Intraperitoneal Inoculation: An Atypical Route of Trichinella spiralis Infection

BACKGROUND The intraperitoneal injection is a common method for establishing the experimental animal model infected with parasites. The aim of this study was to investigate if the intraperitoneal injection was another route of Trichinella spiralis infection. METHODS From June to July 2015, twenty BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally injected with 300 T. spiralis muscle larvae in Department of Parasitology, Medical College, Zhengzhou University, China. The larvae per gr (LPG) muscle from the infected mice and the reproductive capacity index (RCI) of T. spiralis were calculated. RESULTS Sixty percent (12/20) mice injected were successfully infected at 35 day post injection (dpi), but the muscle larval burden (381.53 larvae per gr) and reproductive capacity index (32.33) in infected mice was lower. CONCLUSION A mechanical force indicated as a possible mechanism in successful larval invasion of almost all kind of host tissues. However, the exact migratory route of larvae from peritoneal cavity into small intestine is not clear.