Immunocompetent rabbits infected with Cryptosporidium cuniculus as an animal model for anti-cryptosporidial drug testing

Chunxia Lu; Xianyong Liu; Jie Liu; Xinming Tang; Guan Zhu; Boris Striepen; Xun Suo

doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2021.10.006

Immunocompetent rabbits infected with Cryptosporidium cuniculus as an animal model for anti-cryptosporidial drug testing

Int J Parasitol. 2022 Mar;52(4):205-210. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2021.10.006. Epub 2021 Nov 10.

Authors

Chunxia Lu¹, Xianyong Liu¹, Jie Liu¹, Xinming Tang², Guan Zhu³, Boris Striepen⁴, Xun Suo⁵

Affiliations

¹ National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
² Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.
³ Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
⁴ Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
⁵ National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. Electronic address: suoxun@cau.edu.cn.

PMID: 34774541
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2021.10.006

Abstract

Cryptosporidium is one of the leading causes of diarrheal disease in humans and animals, which can be severe and deadly in neonates and immunocompromised hosts. Studies on the biology of Cryptosporidium and drug discovery efforts have been hindered by a number of factors including the limited availability of animal models. Here, we report the establishment and characterization of an immunocompetent rabbit model for infection with Cryptosporidium cuniculus. By testing four known anti-cryptosporidial compounds (nitazoxanide, baicalein, curcumin and matrine), we showed that the rabbit could be used as an alternative animal model for evaluating anti-cryptosporidial drug efficacy in vivo.

Keywords: Animal model; Cryptosporidiosis; Cryptosporidium cuniculus; Drug efficacy.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Cryptosporidiosis* / drug therapy
Cryptosporidium*
Cuniculidae*
Diarrhea / drug therapy
Disease Models, Animal
Rabbits