Open AccessLeishmania infantum in Chinese hamsters
Author(s) -
Edward Hindle,
J. G. Thomson
Publication year - 1928
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series b, containing papers of a biological character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9185
pISSN - 0950-1193
DOI - 10.1098/rspb.1928.0039
Subject(s) - leishmania infantum , spleen , scrotum , anatomy , leishmania , pathology , medicine , biology , leishmaniasis , visceral leishmaniasis , immunology , parasite hosting , world wide web , computer science
The presence of peculiarly localised lesions in hamsters infected withLeishmania infantum was first observed by one of us (E. H.) in two animals kindly sent by Dr. Marshall Hertig. These had been inoculated at Peking on May 25, 1926, with a strain ofL. infantum originally obtained in culture from Dr. Nicolle, and known as the "Infantum tunis K. A." strain. Before being sent from Peking, both hamsters were examined by liver puncture and found to be infected. On arrival at Tsinan, on July 17, the peripheral blood of both animals contained numerous parasites. On August 25, approximately fifteen weeks after inoculation, one of these animals was killed, as it had the appearance of suffering from an intercurrent infection. The regions of the distal joints of all four limbs were enormously swollen. The testes, and also the base of the tail, were swollen and suppurating, and one of the testes contained an abscess which was discharging through the scrotum. Examination of the pus from the tail showed the presence of very large numbers ofLeishmania . In addition, the margins of the ears and also the nose of this animal showed thickening and ulceration. All other organs of the body were normal, both in size and general appearance, and it is of interest that there was no enlargement of the spleen, which is such a characteristic feature in animals infected with typical strains ofLeishmania donovani .