Schistosoma mansoni Sambon, 1907: morphometric differences between adult worms from sympatric rodent and human isolates

Abstract

A computer software for image analysis (IMAGE PRO PLUS, MEDIA CYBERNETICS)

A comparative parasitologic study on Biomphalaria glabrata snail and C3H/He mice infected with human and murine isolates of Schistosoma mansoni derived from Sumidouro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…Of particular relevance is the fact that both isolates share phenotypic characteristics (Machado-Silva et al 1994, Neves et al 1998, Freire et al 2002. This observation is coherent with the results obtained with sympatric isolates from Guadeloupe and Senegal when a biochemical marker (isoenzymes profile) was used (Sène et al 1997).…”

Morphometric study of Schistosoma mansoni adult worms recovered from undernourished infected mice

“…Morphological and morphometric studies of Schistosoma mansoni adult worms have been used not only to elucidate taxonomic questions about the main species known to infect man (Bilharz 1852, Weinland 1858, Sambon 1907, Pirajá da Silva 1908, as well as to detect differences in worms recovered from different hosts (Kastner et al 1975, Dias & Piedrabuena 1980, Machado-Silva et al 1994, Neves et al 1998 or pertaining to different strains (Magalhães & Carvalho 1973, Paraense & Corrêa 1981, El-Mansoury & Bayoumi 1995, Machado-Silva et al 1995 regarding some specific quantitative parameters.…”

“…Besides brightfield and scanning electron microscopies of adult schistosomes, recent studies with the confocal laser scanning microscopy provided a superior tool to investigate external and internal helminth morphological aspects (Lenzi et al 1997), allowing a deeper insight on its inner organization, in both well-fed (MachadoSilva et al 1998) and undernourished mice (Neves et al 2001).…”

Biological implications of the phenotypic plasticity in the Schistosoma mansoni - Nectomys squamipes model

“…It is worth emphasizing that all strains compared favorable with experiments using mice models. Adult worms attain "normal" dimensions 16,27,29 and supernumerary testes lobes are found 14,17,21,27 . The biological characteristics were not affected, because the pre-patent period, tissue egg distribution and egg laying reproduced observations in mice 15,21,28 .…”