Abstract
Laboratory animals, especially mice and rats, are commonly used in biomedical researches. This study was designed to evaluate the status of gastrointestinal parasites in Wistar rats using parasitological methods. Sixty Wistar rats in different ages which were being maintained conventionally were selected randomly from laboratory animal house. The contents of the gastrointestinal tract of the rats were examined by parasitological methods. All of the rats under study were infected with at least one parasite. Twelve genera of parasites were detected in the rats, the six of which were protozoa including Giardia muris, Entamoeba muris, Blastocystis spp., Eimeria spp., Tritrichomonas muris, and Cryptosporidium spp., and the six other ones were helminths including Hymenolepis nana, Syphacia muris, Syphacia obvelata, Strongyloides ratti, Trichosomoides crassicauda (bladder parasite), and Aspiculuris tetraptera. G. muris showed the highest prevalence rate (96%) followed by T. muris (95%). In addition, the lowest prevalence rate observed in this study was related to S. obvelata, S. ratti, T. crassicauda, and A. tetraptera, all with 1.5% prevalence. Consequently, it is crucial for researchers to monitor laboratory animals by health surveillance programs, essentially emphasizing the good laboratory practice (GLP) to ensure the quality, consistency, and reproducibility of data in their research.
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We thank the Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.
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This article does not contain any studies with human subjects. All institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals were followed.
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All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution at which the studies were conducted.
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Mohaghegh, M.A., Kalani, H., Azami, M. et al. Gastrointestinal parasitic infection in laboratory rats: a challenge for researchers. Comp Clin Pathol 27, 1237–1240 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-018-2727-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-018-2727-0