The growth and antigenicity of the metacestodes of Taenia crassiceps in several different strains of rats.

The metacestodes of Taenia crassiceps removed from a stock infection of Sprague Dawley rats were injected into seven inbred and one outbred strain of rats. The results showed that over-all female rats are more susceptible to the infection than male rats. Only one strain of rat, the Lewis male rats, was found to be resistant to the infection. There was no significant differences in the volume of metacestodes recovered from the male and female rats. The sizes of the metacestodes, after two passages through the rats, were compared to those of the original mouse strain and it was found that metacestodes from two strains of rats were significantly smaller. The antigenic expression of the metacestodes from the different strains of rats was compared and some variation in the antigenicity was observed.