• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.1235-1240
• /
• 2012

Background: Opisthorchis viverrini infection is a serious public-health problem in Southeast Asia. It is associated with a number of hepatobiliary diseases and the evidence strongly indicates that liver fluke infection is the etiology of cholangiocarcinoma. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate Opisthorchis viverrini metacercarial infection in cyprinoid fish collected from 32 districts of Nakhon Ratchasima province, Northeastern Thailand during one year period from February 2010 to February 2011. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, data being collected with pepsin-HCl digestion and stereomicroscope, respectively. Analysis was performed using SPSS Windows Version 12.0. Results: A total of 640 Cyprinidae family fish including 5 species were collected from different study sites, and investigated for O. viverrini metacercariae. The infection rate was 12.3% (79/640), predominantly in Cyclocheilichthys armatus, C. repasson, Puntioplites proctzysron, Hampala macrolepitota and Hampala dispar, respectively. The prevalence of O. viverrini metaceria in Nakhon Ratchasima area was 78.1%, predominantly in Sida and KiaKham Thale So. Conclusion: This findings stress that natural fish species in rural communities are still a source of O viverrini infection and put local people at risk, therefore public awareness and prevention campaigns are urgently required.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.57 no.1
• /
• pp.49-53
• /
• 2019

Contaminated liver fluke egg in the environment has led to the high prevalence of human opisthorchiasis associated with cholangiocarcinoma in Southeast Asia. To find the effective lessening methods of Opisthorchis viverrini eggs in the contaminated environment, we investigated the temperature conditions for killing of these trematode eggs in vitro. Numerous O. viverrini eggs were obtained in the proximal part of uteri of adult worms from experimental hamsters. Mature eggs with miracidium were allocated by experimental groups (2 control: positive and negative and 4 treatment: 50, 60, 70, and $80^{\circ}C$) with 0.85% saline, and treated by the experimental plan. Eggs in each experimental groups were observed under the confocal microscope after stain with Propidium Iodide (PI) to evaluate the effect of temperatures. Eggs in 70 and $80^{\circ}C$ groups were all killed after over 10 min heated. Majority of eggs in $60^{\circ}C$ (10, 15, and 30 min heated), 70 and $80^{\circ}C$ (5 min heated) groups were inactivated. However in $50^{\circ}C$ group, below half of eggs were to be killed in all time lapse (10, 15 and 30 min). In order to prevent O. viverrini infection and cholangiocarcinoma, direct treatment of sewage by heating at 70 or $80^{\circ}C$ at least 10 min is essential. Therefore, treatment of O. viverrini eggs at a high temperature is a potential method for controlling egg contamination in sewage.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.55 no.3
• /
• pp.295-304
• /
• 2017

Opisthorchis viverrini infection induces chronic inflammation, and a minor proportion of infected individuals develop advanced periductal fibrosis (APF) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Inflammatory cytokines and/or their gene polymorphisms may link to these biliary pathologies. We therefore investigated associations among cytokine gene polymorphisms and cytokine production in 510 Thai cases infected with O. viverrini who presented with APF+ or APF-, as established by abdominal ultrasonography as well as in patients diagnosed with CCA. Levels of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines were determined in culture supernatants after stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with O. viverrini excretory-secretory (ES) products. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-6, IFN-${\gamma}$, LT-${\alpha}$, and TNF-${\alpha}$ were significantly increased in CCA patients compared with non-CCA (APF- and APF+) cases. Polymorphisms in genes encoding IL-$1{\beta}$-511C/T, IL-6-174G/C, IFN-${\gamma}$+874T/A, LT-${\alpha}$+252A/G, and TNF-${\alpha}$-308G/A were then investigated by using PCR-RFLP or allele specific-PCR (AS-PCR) analyses. In the CCA cases, LT-${\alpha}$+252A/G and TNF-${\alpha}$-308G/A heterozygous and homozygous variants showed significantly higher levels of these cytokines than the wild type. By contrast, levels of cytokines in wild type of IFN-${\gamma}$+874T/A were significantly higher than the variants in CCA cases. IFN-${\gamma}$+874T/A polymorphisms were associated with advanced periductal fibrosis, whereas IL-6-174G/C polymorphisms were associated with CCA. To our knowledge, these findings provide the first demonstration that O. viverrini infected individuals carrying several specific cytokine gene polymorphisms are susceptible to develop fibrosis and CCA.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.50 no.4
• /
• pp.391-394
• /
• 2012

The prevalence of liver and intestinal fluke infections was determined by surveying inhabitants of Hengxuan, Fusui, and Shanglin villages which were known to be endemic for liver flukes in Guangxi, China in May 2010. A total of 718 people were examined for helminth eggs by the Kato-Katz thick smear technique, ultrasonography, immunoaffinity chromatography, and DNA sequencing. The overall egg positive rate was found to be 59.6% (28.0-70.6%) that included mixed infections with liver and intestinal flukes. Cases showing higher than 20,000 eggs per gram of feces (EPG) were detected between 1.3% and 16.2%. Ultrasonographic findings exhibited overall 28.2% (72 of 255 cases) dilatation rate of the intrahepatic bile duct. Clonorchis sinensis infection was detected serologically in 88.3% (38 of 43 cases) among C. sinensis egg positive subjects by the immunoaffinity chromatography using a specific antigen for C. sinensis. For differential diagnosis of the liver and intestinal flukes, more precise PCR and nucleotide sequencing for copro-DNA were performed for 46 egg positive cases. Mixed infections with C. sinensis and Metagonimus yokogawai were detected in 8 of 46 egg positive cases, whereas 29 specimens were positive for Haplorchis taichui. Ultrasonographic findings and immunoaffinity chromatography results showed usefulness, even in a limited way, in figuring out of the liver fluke endemicity.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.37-44
• /
• 1987

As a series of systematic classification for Korean common liver fluke, Fasciola sp., karyotype was investigated by means of the modified air-drying technique and of the regular Giemsa staining. Also, C-staining method was applied for detailed karyological analysis from the germ cells of the fluke. The following is a brief summary of the leading facts gained through the experiment. 1. Korean Pasciola sp. was classified into three types based on their chromosomal complements; individuals with 20 or 30 chromosomes and with a 20/30 mosaic constitution. Worms having 30 chromosomes represent a triploid form with 3 sets of 10 basic chromosomes, while those with 20 chromosomes were diploid and mosaic individuals were 2n/3n mixoploid. 2. The frequency of the individual type calculated is as follows; 67.45% of 212 flukes examined was of diploid, 10.85%, triploid, and the rest, 21.7%, mixoploid, respectively. In many cases, two or three types were found in the peculiar bovine host while single type inhabitant was about 20% out of 52 cases. 3. The twenty chromosomes consisted of 1 pair of large metacentrics, 4 pairs of medium-sized subtelocentrics, and 5 pairs of small submetacentrics, while constitution of the thirty chromosomes was nearly interpreted as a triploid form with 3 sets of 10 basic chromosomes. The high centromeric indexes of both types are the first Pairs among all the examined, and 37.93% was of diploid and 47.93%, triploid, respectively. 4. In mixoploid individuals, constitution of the chromosomes of diploid or triploid cells was the same as that of diploid or triploid individuals. 5. All the chromosomes of the germ cells in both types showed C-band around the centromeric region and especially the chromosomes no's 3,7, and 8 showed a remarkable C-band distinguished from other chromosomes. 6. The variance for the sizes of the worms and the eggs were not parallel with three different genotypes in Korean common liver fluke.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.45-48
• /
• 2000

An enzyme analysis of the liver fluke, Clonorchis sinensis from Kimhae, Korea and from Shenyang, China was conducted using a horizontal. starch gel electrophoresis in order to elucidate their genetic relationships. A total of eight enzymes was employed from two different kinds of buffer systems. Two loci from each enzyme of aconitase and esterase (${\alpha}-Na{\;}and{\;}{\beta}-Na$) : and only one locus each from six enzymes, gluucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), ${\alpha}-glycerophosphate$ dehydrogenase (GPD), 3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (HBDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI), and phosphoglucomutase (PGM) were detected. Most of loci in two populations of C. sinensis showed homozygous monomorphic banding patterns and one of them, GPD was specific as genetic markers between two different populations. However, esterase (${\alpha}-Na$), GPD, HBDH and PGI loci showed polymorphic banding patterns. Two populations of C. sinensis were more closely clustered within the range of genetic identity value of 0.998-1.0. In summarizing the above results, two populations of C. sinensis employed in this study showed mostly monomorphic enzyme protein banding patterns, and genetic differences specific between two populations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.16
• /
• pp.6991-6996
• /
• 2015

In the past decade, the incidence and mortality rates of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) have been increasing worldwide. The relatively low responsiveness of CCA to conventional chemotherapy leads to poor overall survival. Recently, tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL or Apo2L) has emerged as the most promising anti-cancer therapeutic agent since it is able to selectively induce apoptosis of tumor cells but not normal cells. In this study, we aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of TRAIL in CCA cell lines (M213, M214 and KKU100) compared with the immortal biliary cell line, MMNK1, either alone or in combination with a subtoxic dose of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). We found that recombinant human TRAIL (rhTRAIL) was a potential agent which significantly inhibited cell proliferation and mediated caspase activities (caspases 8, 9 and 3/7) and apoptosis of CCA cells. The combined treatment of rhTRAIL and 5-FU effectively enhanced inhibition of CCA cell growth with a smaller effect on MMNK1. Our finding suggests TRAIL to be a novel anti-cancer therapeutic agent and advantage of its combination with a conventional chemotherapeutic drug for effective treatment of CCA.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.8
• /
• pp.4007-4011
• /
• 2012

Purpose: Retinoblastoma-interacting zinc finger gene (RIZ1) is a tumor suppressor gene which is highly inactivated by promoter hypermethylation in patients with liver fluke-related cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Epigenetic aberration of this gene might withdraw the ability to restrain tumor cell proliferation and migration. We aimed to define the role of RIZ1 on cell proliferation and migration in CCA cell line. Materials and methods: Small interference RNA (siRNA) was used to knock down the expression of RIZ1 in a CCA-derived cell line in which cell proliferation and cell migration were performed. Results: A predominant nuclear localization of RIZ1 was observed. Reduction of RIZ1 by siRNA augmented cell proliferation and migration. Conclusion: The result suggested that RIZ1 might play a role in regulating cell proliferation and migration in CCA. Reduction of RIZ1 expression may aggravate the progression of CCA.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.57 no.6
• /
• pp.601-605
• /
• 2019

As we learn more about parasites in ancient civilizations, data becomes available that can be used to see how infection may change over time. The aim of this study is to assess how common certain intestinal parasites were in China and Korea in the past 2000 years, and make comparisons with prevalence data from the 20th century. This allows us to go on to investigate how and why changes in parasite prevalence may have occurred at different times. Here we show that Chinese liver fluke (Clonorchis sinensis) dropped markedly in prevalence in both Korea and China earlier than did roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides) and whipworm (Trichuris trichiura). We use historical evidence to determine why this was the case, exploring the role of developing sanitation infrastructure, changing use of human feces as crop fertilizer, development of chemical fertilizers, snail control programs, changing dietary preferences, and governmental public health campaigns during the 20th century.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.239-252
• /
• 1997

A questionnaire survey including stool examination for the parasite ova, skin test, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of the liver fluke to find the factors related with the prevalence of the parasite infestation was done toward 118 residents living in three villages of Song-jung, Yi-jung, and Chim-gok of Okok-myun, Goksung County, South Cholla Province. The results are as follows : 1. The prevalence of Clonorchis sinensis ova by the stool examination was 46.6%. The sensitivity and specificity of skin test to egg-positive cases were 63.5% and 68.9%. The sensitivity and specificity of ELISA to egg-positive clonorchiasis were 100% and 34.9%. 2. The prevalence of Clonchiasis was higher in male than in female. 45~64 year old group was the highest among age groups, and the longer the duration of living in the present residence was, the higher the prevalence was shown statistically significantly (p<0.01). 3. The present drinker had higher prevalence of Clonorchiasis significantly than the past drinker or non-drinker, and the more the frequency of drinking the higher the prevalence was shown significantly (p<0.05). 4. Those who took raw fish had significantly higher than persons who didn't take it or take cooked fish(p<0.05) and prevalence showed the tendency to be increased as the frequency to take raw fishes increased significantly(p<0.05). 5. Those who had taken a raw sweet fish(Plecoglossus altivelis) or snake-headed fish(Ophicephalus argus) showed significantly higher prevalence of infection with liver fluke than persons who didn't take the raw fish. 6. While 56.4% of persons infected with Clonorchiasis answered that they were healthy, only 13.0% of the subjects were careful for their health, and 41.8% experienced tests to diagnose liver flukes before they were examined by this survey. 7. While 56.4% of infected persons thought the prevalence was high in their community, 54.0% were afraid to be infected, 47.1% thought the infection might destroy their health, 25.5% took treatment drugs, and 18.2% took raw fish continuously after treatment. The above results confirmed that Goksung area was highly prevalent in Clonorchiasis, so it was necessary to push effective preventive program against liver fluke infection together with the program to diagnose and treat existing infected persons.