Ultrastructural Changes in Litomosoides carinii Microfilariae in Gerbils Treated with Diethylcarbamazine

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Abstract
Ultrastructural changes in L. carinii microfilariae in the liver of gerbils following treatment with diethylcarbamazine are described. At 20 min. posttreatment some of the microfilarlae were freely circulating in the sinusoids and others were localized within hepatic cells. Neither group of microfilariae had visible sheaths. By 4 hr., the extracellular unsheathed microfilarlae were undergoing lysis in the sinusoids and in paren-chymal inflammatory foci, where they were phagocytized by Kupffer cells and neutrophils. The sequence of events supports the concept that the drug exerts its effect on microfilariae through a process of lysis, perhaps through loss of the sheath, with subsequent removal by phagocytosis. Intracellular microfilariae appeared normal except for loss of the sheath and apparently escaped phagocytosis. These viable organisms could possibly be considered a source of continued infection.