Host dietary starch and Moniliformis (Acanthocephala) in growing rats

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Abstract
During the course of three experiments, groups of male weanling rats were allowed to feed ad libitum on isoenergetic diets containing 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4% starch. The growth of rats, which were infected with either 20 or 40 cystacanths of Moniliformis dubius, was compared with the growth of similar uninfected rats which had been fed on the same diet. No differences could be detected between the uninfected and infected rats for a given diet apart from the lowered liver glycogen of the infected rats which had consumed the diet containing most starch during one of the experiments. Under the experimental conditions used, the growth of both the host and the parasite appeared to be closely related to the amount of starch ingested by the host. Thus, the results may be interpreted as demonstrating that the presence of a suitable source and quantity of available glucose in the diet of the rat is important for the growth of Moniliformis.