• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.57-66
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• 1989

A scanning electron microscopic study was performed to observe the tegumental ultrastructures of Paragonimus iloktuenensis according to its developmental stages. The metacercariae were obtained from the liver of the brackish water crab, Sesarma dehaani. Juvenile and adult p. iloktsuenensis were recovered from the experimental rats on 2, 4 and 8 weeks after infection. The findings were summarized as follows: 1. The encysted metacercariae were charaeteristically gourd-shape, with their whole body surface beset with numerous spade-shape spines. The Barge, type II sensory papillae (non-ciliated round swellings) were arranged along the rim of the oral and ventral suckers, 11~12 and 6~8 in numbers respectively, 2. Two-week old juvenile worms, recovered chieay from the liver of the experimental rats, were slender in body shape: with their ventral sucker near the anterior one-third level. The distribution of tegumental spines was less dense than in the encysted metacercariae. The spines were with 1~2 pointed tips and 3~.4 longitudinal splits. Numerous ciliated knob-like, type I papillae were observed in both sides of the oral sucker, and 6 large, type If papillae were arranged along the rim of the ventral sucker. 3. Four week old worms, recovered from the thoracic cavity and/or lung parenchyme of the experimental rats, were thicker than wide in body configuration, and their ventral sucker was located near the anterior one.fourth level. The tegumental spines at ventral surface were grouped, each group with 3~5 aggregated ones. The type I and type II papillae (small-sired) were distributed chiefly around the rim of two suckers. 4. Adult (eight-week old) worms, recovered from the capsules in the lung parenchyme, were very stout, and covered densely with bearfoot like spines. At dorsal surface, cobblestone-like cytoplasmic processes were well-developed, with many tegumental spines embedded in them. It was observed in this study that the tegument of p. iloktsuenensis continued to change and differentiate as the worms grew to be adults.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.397-402
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• 1991

Paragonimus westermani is a common fluke in Korea. The present study aimed to determine serum total IgE and specific IgG levels in experimental paragonimiasis of rats. Each Wistar rat was inoculated orally with 20~25 metacercariae of P. westermani from Cambaroides similis. Before and after infection(1,2,3,4,6,8 weeks) of P. westermani, the blood was collected from the retro- orbital venous plexus of rats and kept serum at $-70^{\circ}C$. Serum total IgE and specific IgG levels were determined by the capture and conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. The results were as follows; 1. Serum IgE values were increased to 0. 18${\pm}$0.042 at 2 weeks, $0.28{\pm}0.151$ at 4 weeks and 0.43${\pm}0.055$ at 8 weeks after infection. The absorbances of non-infected rats ranged $0.07{\pm}0.021~0.12{\pm}0.025$. 2. Specific IgG values were slightly increased at 3 weeks ($0.20{\pm}$0.032) and gradually increased up to 8 weeks($0.31{\pm}0.067$) after infection. The absorbances of non-infected rats ranged $0.11{\pm}0.035~0.18{\pm}0.019$. The present results suggested that p. westermani could elevate serum IgE and specific IgG antibodies in Wistar rats which were not a good definitive host.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.103-108
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• 1992

Pulmonary paragonimiasis is the infectious disease of lung, due to 'Paragonimus westermani'. The clinical manifestations are various, and the main symptoms are chronic cough and persistent hemoptysis. Radiological findings mainly include thin walled cyst, migrating patch pulmonary infiltration, transient linear shadow, and hydropneumothorax, etc. The differential diagnosis should include pulmonary tuberculosis, pneumonia, other parasitic diseases, and rarely lung malignancy if the mass-like lesion is present. Recently, the incidence of paragonimiasis is very low. But the physicians should suspect paragonimus infection, if the patient has chronic respiratory symptom such as hemoptysis and lives in the endemic area such as Korea. A case of pulmonary paragonimiasis confirmed by histological basis of lung was presented with a review of the literature.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.69-72
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• 2011

Pulmonary paragonimiasis is a relatively rare cause of lung disease revealing a wide variety of radiologic findings, such as air-space consolidation, nodules, and cysts. We describe here a case of pulmonary paragonimiasis in a 27-year-old woman who presented with a 2-month history of cough and sputum. Based on chest computed tomography (CT) scans and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) findings, the patient was suspected to have a metastatic lung tumor. However, she was diagnosed as having Paragonimus westermani infection by an immunoserological examination using ELISA. Follow-up chest X-ray and CT scans after chemotherapy with praziquantel showed an obvious improvement. There have been several reported cases of pulmonary paragonimiasis mimicking lung tumors on FDG-PET. However, all of them were suspected as primary lung tumors. To our knowledge, this patient represents the first case of paragonimiasis mimicking metastatic lung disease on FDG-PET CT imaging.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.225-227
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• 1989

This study was performed to observe the recent infection status of Sesarma dehaani with the metacercariae of p. itoktsuenensis in the well-known cnzootic focus, Sumjin river delta. A total of 74 Sesarma dehaani were collected from a focus near the mouth of the Sumjin river in November, 1986 and February, 1987. The crabs were examined for P. iloktsuenensis metacercariae by the method of Seo and Kwak(1972). The metacercariae of p. iloktsuenensis were found in the liver of the crabs. Among the 74 crabs examined, 47(63.5%) were found infected with 1∼102 metacercariae(18.2 per crab). The infection rate and metacercarial density increased as the sixte of the crab was increased. From the results, it is suggested that the life cycle of p. ilokssuenensis is actively maintained in the Sumjin river basin.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.185-190
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• 1996

The TH cytokine responses of spleen cells stimulated with Con A from mice infected with Polasonimw westemcni were examined. The spleen cell culture supema- tants were assayed for TH1-specific $IFN-{\gamma}$ and TH2-specific IL-4. Cytokine responses for IL-4 peaked at three days ($410{\;}{\pm}{\;}60.9{\;}pg/ml$), persisted at a high level until the second week ($343{\;}{\pm}{\;}59.0{\;}pg/ml$), and then decreased slowly four and six weeks after infection. $IFN-{\gamma}$ production by splenocytes only increased during the first week ($151{\;}{\pm}{\;}32.3{\;}pg/ml$) and declined abruptly after the second week of infection. IFN- y production by splenocytes of infected mice was not observed during the sixth week of infection. In addition, serum IL-4 and $IFN-{\gamma}$ were measured. Serum IL-4 was not detected in substantial quantity until four to six weeks after infection. The time course of serum IL-4 was not correlated with that of IL-4 production by splenocytes. Serum $IFN-{\gamma}$ was undetectable during the entire course of infection. These results suggest that TH2 cytokine responses, rather than TH1, predominate in mice infected with P. westemcni.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.67 no.6
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• pp.512-516
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• 2009

Background: Pulmonary paragonimiasis is a subacute to chronic inflammatory disease of the lung caused by lung flukes that result in prolonged inflammation and mechanical injury to the bronchi. However, there are few reports on the bronchoscopic findings of pulmonary paragonimiasis. This report describes the bronchoscopic findings of pulmonary paragonimiasis. Methods: The bronchosocpic findings of 30 patients (20 males, median age 50 years) with pulmonary paragonimiasis between May 1995 and December 2007 were reviewed retrospectively. Results: The diagnoses were based on a positive serologic test results for Paragonimus-specific antibodies in 13 patients (43%), or the detection of Paragonimus eggs in the sputum, bronchial washing fluid, or lung biopsy specimens in 17 patients (57%). The bronchoscopic examinations revealed endobronchial lesions in 17 patients (57%), which were located within the segmental bronchi in 10 patients (59%), lobar bronchi in 6 patients (35%) and main bronchi in 1 patient (6%). The bronchoscopic characteristics of endobronchial lesions were edematous swelling of the mucosa (16/17, 94%) and mucosal nodularity (4/17, 24%), accompanied by bronchial stenosis in 16 patients (94%). Paragonimus eggs were detected in the bronchial washing fluid of 9 out of the 17 patients with endobronchial lesions. The bronchial mucosal biopsy specimens showed evidence of chronic inflammation with eosinophilic infiltration in 6 out of 11 patients (55%). However, no adult fluke or ova were found in the bronchial tissue. Conclusion: Bronchial stenosis with mucosal changes including edematous swelling and mucosal nodularity is the most common bronchoscopic finding of pulmonary paragonimiasis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.91-100
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• 1992

Tissue origin of individual component proteins in crude extract of adult Paragonimus westermani was investigated. Major soluble component proteins were separated by disc-PAGE in 8% slab gel. By predefined Rf values, strips of gel containing each band protein was cut out. Each band protein was eluted by electrophoresis. Monospecific antibodies were prepared by immunizing rabbits with each band protein. When peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) staining was done, antiserum to Band 1 reacted to content of eggs both in the worm and in the infected lung tissue. Antiserum to Band 2 reacted to parenchymal tissue of the worm. Antiserum to Band 4 showed the positive reaction at intestinal content while that to Band 5 reacted to the intestinal epithelial border. Antiserum to combined proteins of Bands 617 and that to Band 8 reacted to parenchymal tissue of the worm respectively. From the results, the origin of individual proteins in crude extract of adult P. westermani could be differentiated.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.207-212
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• 1990

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) of paragonimiasis iloktsuenensis rat sera was performed using crude antigens of Paragonimus iloktsuenensis(PIA), P. westermani (PWA) and Clonorchis sinensis(CSA). Three crude antigens(PIA, PWA, CSA) were prepared to saline homogenated supernatants of whole adult worms. Infected rat sera were obtained biweekly from the albino rats fed 50∼.80 metacercariae of P. iloktsuenensis through gastric catheter. Experimental groups were divided into 4 groups: GI(controls), GII, GIII and GIV according to 1∼7 worms as GII, 10∼19 worms as GIII and 22∼40 worms as GIV, respectively, In ELISA, the mean OD values of each group for the homologous antigen(PIA) were increased significantly compared to the control sera at the 4th week of infection. With the progress of duration of infection, the mean OD values of infected sera of GII & GIV continuously increased up to the 12th week(last week), but in GIII the mean OD value increased until the loth week. No significance was noted among the infection dose groups (GII, GIII and GIV), after the 6th week of infection. Also, the OD values of all infected rats did not show any Proportional relytionships to the number of worms recovered. In brief, the antibody productivity of individual rats were strongly different. The rat sera infected with p. iloktsuenensis cross-reacted with those infected with P. westermani or C. sinensis, as identified by OD values.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.119-130
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• 1989

An experimental pathological study was performed to observe the effect of prasiquantel treat- ment on the pulmonary lesions of the rat lung cuke, Paragonimus ilektsuenensis. The metacercariae were obtained from the freshwater crab, Sesarma dehaani, and 40 rats (wistar) were fed each with 10 metacercariae. On 20 rats prasiquantel treatment ($100mg/kg/day{\times}5$ days) was done at 5 weeks after the infection while remaining 20 rats were kept untreated for use as controls. The drug.treated rats and the untreated ones were sacrificed 3, 7, 14, 21 or 28 days later for the observation of lung pathology. The rats infected with P. iloktsuenensis showed remarkable pulmonary changes; gross features of hemorrhagic and nodular worm capsules protruded on to the surface of the lung, and histologically local atelectasis, inflammatory cell infiltration, and egg granuloma around the worm capsules each containing one or two worms. Praziquantel treatment of the rats was shorn to be highly effective in killing the worms and to lead them to degenerate, as early as in 3 days post-treatment. Almost all worms in the lung were dead and absorbed by the host cells in 21 days post-treatment, except a few living ones seen in a rat of 14-day post-treatment group. In most of the rats treated the pulmonary lesions showed the signs of resolution; regression of worm capsules with mummification of worms, decrease of inflammatory cell infiltration, improvement in the degree of atelectasis, and decreases in the frequency and size of the egg granuloma. From the results it is concluded that prasiquantel is highly effective for the treatment of rat P. iloktsuenensis infection in the lung, not only by its direct killing effect of the worms but also due to the excellent resolution capacity of the pulmonary tissues.