Establishment of Hymenolepis diminuta Life Cycle to Provide Parasite Mass Production

The main object of this experimental work was to practise laboratory production both adult and the larval stage of Hymenolepis diminuta with conventional modification to make further studies easier. Adults H. diminuta were collected from urban rats in Tehran, Iran. The beetles became infected using blended gravid segments with flour as bait. Cysticercoids have been saved after precise dissection of invertebrate hosts. The exposure of infected beetles to labora­tory rats was performed to establish the life cycle. Out of 57 collected rats, three rats were infected with H. diminuta. Almost all exposed beetles found infected with the larval stage of parasite. About one-month later H. diminuta eggs were seen in stool examination of laboratory rats. Rare human occurrence of H. diminuta along with light level of clinical manifesta­tion of this parasite, underestimate the concerns toward its public health importance. Nowadays, various field of studies, such as biochemistry with special focuses on the capability of H. di­minuta tegument absorption have performed apart from parasitological views alone. In the pre­sent study, establishment of this parasite life cycle has practically provided the access of adult and cysticercoid stages of the tapeworm in further researches.