Publisher Summary This chapter describes the biology of pentastomids and several of the most important deficiencies are outlined. Pentastomids, otherwise known as linguatulids or tongueworms, are a relatively neglected and poorly understood class of endoparasites, which occupy a unique position among invertebrates in that, as adults, they are entirely restricted to the respiratory tract of vertebrates: the majority of species grow to maturity in the lungs. About 90% of species infect reptiles, and it is probable that they have been associated with these hosts since the Mesozoic. Despite this long period for potential adaptive radiation, the basic body design is remarkably conservative, and pentastomids comprise a homogeneous and distinctive systematic assemblage of about 100 species. All possess a vermiform, often conspicuously annulated abdomen, usually strongly united with a rounded cephalothorax, which bears, on its ventral surface, a small sucking mouth flanked by two pairs of hooks. Pentastomids, in common with other parasites, are regulators of host populations and many of the species recovered from zoo autopsies. In some cases, host death is directly or indirectly attributable to a pentastomid infection.

The Biology of Pentastomids

Passive transfer experiments showed that 76% of the resistance induced in CBA/Ca mice by exposure to radiation-attenuated cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni could be transferred to naive recipients by administration of donor serum. The level of protection achieved depended on the volume of serum administered and immunity was demonstrated most consistently with serum harvested from thrice vaccinated donors. The serum was twice as effective when given to the recipients at the time of cercarial challenge as compared to administration 5 days after challenge, a result which indicates that serum-dependent challenge elimination is probably accomplished in the cutaneous tissues. This view was confirmed by the observation that passive protection could be ablated by administration of a monoclonal antibody which we have shown elsewhere to deplete the cutaneous inflammatory reaction to cercarial penetration. Histopathological studies revealed that vaccine serum induced subdermal inflammatory reactions in challenged recipient mice which were identical both in induration and kinetics to those seen in conventionally vaccinated individuals; on days 4 and 5 post-challenge, the reactions comprised 60% mononuclear cells and 40% eosinophils. Challenge larvae, which had transformed from skin-stage to lung-stage parasites, became trapped within such reactions and eventually showed generalized vacuolation consistent with the onset of damage. Some foci were seen to contain degenerated leucocytes, free eosinophil granules and debris which is thought to represent the remnants of dead parasites. Small focal reactions were identified on occasion in naive challenged mice and in recipients of normal mouse serum, but these reactions comprised predominantly mononuclear cells and were rarely seen to encompass challenge parasites. These data show that serum-transferred resistance in the vaccinated CBA/Ca mouse model involves the induction of a cutaneous inflammatory response in the recipients.

Serum from CBA/Ca mice vaccinated with irradiated cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni protects naive recipients through the recruitment of cutaneous effector cells

Pentastomiasis: case report of an acute abdominal emergency.

Pentastomiasis and malignancy.

Egg production by Reighardia sternae , implanted at various stages of maturity into the interclavicular air sacs of captive gulls, is described. Females produce only 2900 eggs per lifetime over a short patent period of 1–3 days. The problem of a direct life-cycle in relation to this unusually low fecundity is discussed, and speculation is advanced concerning a possible parasitic behavioural trait which could facilitate direct transmission. The hazards of the latter are also offset by auto-reinfection.

Some observations on egg production and autoreinfection of Reighardia sternae (Diesing, 1864), a pentastomid parasite of the herring gull.

Porocephaliasis in man and experimental mice.

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Porocephaliasis in man and experimental mice.