Gamma camera scintigraphy for direct visualization of larval migration in Strongyloides stercoralis-infected dogs

Gamma camera scintigraphy of dogs infected with radiolabeled third-stage larvae of Strongyloides stercoralis was successful for visualizing larval migration in a live host. Ten-day-old pups were infected subcutaneously in a lateral inguinal site with 100,000 75Se-selenomethionine-labeled third-stage S. stercoralis and imaged serially using a clinical gamma camera during the prepatent period. Radioactivity corresponding to the larval inoculum was visualized at the infection site immediately after injection. Radioactivity spread diffusely, corresponding to radial dispersal of larvae from the infection site. The majority of the radioactivity concentrated over or through the abdomen from 48 to 144 hr after infection. Larvae arrived in the small intestine in numbers adequate for visualization beginning at 114 hr after infection. At no time was there concentration of radioactivity associated with the lungs of an infected pup. A control pup injected only with 75Se-selenomethionine showed uniform activity diffusely throughout the entire body at all times. We concluded that the majority of larvae moved to the gut by means other than the pulmonary route.