Early detection of Trichinella spiralis infection by the polymerase chain reaction in blood samples of experimentally infected mice.

Up to now, there is no useful method to diagnose trichinellosis at the early stages of infection. The aim of the present investigation was to know if the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), could detect DNA of migratory larvae in mice experimentally infected with T. spiralis. Thirty-three Balb/c female mice 4.6 weeks old, were infected with 300 larvae of T. spiralis/mouse. Blood samples of these animals were positive for T. spiralis at 3rd and 17th post-infection days. The control group was negative. PCR could detect from one to 200 larvae. Our results showed that it was possible to make early diagnosis of trichinellosis in blood of mice infected with T. spiralis.