株进行地理和宿主来源的特征描述。
