Survivability of Kudoa septempunctata in human intestinal conditions.

To elucidate whether Kudoa septempunctata was able to live in the human intestine, we assessed viability of K. septempunctata sporoplasms under conditions that mimicked human and ragworm digestive tracts. To study the effect of osmotic pressure on viability, sporoplasms were incubated in 0.9 or 3.4 % sodium chloride solutions, which roughly corresponded to the osmotic pressure in human or ragworm tissues, respectively. While viability in 3.4 % sodium chloride did not change after 72 h, it dropped to 21 % in 0.9 % sodium chloride. To study the effect of temperature on viability, sporoplasms were incubated at 37, 15, or 25 °C, which were representative of human, winter ragworm, or summer ragworm temperatures, respectively. Viability decreased sharply to 8.4 % after 48 h at 37 °C, but remained essentially unchanged at 15 and 25 °C. In addition, sporoplasms showed strong susceptibility to bile. These results indicate that K. septempunctata could not live in the human intestine for a long time.