Echinostomes as Experimental Models for Biological Research

Echinostomes are ubiquitous intestinal flatworm parasites of vertebrates and are of importance in human and veterinary medicine and wildlife diseases. Echinostomes can be maintained easily and inexpensively in the laboratory and provide good models for biological research ranging from the molecular to the organismal. Considerable but scattered literature has been published on the subject of echinostomes and a synthesis of this wide range of topics has now been achieved with the publication of this book, which presents a wide range of topics in experimental biology related to the use of echinostomes as laboratory models. It will have a special appeal to advanced undergraduates and graduate students in parasitology and should also appeal to professional parasitologists, physicians, veterinarians, wildlife disease biologists, and any biomedical scientists interested in new model systems for studies in experimental biology.

1. An Overview of the Biology of Echinostomes.- 2. The Systematics of the Echinostomes.- 3. Echinostomes in Veterinary and Wildlife Parasitology.- 4. Human Echinostomiasis: Mechanisms of Pathogenesis and Host Resistance.- 5. Maintenance, Cultivation, and Excystation of Echinostomes.- 6. Ultrastructural Studies on Echinostomes.- 7. Reproductive Physiology and Behavior of Echinostomes.- 8. Immunobiology of the Relationship of Echinostomes with Snail Intermediate Hosts.- 9. The Behavioral Biology of Echinostomes.- 10. Physiology and Biochemistry of Echinostomes.- 11. Neuromusculature - Structure and Functional Correlates.- 12. Immunobiology and Immunodiagnosis of Echinostomiasis.- 13. Molecular Biology of Echinostomes.