• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.183-186
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• 2008

Helminthic cysteine proteases are well known to play critical roles in tissue invasion, nutrient uptake, and immune evasion of the parasites. In the same manner, the sparganum, the plerocercoid of Spirometra mansoni, is also known to secrete a large amount of cysteine proteases. However, cysteine protease inhibitors regulating the proteolytic activities of the cysteine protease are poorly illustrated. In this regard, we partially purified an endogenous cysteine protease inhibitor from spargana and characterized its biochemical properties. The cysteine protease inhibitor was purified by sequential chromatographies using Resource Q anion exchanger and Superdex 200 HR gel filtration from crude extracts of spargana. The molecular weight of the purified protein was estimated to be about 11 kD on SDS-PAGE. It was able to inhibit papain and 27 kDa cysteine protease of spargana with the ratio of 25.7% and 49.1%, respectively, while did not inhibit chymotrypsin. This finding suggests that the cysteine protease inhibitor of spargana may be involved in regulation of endogenous cysteine proteases of the parasite, rather than interact with cysteine proteases from their hosts.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.153-157
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• 2021

This study reports the first two clinical cases of spirometrosis caused by Spirometra sp. in cats in Korea. In these two cases, the cats vomited, and long proglottids of tapeworm were recovered. The sick cats presented with anorexia and lethargy. However, they unexpectedly showed no diarrhea, which is the main symptom of spirometrosis. Based on a fecal floatation test as well as morphological and molecular analyses, the parasite was diagnosed as Spirometra sp. The 2 cases were treated with praziquantel. This study suggests regular monitoring of health and deworming in companion animals, even when animals are well cared for, with regular preventive medication. Additionally, spirometrosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis in cases of gastrointestinal symptoms in Spirometra endemic areas.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.5
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• pp.577-581
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• 2020

A 22-year-old Thai man from the Northeast region presented with acute eye swelling, itching, and discharge on his left eye. He was suspected of having gnathostomiasis and treated with albendazole and prednisolone for 3 weeks. Nine months later, he was treated with high-dose oral prednisolone for the preliminary and differential diagnoses with thyroid-associated orbitopathy and lymphoma. He had been administered prednisolone intermittently over a few years. Then he developed a painless movable mass at the left upper eyelid and recurrent pseudotumor oculi was suspected. The surgical removal of the mass was performed. A white pseudosegmented worm revealed a definite diagnosis of ocular sparganosis by a plerocercoid larva. Molecular diagnosis of the causative species was made based on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene. Proper technique of extraction and amplification of short fragments DNA from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue successfully identified parasite species. The result from the sequencing of the PCR-amplified cox1 fragments in this study showed 99.0% sequence homology to Spirometra ranarum. This is the first report of S. ranarum in Thailand.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.181-185
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• 2016

Human sparganosis is a zoonotic disease caused by infection with larval forms (procercoid/plerocercoid) of Spirometra spp. The purpose of this study was to identify Spirometra spp. of infected snakes using a multiplex PCR assay and phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence data from the spargana of terrestrial snakes obtained from Korea and China. A total of 283 snakes were obtained that included 4 species of Colubridae comprising Rhabdophis tigrinus tigrinus (n=150), Dinodon rufozonatum rufozonatum (n=64), Elaphe davidi (n=2), and Elaphe schrenkii (n=7), and 1 species of Viperidae, Agkistrodon saxatilis (n=60). The snakes were collected from the provinces of Chungbuk, Chungnam, and Gyeongbuk in Korea (n=161), and from China (n=122). The overall infection rate with spargana was 83% (235/283). The highest was recorded for D. rufozonatum rufozonatum (100%), followed by A. saxatilis (85%) and R. tigrinus tigrinus (80%), with a negative result for E. davidi (0%) and E. schrenkii (0%). The sequence identities between the spargana from snakes (n=50) and Spirometra erinaceieuropaei (KJ599680) or S. decipiens (KJ599679) control specimens were 90.8% and 99.2%, respectively. Pairwise genetic distances between spargana (n=50) and S. decipiens ranged from 0.0080 to 0.0107, while those between spargana and S. erinaceieuropaei ranged from 0.1070 to 0.1096. In this study, all of the 904 spargana analyzed were identified as S. decipiens either by a multiplex PCR assay (n=854) or mitochondrial cox1 sequence analysis (n=50).

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.277-282
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• 1997

The only observed morphological difference between Spirometra erinqsei and S. mcnsonoides is the uterine shape of the mature proglottid. Two species of worms are thought to be evolutionarily closely related. Biomolecular colnparison of the ho worms by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis was conducted to observe the genetic distance. The 285 rDNA, mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mCOI), and ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITSI) fragments were obtained from the worms by PCR. The PCR products were cleaved by 5 four-base pair restriction enzyme combinations (Msp I, Hae III, Alu I, Cfo I, Rsa I) , electrophoresed and analyzed with PAUP 3.1.1. The fragment Patterns or 285 rDNA and Lni demonstrated that two worms were in identical systematic tree with bootstrap number 94 and 100, respectively As for mCOI, bootstrap number was 74 in a different tree. Above results are indicative of recent common ancestry between S. etinocei and S. mansonoides.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.183-185
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• 2010

In a previous study, the author developed a method for separation of the tegument of spargana (plerocercoids of Spirometra mansoni) from the parenchyme using urea. The present study, as a next step, was performed to evaluate which molecules are present in the outer tegument. Two major proteins, 180 and 200 kDa, are present in the tegument and we could make polyclonal antibodies against these molecules. Their immunolocalization was processed and the outermost layer of the spargana showed strong positive staining. Conclusively, we could confirm that the 180 and 200 kDa molecules might be tightly bound membrane proteins in the tegument of spargana.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.91-93
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• 2008

The weight gain phenomenon associated with sparganosis has been well documented and was first recognized in the 1960s. Many studies have been conducted regarding the plerocercoid growth factor in the larva of Spirometra mansoni. In the present study, we hypothesized that the weight gain may be affected by the adipocyte secreted hormones, i.e., adiponectin, which is secreted from the adipose tissues in case of tissue migrating parasitic infections. Specifically, we attempted to ascertain whether the serum levels of adiponectin change in murine sparganosis. However, serum adiponectin levels assayed by ELISA evidenced no significant changes after an experimental infection (P > 0.05). Finally, the weight gain phenomenon in mouse sparganosis is not associated with changes in adiponectin levels, and further investigations involving parasitic infection-induced weight gain remain necessary.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.181-183
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• 2012

The author reported previously on separation of the outer tegument of the spargana (plerocercoids of Spirometra mansoni) using high concentration of urea solution. To determine which layer of the tegument is separated by this method, an electron microscopic analysis has been processed in this study. It was confirmed that the basement layer of the tegument is separated from the parenchyme of the sparganum. In addition, the antigenicity of the separated outer tegument against the human sparganosis patient sera was evaluated. Numerous antigenic proteins, including 16 and 55 kDa proteins, were noticed in the separated tegument; however, there were no diagnostic 31/36 kDa molecules in this tegument. The molecules reactive with the patient sera in the tegument are to be characterized in future studies.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.69-71
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• 2009

The tegument of tapeworms is known to be composed of an outer syncytial cytoplasm layer which includes microtriches and cytoplasmic organelles (= syncytial layer), and a parenchymatous cytoplasm layer that contains subtegumental cell nuclei (= subtegumental layer) and organelles. In the present study, separation of the syncytial layer of the sparganum, the plerocercoid stage of Spirometra mansoni, was tried using urea as the chemical reagent. Histological sections were prepared to visualize the status of separation after staining with hematoxylin and eosin. The results showed that the syncytial layer of the sparganum tegument which includes microtriches and cytoplasmic organelles were successfully separated from the parenchyma using 3 M urea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.75-78
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• 2014

Sparganosis, an infection due to the plerocercoid of Spirometra erinacei, are found worldwide but the majority of cases occur in East Asia including Korea. This report is on a recurred case of sparganosis in the subcutaneous tissue of the right lower leg 1 year after a surgical removal of a worm from a similar region. At admission, ultrasonography (USG) of the lesion strongly suggested sparganosis, and a worm was successfully removed which turned out to be a sparganum with scolex. Since sparganum has a variable life span, and may develop into a life-threatening severe case, a patient once diagnosed as sparganosis should be properly followed-up for a certain period of time. Although imaging modalities were useful for the diagnosis of sparganosis as seen in this case, serological test such as ELISA should also be accompanied so as to support the preoperative diagnosis.