• Title/Summary/Keyword: Parasite

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Confusing a Pollen Grain with a Parasite Egg: an Appraisal of "Paleoparasitological Evidence of Pinworm (Enterobius Vermicularis) Infection in a Female Adolescent Residing in Ancient Tehran"

  • Camacho, Morgana;Reinhard, Karl J.
    • Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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    • v.57 no.6
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    • pp.621-625
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    • 2019
  • There is often the risk of confusing pollen grains with helminth eggs from archaeological sites. Thousands to millions of pollen grains can be recovered from archaeological burial sediments that represent past ritual, medication and environment. Some pollen grain types can be similar to parasite eggs. Such a confusion is represented by the diagnosis of enterobiasis in ancient Iran. The authors of this study confused a joint-pine (Ephedra spp.) pollen grain with a pinworm egg. This paper describes the specific Ephedra pollen morphology that can be confused with pinworm eggs.

Parartotrogus minutus n. sp. (Copepoda, Siphonostomatoida, Cancerillidae) Parasitic on the Brittle Star Ophiuroglypha kinbergi (Echinodermata) from the Yellow Sea Coast of Korea

  • Kim, Il-Hoi
    • Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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    • v.38 no.4
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    • pp.157-161
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    • 2022
  • Parartotrogus minutus n. sp. is described as a parasite of the brittle star Ophiuroglypha kinbergi (Ljungman) from the intertidal zone on the Yellow Sea coast of Korea. The new species is characterized by a combination of morphological features that the body is small, less than 0.5 mm long, the caudal ramus is 1.73 times longer than wide, leg 3 bears three-segmented rami, and the exopod of leg 5 is armed with two setae. The new species is the third known species in the genus, following P. richardi Scott T. and Scott, A., 1893 known from European waters and P. arcticus Scott T., 1901 known from both North Atlantic and North Pacific.

Status of intestinal parasite infections among children in Bat Dambang, Cambodia

  • Park, Seung-Kyu;Kim, Dong-Heui;Deung, Young-Kun;Kim, Hun-Joo;Yang, Eun-Ju;Lim, Soo-Jung;Ryang, Yong-Suk;Jin, Dan;Lee, Kyu-Jae
    • Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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    • v.42 no.4
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    • pp.201-203
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    • 2004
  • A survey was conducted to determine the extent of intestinal parasite infection in Bat Dambang, Cambodia in March 2004. A total of 623 fecal specimens was collected from kindergarten and schoolchildren and examined using the formalin-ether sedimentation technique. The overall infection rate of intestinal parasites was 25.7% (boys, 26.2%; girls, 25.1%), and the infection rates of intestinal helminthes by species were as follows: Echinostoma sp. 4.8%, hookworm 3.4%, Hymenolepis nana 1.3%, and Rhabditis sp. 1.3%. The infection rates of intestinal protozoa were; Entamoeba coli 4.8%, Giardia lamblia 2.9%, Iodamoeba butschlii 1.4%, Entamoeba polecki 1.1 %, and Entamoeba histolytica 0.8%. There were no egg positive cases of Ascaris lumbricoides or Trichuris trichiura. All children infected were treated with albendazole, praziquantel, or metronidazole according to parasite species. The results showed that intestinal parasites are highly endemic in Bat Dambang, Cambodia.

Protective Role of Purified Cysteine Proteinases against $Fasciola$ $gigantica$ Infection in Experimental Animals

  • EL-Ahwany, Eman;Rabia, Ibrahim;Nagy, Faten;Zoheiry, Mona;Diab, Tarek;Zada, Suher
    • Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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    • v.50 no.1
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    • pp.45-51
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    • 2012
  • Fascioliasis is one of the public health problems in the world. Cysteine proteinases (CP) released by $Fasciola$ $gigantica$ play a key role in parasite feeding, migration through host tissues, and in immune evasion. There has been some evidence from several parasite systems that proteinases might have potential as protective antigens against parasitic infections. Cysteine proteinases were purified and tested in vaccine trials of sheep infected with the liver fluke. Multiple doses (2 mg of CP in Freund's adjuvant followed by 3 booster doses 1 mg each at 4 week intervals) were injected intramuscularly into sheep 1 week prior to infect orally with 300 $F.$ $gigantica$ metacercariae. All the sheep were humanely slaughtered 12 weeks after the first immunization. Changes in the worm burden, ova count, and humoral and cellular responses were evaluated. Significant reduction was observed in the worm burden (56.9%), bile egg count (70.7%), and fecel egg count (75.2%). Immunization with CP was also found to be associated with increases of total IgG, $IgG_1$, and $IgG_2$ ($P$<0.05). Data showed that the serum cytokine levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-12, IFN-${\gamma}$, and TNF-${\alpha}$, revealed significant decreases ($P$<0.05). However, the anti-inflammatory cytokine levels, IL-10, TGF-${\beta}$, and IL-6, showed significant increases ($P$<0.05). In conclusion, it has been found that CP released by $F.$ $gigantica$ are highly important candidates for a vaccine antigen because of their role in the fluke biology and host-parasite relationships.

Animal Models for Echinostoma malayanum Infection: Worm Recovery and Some Pathology

  • Songsri, Jiraporn;Aukkanimart, Ratchadawan;Boonmars, Thidarut;Ratanasuwan, Panaratana;Laummaunwai, Porntip;Sriraj, Pranee;Sripan, Panupan
    • Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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    • v.54 no.1
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    • pp.47-53
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    • 2016
  • Echinostomes are intestinal trematodes that infect a wide range of vertebrate hosts, including humans, in their adult stage and also parasitize numerous invertebrate and cold-blooded vertebrate hosts in their larval stages. The purpose of this study was to compare Echinostoma malayanum parasite growth, including worm recovery, body size of adult worms, eggs per worm, eggs per gram of feces, and pathological changes in the small intestine of experimental animals. In this study, 6-8-week-old male hamsters, rats, mice, and gerbils were infected with echinostome metacercariae and then sacrificed at day 60 post-infection. The small intestine and feces of each infected animal were collected and then processed for analysis. The results showed that worm recovery, eggs per worm, and eggs per gram of feces from all infected hamsters were higher compared with infected rats and mice. However, in infected gerbils, no parasites were observed in the small intestine, and there were no parasite eggs in the feces. The volume of eggs per gram of feces and eggs per worm were related to parasite size. The results of histopathological changes in the small intestine of infected groups showed abnormal villi and goblet cells, as evidenced by short villi and an increase in the number and size of goblet cells compared with the normal control group.