The In vitro Development of Microfilariae of the Dog Heartworm Dirofilaria immitis to the "Sausage-Form"

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Abstract
The microfilariae of Dirofilaria immitis were cultured to the late first-stage (sausage-form) at 270C and at room temperature. Development was obtained by incubating heparinized blood containing microfilariae derived from three naturally infected and three experimentally infected dogs. Similarly, development occurred when the organisms were isolated from dog blood and incubated in human and rabbit blood and in medium consisting of dog blood cells suspended in Locke''s saline. Survival for several weeks without development occurred in dog plasma and horse serum. In medium NCTC 109 the yield of developing parasites per culture varied with differences in serum concentration, the use of heated and unheated serum, and with different serum pools. Small numbers of white blood cells present in cultures containing medium 109 were subsequently eliminated and comparable development was obtained in cell-free media.
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