Collection and oral administration of T. spiralis larvae
in mouse muscles
T. spiralis were maintained in our laboratory through serial
infection of rats. The parasites were isolated from the infected mice
through dissection, were their muscle tissues were harvested and bones
were removed. The muscles were treated with an artificial digestion
solution (1% pepsin and 1% concentrated hydrochloric acid) for 4 h at
37°C. Subsequently, the mixture was filtered using an 80-mesh filter and
rinsed thrice. The larvae were subsequently harvested in accordance with
the modified Bellman’s method. Then, the vitality of the larvae was
assessed, and they were enumerated under a microscope. The mice in the
TS and TS+CR groups were orally infected with 400 individual larvae.