Chronological observations of intestinal histopathology in rats (Rattus norvegicus) infected with Centrocestus caninus.

ABSTRACT

Intestinal pathological enzyme activity changes were studied chronologically in rats after Centrocestus caninus infection. A single inoculation of 300 metacercariae isolated from the gills of goldfish (Carassius auratus), was orally administered to male rats (n = 15). Uninfected animals were used as controls (n = 5). At days 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 post-infection (PI), three infected rats, and one from each control group, were sacrificed. The duodenum, jejunum, and ileum were removed separately and fixed in 10% formalin and 10% cold formal calcium solution for histopathological and alkaline phosphatase activity investigations, respectively. The worms were found intruded into the intervillous space of the mucosa and the mucosa showed villous atrophy, crypt hyperplasia and stromal inflammation with inflammatory cell accumulations. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity also showed retardation. However, it seemed that these phenomena would return to normal at the end of the experiment. It can be concluded, from our data, that C. caninus could cause mild histopathological alterations and reduce ALP activity in the small intestines.