Establishment and survival of the strobilar stage of Taenia crassiceps in hamsters, gerbils, and mice, with reference to different helminth isolates.

Following the oral administration of metacestodes of two isolates of Taenia crassiceps, the enteral establishment and survival of the strobilar stage were examined in golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) and laboratory mice. The origin of the isolates was Microtus montebelli caught in Japan in 1985 or Clethrionomys rutilus captured on St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea, in 1988 (abbreviated as JPN and SLI isolates), respectively. The enteral establishment of the SLI isolate was distinctly higher than that of the JPN isolate in golden hamsters and mice, whereas the difference was marginal in Mongolian gerbils. All initially-established parasites survived to become gravid adults in prednisolone-treated golden hamsters and Mongolian gerbils; the average recovery of cestodes of the SLI and JPN isolates were 55.8%-76.7% vs 11.7%-35.0% in the former and 28.0%-52.7% vs 25.8%-32.2% in the latter. The distinctly higher level of enteral establishment of the SLI isolate in golden hamsters makes available a model for quantitative studies on parasite-host relationships in experimental taeniasis.