In vitro cultivation of the third and fourth stage larvae of Angiostrongylus cantonensis.

The third and fourth stage larvae of Angiostrongylus cantonensis were cultured in various media. When the third stage larvae were cultured in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 20% fetal calf serum for four weeks, about 30% developed to the late third stage. On the other hand, when the fourth stage larvae recovered from rat brains were cultured in Waymouth's chemically defined medium (MB 752/1) for one week, the worms grew rapidly and 74% developed into young adults. The mean body length of the worms in Waymouth's medium showed a 1.4-fold increase in size compared with that before culture.