OPISTHORCHIASIS: SELECTION OF AN EXPERIMENTAL MODEL FOR MORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES

The current article assesses morphological, genetic changes, early diagnosis and treatment of opisthorchiasis, differentanimal species as a model in the experiment. The main standard is golden hamsters, but studies have also been conducted inother rodent species such as mice, rats, and cats. Morphological changes in small animals may acquire a different quality dueto the difference in the size of anatomical structures and the size of the parasite's marita. The aim of the study was to assess thesuitability of rodents (Oryctolagus cuniculus) compared to golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) as an animal models. Thestudy conducts a comparative analysis of clinical manifestations and histological changes in the liver of rabbits (n=16) andgolden hamsters at an invasive dose of 50 metacercariae of Opisthorchis felineus. Clinical signs of invasion in animals wereevaluated within 1 month after infection, after 35 days the animals were removed from the experiment and histological livermaterial was obtained. Histological preparations were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and studied by light microscopy. By day30, the clinical picture in rabbits, unlike golden hamsters, was characterized by a disturbance in the pigmentation of the coat,pallor of the mucous membranes, erosive-vesicular skin lesions without alopecia. The babbits had a weight loss of 12.5-14.28%, while the golden hamsters had a weight gain. The lesion of the organ of vision in rabbits manifested itself as angularfollicular conjunctivitis. The presence of unmotivated aggressive behavior was noted in both animal species. Morphologicalchanges were similar in the expansion of the biliary tract, metaplasia and infiltration of the epithelium of the bile ducts and theproliferation of adenomatous structures; unlike golden hamsters, the rabbits also demonstrated the presence of mosaic changes,infiltration of interlobular connective tissue. In both species, hepatocyte dystrophy occurred; however, in the rabbits, thesechanges were uneven and were not accompanied by necrosis. The rabbit can be considered a suitable and more sensitiveanimal model for the formation of opisthorchiasis in the experiment.