An improved method to obtain antigen-excreting Toxocara canis larvae.
Toxocara canis is a dog helminth which causes visceral larva migrans (VLM) when infecting humans as a larva. The infection is demonstrated by detecting IgG antibodies against excretory-secretory larval antigens (ESLA) in serum by ELISA. The production of ESLA involves the collection of adult worms from dog puppy stools, the separation of eggs from dissected uteri, and the in vitro growing of egg-derived larvae, following the time-consuming and laborious protocol described by De Savigny [De Savigny, D.H., 1975. In vitro maintenance of T. canis larvae and a simple method for the production of Toxocara ES antigen for the uses in serodiagnostic tests for visceral larva migrans. Journal of Parasitology 61, 781-782]. In this work, an improved protocol for obtaining T. canis larvae is described. The modifications proposed improved the efficiency of the original De Savigny method in three ways: (i) increasing the parasite yield up to five fold, (ii) improving the larval purity, and (iii) markedly reducing the execution time of the protocol.
Alcântara-Neves
Neuza Maria
NM
Instituto de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Avenida Reitor Miguel Calmon, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. neuza@ufba.br
dos Santos
Alex Barbosa
AB
Mendonça
Lívia Ribeiro
LR
Figueiredo
Camila A V
CA
Pontes-de-Carvalho
Lain
L
D000818:Animals; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000378:metabolism; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007816:Larva Migrans, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis; D017166:Toxocara canis / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014120:Toxocariasis / Q000469:parasitology*
D000947:Antigens, Helminth