A study of experimental hepatic amoebiasis in the rabbit.

Abstract

Progressive acute and chronic hepatic amoebiasis was readily produced in rabbits by subcapsular intrahepatic inoculation of approximately 2 × 104 trophozoites of Entamoeba histolytica (along with their bacterial associates), at 0·05 ml per animal. Infant rabbits, one to four weeks old, were more susceptible to infection than those aged 8·12 weeks. Rabbits with hepatic lesions showed anorexia, reduced activity and significant loss in weight and death.The necrotic lesion appeared about two days post-infection; it was yellowish-pink and later became softer than the adjacent normal hepatic tissue from which it was sharply demarcated. Histological examination of the amoebic lesions showed extensive necrosis with polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cellular infiltration, with the presence of amoebae. In advanced cases, a fibrotic reaction was observed at the edge of the lesions.