[Animal Modeling - Pharmacological Evaluation] - Animal Model of Liver Hair Thread Worm Infection

  Liver hair nematode is distributed in rodents, other animals, and humans worldwide. The final host acquires infection through the hatching of ingested embryonic eggs in their intestine. Larvae penetrate the mucosa and enter the liver through the hepatic vein system, causing pathological damage such as liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and granulomas. Yang Fazhu et al. established an animal model of hepatic filariasis infection in SD rats in China. Foreign scholars have conducted experiments on anti fibrotic drugs using a rat model infected with hepatic filariasis.

  (1) Method of replication: ① Select healthy SD rats. ② Dilute the embryonic eggs of the liver hair nematode to 1000 cells/ml, and inject 1ml of the egg containing solution into rats orally using a syringe.

  (2) The characteristics of the model are that the development process of the eggs is not synchronous. Some eggs have already developed, while others have not yet developed. Therefore, establishing an animal model of liver hair nematode infection requires preliminary work on egg cultivation. Oral injection of egg content may affect the severity and progression of the disease. Under normal circumstances, insect eggs or bodies can be found through dissection within 18-28 days. After 28 days of infection, the rat liver became enlarged, congested, and covered in yellow spots. Adults only survive for 40-60 days, and after death, the female insects disintegrate and release a large number of eggs, causing liver tissue necrosis, granulomatous inflammation, and fibrosis.

  (3) The formation of hepatic trichomoniasis egg granuloma in comparative medicine may be a specific cell-mediated immune response in the body. Many parasitic worms in nature can also cause granulomatous reactions in animals (humans) after infection, but the formation characteristics of various granulomas are not completely the same. Most granulomas form around live worms, and sometimes can also appear around dead worms. Some granulomas are formed on the basis of chronic inflammation caused by worms, and there are also some granulomas whose causes are still unknown. This model can be used to understand the life history of Trichomonas hepatica, research on the prevention and treatment of Trichomonas hepatica disease, and experiments on related antiviral drugs.