Maintenance of Life Cycle Stages of Fasciola hepatica in the Laboratory.

Abstract

Fasciola hepatica has a heteroxenous complex life cycle that alternates between an invertebrate intermediate and a mammalian definitive host. The life cycle has five well-defined phases within their hosts and the environment: (1) eggs released from the vertebrate host to the environment and its subsequent development; (2) emergence of miracidia and their search and penetration into an intermediate snail host; (3) development and multiplication of larval stages within the snail; (4) emergence of cercariae and the encystment in metacercariae; and (5) ingestion of infective metacercariae by the definitive host and development to its adult form. Here we describe some protocols to obtain and maintain different developmental stages of F. hepatica in the laboratory for different applications (molecular/cellular biology studies, vaccination trials, etc.).