Abstract
The intermediate hosts of the French heartworm Angiostrongylus vasorum are aquatic and terrestrial gastropods. The present work is aimed at clarifying the sites of penetration and the migratory routes of A. vasorum in Biomphalaria glabrata snail tissues and evaluating their perilarval reaction with regard to the cellular composition and histological alterations involved in the gastropod response to infection. Biomphalaria glabrata snails were individually infected with 1000 first-stage larvae (L1) of A. vasorum each and killed at predetermined times after infection. Percutaneous infection occurred simultaneously with oral infection. Despite larval tropism to the fibromuscular tissue, some larvae were located in different tissues and organs. A perilarval reaction was observed around the larvae in a fibromuscular layer, appearing later around the larvae located in the viscera. The number of hemocytes surrounding the larvae increased gradually, forming a pregranuloma. Larval death and degeneration were not observed. No defined migratory pattern occurred, and larval development was apparently not associated with particular tissues or organs. In addition, the infection by A. vasorum induces a systemic mobilization of hemocytes in perilarval reaction.
Highlights
Angiostrongylus vasorum (Baillet, 1866) Kamensky, 1905 is a metastrongyloid nematode that parasites wild and domestic canids
The life cycle of A. vasorum is heteroxenous, with several aquatic and terrestrial gastropods involved as intermediate hosts, such as snails of the species Achatina fulica and Biomphalaria glabrata [2,3,4,5,6]
The present work investigated the penetration sites and the chronology of the migratory routes of A. vasorum larvae in Biomphalaria glabrata and evaluated this intermediate host’s perilarval reaction, concerning the cellular composition and the histological alterations involved in the gastropod response to infection
Summary
Angiostrongylus vasorum (Baillet, 1866) Kamensky, 1905 is a metastrongyloid nematode that parasites wild and domestic canids. The life cycle of A. vasorum is heteroxenous, with several aquatic and terrestrial gastropods involved as intermediate hosts, such as snails of the species Achatina fulica and Biomphalaria glabrata [2,3,4,5,6]. First-stage (L1) larvae are shed in the feces of canids and further develop along two moult to third stage (L3) in the intermediate hosts [7]. Knowledge on the development and larval dynamics in the intermediate hosts are essential to a better understanding of the host-parasite relationship, a circumstance which might contribute to the development of control strategies against angiostrongylosis. The present work investigated the penetration sites and the chronology of the migratory routes of A. vasorum larvae in Biomphalaria glabrata and evaluated this intermediate host’s perilarval reaction, concerning the cellular composition and the histological alterations involved in the gastropod response to infection
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
