Fifteen Mongolian gerbils were inoculated with 10 × 106 viable trophozoites of Giardia intestinalis. Their faeces were examined daily by flotation method and the number of shed cysts was counted. Two animals (male and female) were euthanised at 4- to 5-day intervals (9, 14, 18 days post-infection (DPI)). The remaining nine gerbils were sacrificed and dissected at the end of the experiment (23 DPI). Their small intestinal tissues were processed for examination using histological sectioning and scanning electron microscopy and their complete blood count (CBC) was examined. The highest number of trophozoites at the total was observed in the duodenum in gerbils sacrificed on 14 DPI. Number of shed cysts was positively correlated with number of trophozoites rinsed from the intestine. Infected gerbils had lower body weight gain in comparison with control group and in three male gerbils; diarrhoea occurred during infection. Cyst shedding was negatively correlated with values of mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration. Females showed another pattern in cyst shedding than males. This information needs to be taken into account while planning the experiments.

• Keywords
• Gerbil model, Giardia intestinalis, Giardial intestinal distribution, Giardiasis,
• MeSH
• Duodenum parasitology   pathology   MeSH
• Feces parasitology   MeSH
• Gerbillinae * parasitology   MeSH
• Giardia lamblia growth & development   physiology   MeSH
• Giardiasis parasitology   pathology   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Microscopy, Electron, Scanning MeSH
• Disease Models, Animal MeSH
• Trophozoites growth & development   physiology   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH