ReviewInternational journal for parasitology2026
Lessons on multicellular two- (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) culture in parasitology: Insights, challenges and future directions.
Review in International journal for parasitology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Preclinical animal models for onchocerciasis and loiasis: A systematic review of applications in drug screening.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Pooled it
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Advances in multicellular two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems are providing parasitologists with new tools to investigate host-parasite interactions in vitro. These models offer tissue-specific and, increasingly, host-specific alternatives to traditional 2D monoculture and animal systems, with applications across protozoan and helminth biology. Spheroids, organoids, and emerging assembloid platforms capture key aspects of tissue architecture and function, enabling co-culture of parasites and their products, including dynamic analysis of interactions at defined host interfaces. In recent years, these systems have been adapted to model infection processes, parasite development, immune modulation and tissue remodelling across a range of parasite taxa and tissue types, particularly of the gastrointestinal tract. This review outlines applications of multicellular 2D and 3D cell culture systems in parasitology, drawing on examples from both human and veterinary research. We highlight lessons learned from published works to date that have accelerated the uptake and refinement of these approaches. We also examine technical challenges, including issues of standardisation, scalability, model accessibility, and species representation, particularly for livestock hosts. Looking ahead, the integration of immune, stromal, and microbial components into these models, as well as advances in imaging and omics technologies, and CRISPR-Cas9-mediated engineering of host organoids, promise increasingly sophisticated platforms for studying parasite biology, host tissue responses and pathogenesis. With continued investment and cross-disciplinary collaboration, multicellular culture systems are poised to play a central role in reducing animal use, improving model predictiveness, and supporting the development of next-generation antiparasitic therapies and interventions, including drugs and vaccines.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.