Apoptosis patterns in experimental Taenia solium and Taenia crassiceps strobilae from golden hamsters.

Apoptosis or programmed cell death (PCD) patterns of two taeniid species, Taenia solium and Taenia crassiceps, were explored in adult tapeworms grown in golden hamsters. Animals were fed either ten viable T. solium cysticerci from naturally infected pigs or from T. crassiceps WFU strain maintained in Balb/c mice. Adult strobilae were recovered from the intestine at different times after infection and either frozen at -70 degrees C or fixed in paraformaldehyde-glutaraldehyde. Frozen sections were processed using the DNA fragmentation fluorescent TUNEL reagents and examined in an epifluorescent microscope. Fixed tissues were processed for light and electron microscopy. Typical apoptotic cells were found in the central core of scolex and strobilar tissues, mainly in the germinal tissue and subtegumentary areas. By the TUNEL technique, cells exhibited the characteristic fluorescent images of condensed nuclear chromatin. By light microscopy of thick sections stained with toluidine blue, we found a number of small rounded cells which had lost their cytoplasmic bridges and had shrunken nuclei with aggregated chromatin, cells which were found interspersed with normal syncytial cells. Similar cell morphology was confirmed by electron microscopy. Stunted viable worms, recovered with longer mature specimens, had very short strobilae and exhibited a large number of apoptotic cells in the germinal neck tissues. The results are consistent with the syncytial nature of these parasites, and strongly suggest that cell proliferation and PCD in these adult cestodes are continuous processes of the germinal tissue and tegumentary cytons.