The Prevalence of Di̇crocoeli̇i̇dae (Di̇genea) Larval Stages in the First Intermediate Host Helix Lucorum, 1758 in Eskisehir and Bartin Provinces of Turkey

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Dicrocoeliidae larval stages in Helix lucorum found in Eskişehir and Bartın provinces of Turkey. Snails were collected from the pastures of Eskişehir and Bartın. The snails were anesthetised with 50 mM sterilized magnesium chloride (MgCl2) before dissected. Internal organs of the snail, specifically hepatopancreas, were analysed with a stereomicroscope for sporocyst and cercaria. The larval forms were identified and monitored with a light microscope. The prevalence of Dicrocoeliidae larval stages in Helix lucorum in Eskişehir and Bartın was found to be 4.6% and 7.0%, respectively. Although cercariae in sporocysts were immature at the beginning of May, they began to grow and leave the sporocysts in the middle of May. It was understood that Helix lucorum served as an intermediate host to Dicrocoeliid trematodes in Eskişehir and Bartın provinces of Turkey.

Phenoloxidase is involved in the immune reaction of Helix lucorum to parasitic infestation by dicrocoeliid trematode

“…Dicrocoeliid trematodes (DTs) are parasitic organisms of amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, including humans, and land snails are the first intermediate host for DTs [13,14]. Previous prevalence studies conducted in Turkey showed that the infection rates of the larval stages of DTs in H. lucorum were 4.6%, 7%, 4.9%, and 22% in Eskisehir, Bartin, Afyonkarahisar, and Van, respectively [24][25][26]. In the presented study, the infection rate with the larval stages of DT was found to be 20% in Bitlis, Turkey (Fig.…”