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Updated: Aug 21, 2026

Mass Isolation and In Vitro Cultivation of Intramolluscan Stages of the Human Blood Fluke Schistosoma Mansoni
Published on: January 14, 2018
Immune mechanisms in trematode-snail interactions
1Laboratory of Medical Parasitology, Free University, PO Box 7161, 1007MC Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Digenetic trematodes, including several species of medical and veterinary significance, nearly all depend on molluscs (usually gastropods) as hosts for asexual reproduction. The molluscan internal defence system, although lacking many of the familiar features of the vertebrate immune system, may pose a substantial obstacle to digenean development. In this article, Wil van der Knaap and Eric Loker discuss the manner in which this system is mobilized to kill larval trematodes and the real and putative mechanisms of digenean evasion of molluscan immune responses. These two possible outcomes of trematode-snail associations make them intriguing model systems for exploring processes of parasite infectivity and host resistance.
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