Dr. Murai Éva szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 25. (Budapest, 1992)

Parasit, hung., 25:15-22, 1992 © Hungarian Society of Parasitologists Development of protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus from buffalo liver and lung cysts in dogs M. IRSHADULLAH and W. A. NlZAMI* Section of Parasitology, Department of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh - 202002, India (Received 25 August, 1992) Abstract: In Northern India, the buffalo is the principal intermediate host for the larval multiplication of Echinococcus granulosus, and mainly the buffalo / dog cycle is operative for the perpetuation of the parasite's life cycle. The development of protoscoleces from buffalo liver and lung cysts was compared in dogs. The segmentation and maturation rate of protoscoleces of liver origin was found to be retarded as compared to those of lung origin. It is emphasized that physiological, nutritional or metabolic differences may exist between parasite material from lung and liver. Possibly these differences are either habitat induced or due to strain variation. Key words: Echinococcus granulosus, protoscoleces from liver and lung, developmental biology, strain differences, dog, buffalo INTRODUCTION In recent years, a number of intraspecific variants or strains of Echinococcus granulosus have been reported from various vertebrate hosts of different geographical regions (see ref. in Thompson 1986, Thompson and Lymbery 1990). Intraspecific variants or strains had earlier been recognized on morphological grounds (Williams and Sweatman 1963), while during the past decade they were characterized by in vitro and in vivo development, isozyme profile, biochemical and metabolic differences and, more recently, by DNA probes (see ref. in Thompson 1988, Thompson and Allsopp 1988, Thompson and Lymbery 1988, Eckert and Thompson 1988, McManus and Rishi 1989). Strain characterization is particularly significant for the development of an effective control programme for a zoonotic disease, since various strains show differ* To whom all correspondence should be addressed