Mucosal mast cells in Sprague-Dawley rats infected with Hymenolepis diminuta tapeworms.

Six-week-old Sprague-Dawley female rats each infected with 40 Hymenolepis diminuta cysts showed increased mastocytosis from day 30 post-infection (p.i.) to day 47 p.i. Rats treated on day 40 p.i. with anthelmintic and autopsied 22 days later showed reduced mucosal mast cell (MMC) counts. Other infected rats, treated with anthelmintic on day 40, challenged with a 10 cysticercoid infection on day 47 and subsequently autopsied between day 8 and 19 post-challenge, maintained a high MMC count. Age of rats in this experiment was not a factor in mastocytosis.