The Distribution and Persistence of Hookworm Larvae in the Tissues of Mice in Relation to Species and to Routes of Inoculation

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Abstract
Mice were inoculated with larvae of Ancylostoma caninum. Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus via the skin, buccal mucosa and the stomach. Using 500 larvae for each mouse, groups of 7 were inoculated with each of the 3 species and by each of the 3 methods. One mouse from each of the 9 groups was sacrificed at intervals up to 66 days after inoculation. Using a combination of peptic digestion and Baermann isolation, as many or more larvae of all 3 species were recovered from the tissues after inoculation via buccal mucosa or stomach as via skin. In A. caninum most of the larvae promptly migrated into the muscles and about 10% persisted without growth for 66 days. The larvae of A. duodenale behaved similarly but they were also found in the viscera up to 36 days and their numbers were reduced more rapidly, reaching 1 to 2% of the inoculated number in 66 days. N. americanus larvae on the other hand underwent rapid growth, were found in the lungs and liver to a large extent, and disappeared rapidly from the tissues after 6 days. In the intestinal tissues and contents only the Ancylostoma species were found and those were in negligible numbers except at 6 days after buccal or stomach inoculation.