Rostellar Hook Morphology of Larval Echinococcus granulosus from Human, Sheep and Cattle

8. NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF HYDATIDOLOGY 1, Çorum, Türkiye, 13 - 15 Nisan 2017, ss.109-110

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) caused by E. granulosus is one of the most important zoonotic diseases seen that common

in our country and all over the world. In addition to inducing various clinical manifestations according to the tissue and

organ into which it is place in humans, it is adversely affects the quality of life and gives serious damage to the economy

of the country.

Variations in Echinococcus species play a crucial role in parasite life cycle, host specificity, pathogenicity, chemotherapeutic

agents, and transmission dynamics. In this respect, the identification of dominant strain or strains in a region is important

in terms of the control and eradication of parasites, the development and production of vaccines, the diagnostic methods

for parasites and the effectiveness of the drugs. In Echinococcus species, the strain discrimination is done by examining

several parameters together such as strain separation, geographical distribution, host frequency, metabolism, growth

rate, reproductive biology, infectivity, morphology, protein, enzyme and DNA analysis. In recent years, although there

are many researches on the molecular genetics, studies of morphology have received little attention.

The purpose of this study is to examine the hook morphology of protoskoles obtained from human, sheep and cattle CE

samples, to compare them with each other and to reveal the differences.

This study was carried out on a total of 30 cyst samples that 10 of them are made up of remaining cysts sent to the

Pathology Laboratory from patients who were diagnosed with CE Yuzuncu Yil University, and animal CE samples (10 sheep

and 10 cattle) were obtained from slaughterhouse. Cyst fluid was centrifuged for 5 minutes at 1500 rpm and protocolex

were collected from the bottom. Ten cyst of each host (totally 30 cyst) were examined. For every cyst long edge, short

edge, width and length of 200 large and 200 small hook’s were measured by preparing a lam-lamella preparation.

At the end of the study, distant numbers were obtained. The average lenght of large hooks were calculated 21,725 μm,

24,140 μm, and 25,158 μm of human, sheep and cattle samples, respectively. And average lenght of short hooks were

9,238 μm, 11,012 μm, and 12,568 μm (Table 1).

In conclusion, it is suggested that morphological features of both large and small rostellar hooks of Echinococcus

granulosus may be represent morphological adaptation within the vertebrate host. So, morphological parameters will

be useful for future studies