Kinetics of exsheathment of infective ovine and bovine strongylid larvae in vivo and in vitro

The aim of the study was to investigate the longitudinal changes of exsheathment of ovine and bovine 3rd-stage strongylid larvae in an artificial rumen (RUSITEC) and to compare the results with in vivo data obtained from rumen-fistulated sheep. Infective larvae were incubated in nylon mesh bags in the sheep rumen or the RUSITEC apparatus for periods of 1, 6 and 12 h, respectively. The 12 h exsheathment rates in the rumen and the RUSITEC apparatus (in parentheses) were as follows: Haemonchus contortus: 100% (100%), Ostertagia circumcincta: 100% (76%), O. leptospicularis: 100% (100%), O. ostertagi: 53% (59%), Trichostrongylus axei: 100% (100%), T. colubriformis: 37% (36%), Cooperia curticei: 94% (76%), C. oncophora: 95% (89%), Nematodirus filicollis: 0% (N.D.), N. spathiger: 11% (15%), N. battus: 7% (5%), Oesophagostomum venulosum: 17% (9%), Chabertia ovina: 7% (2%), Dictyocaulus filaria: 1% (N.D.). Larvae of Nematodirus spp. and T. colubriformis showed a quick rise of the exsheathment rate 2 h after transfer into the abomasum. These results confirm that exsheathment generally occurs in the part of the gastrointestinal tract immediately anterior to the habitat of the adult parasite. The overall similar course of exsheathment in both systems indicates that the essential stimuli for exsheathment were generated and maintained under in vitro conditions of the artificial rumen. In both systems, the bicarbonate concentration and the pH reflected a similar status of the H2CO3/HCO3- buffer system, which is known to provide the essential stimuli for larval exsheathment of the abomasal species. These results give evidence that the RUSITEC system represents a valid system for studying the kinetics of exsheathment of strongylid nematodes under in vitro conditions. For 7 of the species investigated the obtained results represent the first data on larval exsheathment in vivo and in vitro.