ABSTRACT
The parasite-associated gnotobiote may be seen as an ideal model to study aspects of parasitology because of the absence of an otherwise interactive, highly uncontrollable factor — the “normal” intestinal microflora. Extensive studies of the factors controlling the establishment of the parasite Trichinella spiralis have been carried out by the Polish investigator Przyjalkowski. During the 1960s R. B. Wescott had tried to establish the parasitic helminth Nematospiroides dubius in germfree (GF) mice. Vieira’s group of Brazilian workers have studied the mammalian part of the life cycle of Schistosoma mansoni in GF and CV mice after obtaining the GF cercariae from GF snails. In this case the absence of a viable microflora produced more adult worms and a higher egg recovery in the GF mice than in their CV counterparts. The GF trypomastigotes from the macerated insects were then administered to GF and CV mice.
