T. vitulorum-rat model

The eggs collected from T. vitulorum worms were incubated in Petri dishes with 0.5% formalin solution at room temperature (Figure-1) with infrequent agitation and examination for 15-45 days [32]. The embryonated egg suspension was rinsed by clean tap water several times. Preparation of the infective inocula was done by determining the number of ova in samples of 20-mL of ova stock suspension using McMaster slide until 96% of the eggs were shown to contain larvae (Figure-2). The viability of the larvae was evaluated immediately before infection by movement monitoring. Twenty-four adult male albino rats with body weight 120 ± 5.0 g were used. Six rats were considered as healthy control. The remaining 18 rats were experimentally infected with T. vitulorum as described previously [12] with some changes in the dose of egg. Infection of rats was induced by giving an oral dose of 800 embryonated eggs in 2 mL water and kept for 8 weeks with the consistent clinical signs examination. All animals were housed with adequate hygienic conditions and provided water and ration ad libitum.

Collection of Toxocara vitulorum egg. (a) Collected T. vitulorum from the jejunum of naturally infected buffalo calves. (b) Eggs were collected from the adult female worms’ uteri and (c) leave for sedimentation in normal saline. (d) The collected eggs were incubated in Petri dishes with 0.5% formalin solution at room temperature for 15-45 days with infrequent agitation and inspection.

Light micrographs for non-embryonated egg and embryonated egg of fertilized Toxocara vitulorum egg. (a) Non-embryonated egg (green arrow) and (b) embryonated egg with larva (red arrow) 10×.