Data for: Adult worm exclusion and histological data of dogs repeatedly infected with the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis
Description
The present study was performed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying worm exclusion in dogs repeatedly infected with E. multilocularis. The decrease in the number of adult worms in repeatedly infected dogs is shown in Table 1. Dogs infected for the first time (control group) showed a worm burden ranging from 29,950 to 55,175. Six days post reinfection, the worm burden in dogs repeatedly infected four times with E. multilocularis (dogs R1-R5) showed a burden ranging from 0 (below detection limit) to 9450. Thus, the mean number of worms significantly decreased by 88.7% in this group, compared to the control (p < 0.05). One day post-infection, the worm burden of dogs repeatedly infected four times ranged from 2,650 to 64,738 (dogs R6-R10). Compared to the control, the mean number of worms decreased by 41.1%, although this decrease was not statistically significant, probably due to the large distribution of worm numbers among the dogs in this group. A typical histological image of the small intestinal mucosa of each group is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1A shows the comparison of a healthy dog, a dog infected with this parasite for the first time, and a dog repeatedly infected with the parasite four times (6 days post-infection). The microvillus of the infected dogs was shortened compared with the healthy dog. There was no clear histopathological abnormality in the first infected- and in the reinfected dogs. The histopathological findings in the small intestinal mucosa of dogs infected for the first time are shown in Figure 1B and 1C. Figure 1B shows no eosinophil accumulation around the worms in dog C2 and dog C4, while eosinophil infiltration was observed in some dogs (such as dog C1). Figure 1D shows eosinophil accumulation around the worms in dogs R1 and R3, belonging to the repeatedly infected group observed 6 days post-infection. Figure 1E shows an eosinophilic ulcer observed in dog R4.