Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-01T07:10:15.391Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Neurosecretory-like material in 3rd- and 4th-stage Dirofilaria immitis larvae (Nematoda: Filarioidea)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

C. J. Delves ,
R. Webb  and
R. E. Howells
C. J. Delves
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA
R. Webb
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN
R. E. Howells
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Phase-interference microscopic examination of the infective, post-infective 3rd-stage and 4th-stage larvae of Dirofilaria immitis has identified a single cell body in each of the paired lateral amphidial nerves which undergoes characteristic morphological change during the development from 3rd- to 4th-stage larvae. Acetaldehyde—fuchsin staining of worm sections revealed fuchsinophilic material in the precise location of the amphidial nerve-cell bodies observed by phaseinterference microscopy. This material was found in 70% of infective larvae recovered from mosquitoes and in 100% of larvae recovered from micropore chambers 24 h after implantation into BALB/C mice. In pre-moult larvae recovered at 42 h (Experiment 1) and at 48 h (Experiment 2) fuchsinophilic material was demonstrable, but no staining was observed in those larvae in which separation of the 3rd- and 4th-stage cuticles had occurred. No such material was observed in 4thstage larvae recovered from chambers after 74 h, and in these larvae the amphidial nerve-cell bodies were not discernible. These cytological observations are consistent with a cycle of elaboration and release of neurosecretion associated with moulting in D. immitis.

Keywords

Dirofilaria immitisneurosecretionmoultinginfective larvae.
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 99 , Issue 1 , August 1989 , pp. 99 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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

REFERENCES

Anderson, R. C., (1968). The comparative morphology of cephalic structures in the superfamily Filarioidea (Nematoda). Canadian Journal of Zoology 46, 181–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bird, A. F., (1971). The Structure of Nematodes. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Davey, K. G., (1963). The release of enforced activity of the cardiac accelerator from the corpus cardiacum of Periplaneta americana. Journal of Insect Physiology 9, 375–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davey, K. G., (1964). Neurosecretory cells in a nematode Ascaris lumbricoides. Canadian Journal of Zoology 42, 731–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davey, K. G., & Kan, S. P., (1967). An endocrine basis for ecdysis in a parasitic nematode. Nature, London 214, 737–8.Google Scholar
Davey, K. G., & Kan, S. P., (1968). Moulting in the parasitic nematode, Phocanema decipiens, IV. Ecdysis and its control. Canadian Journal of Zoology 46, 893–8.Google Scholar
Delves, C. J., & Howells, R. E., (1985). Development of Dirofilaria immitis third stage larvae (Nematoda: Filarioidea) in micropore chambers implanted into surrogate hosts. Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 36, 29–31.Google Scholar
Ewen, A. B., (1962). An improved aldehyde fuchsin staining technique for neurosecretory products in insects. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 81, 94–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harpur, R. P., (1963). Maintenance of Ascaris lumbricoides in vitro. II. Changes in muscle and ovary carbohydrates. Canadian Journal of Biochemistry and Physiology 41, 1673–89.Google Scholar
Harris, J. E., & Crofton, H. D., (1957). Structure and function in the nematodes: internal pressure and cuticular structure in Ascaris. Journal of Experimental Biology 34, 116–30.Google Scholar
Highnam, K., & Hill, I., (1977). The Comparative Endocrinology of the Invertebrates, 5th Edn. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
McLaren, D. J., (1970). Preliminary observations on the sensory structures in adult filariae. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 64, 191–2.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mounier, N., (1981). Location of neurosecretory-like material in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nematologica 27, 160–6.Google Scholar
Sternburg, J., (1963). Autointoxication of some stress phenomenon. Annual Review of Entomology 8, 19–38.Google Scholar
Thomsen, M., (1965). The neurosecretory system of the adult Calliphora erythrocephala. II. Histology of the neurosecretory cells of the brain and some related structures. Zeitschrift für Zellforschung 67, 693–717.Google Scholar
Ware, R. W., Clark, D., Crossland, K., & Russell, R. L., (1975). The nerve ring of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans: Sensory input and motor output. Journal of Comparative Neurology 162, 71–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, K. A., (1974). Cephalic sense organs of the parasitic nematode Capillaria hepatica (Bancrofti, 1983). Canadian Journal of Zoology 10, 1207–13.Google Scholar