Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T07:57:39.787Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A method for measuring the attachment strength of the cestode Hymenolepis diminuta to the rat intestine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2016

W. Xie*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, W342 Nebraska Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0526, USA
G.R. Racz
Affiliation:
Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, W529 Nebraska Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514, USA
B.S. Terry
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, W342 Nebraska Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0526, USA
S.L. Gardner
Affiliation:
Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, W529 Nebraska Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514, USA
*
*E-mail address: [email protected]

Abstract

A unique adaptation of many internal parasites of mammals is their ability to stay in the intestine for extended periods of time and resist the normal peristaltic movements and forces that push and expel material. To better understand parasite adhesion behaviour and replicate their attachment method in medical devices, an experiment was designed and performed using the rat tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta. The experiment employed a tensile test machine and a digital scale and was designed to calculate the attachment strength of the scolex to the mucosa through the change of the value of the digital scale during the tensile test. The attachment force of H. diminuta is 0.021 ± 0.011 g. This method could be applied in studies of parasite biomechanics and the results may help medical device researchers to better mimic the unique functional morphology of this species of parasite.

Type
Short Communications
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cooreman, I. & De Rycke, P.H. (1972) Migratory behaviour of Hymenolepis microstoma . Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde 39, 269276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crompton, D.W.T. & Walters, D.E. (1972) An analysis of the course of infection of Moniliformis dubius (Acanthocephala) in rats. Parasitology 64, 517523.Google Scholar
Cunningham, L.J. & Olson, P.D. (2010) Description of Hymenolepis microstoma (Nottingham strain): a classical tapeworm model for research in the genomic era. Parasites & Vectors 3, 123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dwinell, M.B., Wise, R.M., Bass, P. & Oaks, J.A. (1998) Hymenolepis diminuta: mucosal mastocytosis and intestinal smooth muscle hypertrophy occur in tapeworm-infected rats. Experimental Parasitology 89, 92102.Google Scholar
Edelman, M.H., Spingarn, C.L., Nauenberg, W.G. & Gregory, C. (1965) Hymenolepis diminuta (rat tapeworm) infection in man. American Journal of Medicine 38, 951953.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graham, D., Coit, D. & Brennan, M.F. (1993) Perforation of the bowel by suction drains. British Journal of Surgery 80, 128129.Google Scholar
Kim, B., Park, S., Jee, C.Y. & Yoon, S.J. (2005) An earthworm-like locomotive mechanism for capsule endoscopes. 2005 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 2–6 August, pp. 29973002.Google Scholar
Kim, S., Laschi, C. & Trimmer, B. (2013) Soft robotics: a bioinspired evolution in robotics. Trends in Biotechnology 31, 287294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
La Spina, G., Stefanini, C., Menciassi, A. & Dario, P. (2005) A novel technological process for fabricating micro-tips for biomimetic adhesion. Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering 15, 1576–1587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lumsden, R.D. & Byram, J. (1967) The ultrastructure of cestode muscle. Journal of Parasitology 53, 326342.Google Scholar
Merchant, M.T., Aguilar, L., Avila, G., Robert, L., Flisser, A. & Willms, K. (1998) Taenia solium: description of the intestinal implantation sites in experimental hamster infections. Journal of Parasitology 84, 681685.Google Scholar
Mostaert, A.S., Crockett, R., Kearn, G., Cherny, I., Gazit, E., Serpell, L.V. & Jarvis, S.P. (2009) Mechanically functional amyloid fibrils in the adhesive of a marine invertebrate as revealed by Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. Archives of Histology and Cytology 72, 199207.Google Scholar
Quaglia, C., Tognarelli, S., Sinibaldi, E., Funaro, N., Dario, P. & Menciassi, A. (2013) Wireless robotic capsule for releasing bioadhesive patches in the gastrointestinal tract. Journal of Medical Devices 8, 014503014503.Google Scholar
Read, C.P. (1951) The ‘crowding effect’ in tapeworm infections. Journal of Parasitology 37, 174178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Read, C.P. (1967) Longevity of the tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta . Journal of Parasitology 53, 10551056.Google Scholar
Read, C.P. & Kilejian, A.Z. (1969) Circadian migratory behavior of a cestode symbiote in the rat host. Journal of Parasitology 55, 574578.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmidt, G.D. (1986) CRC handbook of tapeworm identification. Boca Raton, Florida, CRC Press.Google Scholar
Scholz, T., Drábek, R. & Hanzelová, V. (1998) Scolex morphology of Proteocephalus tapeworms (Cestoda: Proteocephalidae), parasites of freshwater fish in the Palaearctic Region. Folia Parasitologica 45, 2743.Google Scholar
Smyth, J.D. (1969) The physiology of cestodes. San Francisco, W.H. Freeman and Company.Google Scholar
Taraschewski, H. (2000) Host–parasite interactions in Acanthocephala: a morphological approach. pp. 1179 in Weiss, L.M. & Tanowitz, H.B. (Eds) Advances in parasitology, vol. 46. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Valdastri, P., Simi, M. & Webster, R.J. III (2012) Advanced technologies for gastrointestinal endoscopy. Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering 14, 397429.Google Scholar
Xie, W., Kothari, V. & Terry, B.S. (2015) A bio-inspired attachment mechanism for long-term adhesion to the small intestine. Biomedical Microdevices 17, 19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed