Table 1.
Proportions of egg viability in colon tissues of mice infected with S. japonicum and with or without PZQ treatment
| Days post-infection | Days post-treatment with PZQ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45d | 90d | 180d | 30d | 90d | 180d | ||
| Mouse numbers | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | |
| Worm burden | Mean ± SD | 17.2 ± 3.3 | 7.6 ± 1.7 | 4.5 ± 0.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| male-female worms pairs | 8.4 | 3.8 | 1.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Eggs in colon biopsies (total of 30 biopsies) |
4666 | 4840 | 4532 | 4497 | 2320 | 1587 | |
| The proportion of different types of eggs | Immature eggs (total)* |
39.4% (1840) |
19.8% (960) |
14.7% (666) |
1.1% (49) |
0 | 0 |
| Mature eggs (total)* |
51.7% (2412) |
34.0% (1644) |
20.8% (943) |
1.7% (75) |
0 | 0 | |
| Partially degraded eggs (total) | 8.9% (414) |
11.7% (568) |
18.6% (843) |
54.2% (2436) |
12.8% (296) |
11.1% (176) |
|
| Completely degraded eggs (total) | 0 | 29.6% (1433) |
35.6% (1613) |
18.8% (845) |
72.5% (2024) | 88.9% (1411) |
|
| Unknown viability type (total) |
0 | 4.9% (235) |
10.1% (467) |
27.0% (1216) |
14.7% (342) |
0 | |
* Immature eggs and mature eggs were judged to be live or viable by morphology