A New Experimental Approach to Develop Unilocular Cystic Echinococcosis in Rabbit Livers

Abstract

Cystic echinococcosis is a parasitic disease that is endemic in many parts of the world. Besides surgical and percutaneous interventional methods, new experimental therapeutic modalities with the use of antiparasitic drugs are still under investigation. The aim of this study is to present a new practical and time saving experimental model for treatment of cystic echinococcosis. Daughter cysts obtained from naturally infected cattle liver with cystic echinococcosis were implanted into the rabbit liver under sterile conditions. Cysts were evaluated with ultrasonography and computed tomography for six months. Volumes were significantly increased in seven survived cysts at the end of the sixth month (P < 0.05). The main advantage of this method over the known classical intraperitoneal protoscoleces injection methods is to be able to form a successful unilocular liver cyst. This method proved to be an applicable approach with a short cyst development time and high inoculation rate of cysts into the liver.