In vitro system for the growth and asexual multiplication of Taenia crassiceps cysticerci

GARCIA LCA; PEREZ MG; ANCAROLA E; ROSENZVIT M C; CUCHER M

PARASITOLOGY

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2023 vol. 149 p. 1775 - 1780

0031-1820

Taenia solium is the aetiological agent of cysticercosis, a zoonosis that causes severe health andeconomic losses across Latin America, Africa and Asia. The most serious manifestation of thedisease is neurocysticercosis, which occurs when the larval stage (cysticercus) establishes inthe central nervous system. Using Taenia crassiceps as an experimental model organism forthe study of cysticercosis, we aimed to identify the in vitro conditions necessary to allow parasitedevelopment at the short- and long terms. First, cysticerci were incubated for 15 days indifferent media and parasite densities. The number of buddings and cysticerci diameter weremeasured to evaluate asexual multiplication and parasite growth, respectively. Vitality wasdetermined by trypan blue staining and morphology analysis. As a result, high cysticerci densityand medium containing FBS and the excretion/secretion (E/S) products of feeder cellsinduced parasite survival, growth and multiplication. Then, the long-term (5 weeks) incubationof the parasites in co-culture with feeder cells was evaluated. Consequently, the mammaliancell lines induced a significant increase in total parasite volume while axenic cultures didnot show any statistically significant change over time. In this study, the proper conditions tomaintain T. crassiceps in vitro are described for the first time in a simpler and more controlledsetting other than experimental infections. In addition, it was shown that cysticerci growth,survival and asexual multiplication depend on a complex network of secreted factors fromboth parasite and host.