Pathological and Immunohistochemical Study of the Liver and Hepatic Lymph Nodes of Sheep Chronically Reinfected with Fasciola hepatica , with or without Triclabendazole Treatment

• Published in: Journal of comparative pathology Vol. 127; no. 1; pp. 30 - 36
• Main Authors: Pérez, J., Ortega, J., Moreno, T., Morrondo, P., López-Sández, C., Martı́nez-Moreno, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-07-2002
• Subjects: Animals; Anthelmintics - therapeutic use; Antigens, CD - metabolism; Benzimidazoles - therapeutic use; Cell Count; Fasciola hepatica - physiology; Fascioliasis - pathology; Fascioliasis - prevention & control; Fascioliasis - veterinary; Granuloma - parasitology; Granuloma - pathology; Immunoenzyme Techniques - veterinary; Liver - parasitology; Liver - pathology; Lymph Nodes - parasitology; Lymph Nodes - pathology; Lymphocyte Subsets - metabolism; Lymphocyte Subsets - pathology; Sheep; Sheep Diseases - parasitology; Sheep Diseases - pathology; Sheep Diseases - prevention & control; Triclabendazole
• ISSN: 0021-9975; 1532-3129
• DOI: 10.1053/jcpa.2002.0561

Hepatic lesions and changes in the hepatic lymph nodes were examined in groups of sheep infected, and sometimes reinfected, with metacercariae of
Fasciola hepatica, with or without treatment with triclabendazole (TCBZ). Hepatic damage was more severe in sheep given small repeated (“trickle”) infections than in those given two larger, spaced doses. Inflammatory infiltrates of eosinophils, CD3
+ T cells, CD79α
+ B cells and IgG
+ plasma cells, and the presence of granulomata, were particularly marked in trickle-infected groups, suggesting that the host response to certain fluke or egg antigens causes severe hepatic damage. TCBZ administration induced the elimination of flukes and healing of the majority of hepatic lesions but did not prevent severe hepatic damage produced by later infections.