• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.67 no.3
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• pp.229-233
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• 2009

Sparganosis is a zoonosis caused by the migrating larvae of cestode genus Spirometra. We report a rare form of sparganosis that invades the lung. A 44-year-old man presented with newly appeared pulmonary nodules that were found accidentally on regular medical checkup, and on sequential chest CT, which we checked at an interval of every 2 months, revealed that the pulmonary lesion had migrated. The patient had a medical history of having undergone surgical excisions for sparganosis in muscles and in subcutaneous tissues of the lower abdomen, perianus, thigh, right axilla, and scapula area, several times over 7 years. A right middle lobectomy was performed and the lesion was diagnosed as sparganosis based on the characteristic histological findings.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.177-180
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• 2002

Gangweon-do is known to be highly endemic area of sparganosis more than other provinces in Korea. A seroepidmiologic examination for the detection of anti-Spirometra erinacei plerocercoid IgG in serum was carried out in normal inhabitants in Hongcheon-gun, Gangweon-do. Sere were tested by enzyme-linked immunosrobent assay (ELISA) for the anti-sparganum antibodies. Positive rate for anti-sparganum antibody in 719 adults was 3.3%. Data of the questionnaire for 24 ELISA positive inhabitants revealed that 20 had a history of eating raw meat of snakes, 24 had a history of eating frogs, and 24 had a history of drinking stream water. Two positive cases had a past history of sparganosis. Two positive cases showed current symptoms of sparganosis. The data revealed that ELISA would be useful to find infected cases among normal inhabitants at sparganosis-endemic areas.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.513-516
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• 2019

Human sparganosis is a food-borne zoonosis mainly caused by the plerocercoid belonging to the genus Spirometra. The most common clinical sign of sparganosis is a subcutaneous mass in the trunk including abdominal or chest wall. The mass may be mistaken for a malignant tumor, thereby causing difficulty in terms of diagnosis and treatment. A 66-year-old woman visited our clinic for the removal of a lipoma-like mass. It was movable, hard, and painless. we identified 2 white mass, measuring $0.2{\times}4cm$ and $0.2{\times}1cm$. Pathologic finding indicated the white mass was a sparganum. She recalled having eaten a raw frog approximately 60 years before. A 35-year-old who lived North Korea was also presented to our clinic with an asymptomatic nodule on her abdomen. Intraoperatively, we found sparganum approximately 24 cm size. Subcutaneous masses are associated with clinical signs of inflammation or they may mimic a soft tissue neoplasm. While the incidence rate of sparganosis has decreased with economic development and advancements in sanitation, surgeons still encounter patients with sparganosis in the clinical setting. Therefore, a careful history is required in order to diagnose sparganosis.

• Journal of Clinical Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.307-310
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• 2018

Sparganum is the larvae of a parasite called Spirometra. It usually lives in snakes or frogs, which are parasitic on the human who consume them raw. Sparganum is presented with a form of mobile subcutaneous nodule in various parts of human body. A 78 years old man with palpable neck mass visited our clinics. He had a history of eating snakes raw about 50 years ago. He was diagnosed with Sparganosis through a fine needle aspiration biopsy and underwent excisional biopsy. Sparganosis should be considered when dealing subcutaneous palpable neck mass with history of consuming raw snakes or frogs.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.83-86
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• 1983

A survey on the infection status of Sparganum and Gnathossoma in frogs was carried out in 11 areas in Gyeongsangnam-do and Cheonlanam-do province, a southern part of Korea. 1. Among 626 frogs examined, 4% were infected with Sparganum, but none with Gnathostoma. The infection rates of Sparganum were variable according to the areas. Those from Kimhae, Sunchon, Jinhae, Sachun, Kosung, Keoje, and Hadong were 16%, 9.1%, 9.1%, 4.1%, 2%, 2%, and 1.5% respectively, but frogs from Hapchun, Kwangju, Namwon and Sanchung were not found infected. 2. Rana nigromaculata was the only species infected with Sparganum. Rana rugesa and Bombing orientalis were not infected. 3. Sparganum was mainly found in the legs and the trunk of frog. About 92.5% of worms were detected in the femoral intermuscular connective tissue. 4. Number per infected frog was in range of one to five, and 2.8% of frogs were inacted by only one worm. 5. The heavier the frog weight, the higher the infection rate of Sparganum. In frogs of 51~60grams, 28.6% were infected.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.191-200
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• 1992

A proteolytic enzyme was purified from the tissue extract of spargana (plerocercoids of Spirometra erinacei) by DEAE-Trisacryl M ion exchange chromatography and thiopropyl-sepharose affinity chromatography resulted in a 21-fold purification. The proteinase activity was assayed with a synthetic fluorescent substrate, carbobensoxy-phenylalanyl-7-amiso-4-trifluoromethyl-coumarin. SDS-polyacplamide gel electrophoresis of the purified materials revealed a single 28,000 dalton band. Inhibitor profiles of the band indicated that it belonged to cysteine endopeptidases. It exhibited identical pH curves with optimum at pH 5,5, and 50% activity from pH 4.7 to 8. It could completely degrade collagen chains to three identical products. It also showed some activity on hemoglobin. Furthermore, the band on immunoblots was reactive to the sera of sparganosis patients. These results suggest that the proteolytic enzyme belongs to cysteine proteinase which plays a role in the tissue penetration. Also it may be used as the antigen for diagnosis of active sparganosis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2015

Serine proteases form one of the most important families of enzymes and perform significant functions in a broad range of biological processes, such as intra- and extracellular protein metabolism, digestion, blood coagulation, regulation of development, and fertilization. A number of serine proteases have been identified in parasitic helminths that have putative roles in parasite development and nutrition, host tissues and cell invasion, anticoagulation, and immune evasion. In this review, we described the serine proteases that have been identified in parasitic helminths, including nematodes (Trichinella spiralis, T. pseudospiralis, Trichuris muris, Anisakis simplex, Ascaris suum, Onchocerca volvulus, O. lienalis, Brugia malayi, Ancylostoma caninum, and Steinernema carpocapsae), cestodes (Spirometra mansoni, Echinococcus granulosus, and Schistocephalus solidus), and trematodes (Fasciola hepatica, F. gigantica, and Schistosoma mansoni). Moreover, the possible biological functions of these serine proteases in the endogenous biological phenomena of these parasites and in the host-parasite interaction were also discussed.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.189-191
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• 2009

Four feral cats and a raccoon dog purchased from a local collector on Aphaedo Island, Shinan-gun, where human Gymnophalloides seoi infections are known to be prevalent, were examined for their intestinal helminth parasites. From 2 of 4 cats, a total of 310 adult G. seoi specimens were recovered, Other helminths detected in cats included Heterophyes nocens (1,527 specimens), Pygidiopsis summa (131), Stictodora fuscata (4), Acanthotrema felis (2), Spirometra erinacei (15), toxocarids (4), and a hookworm (1). A raccoon dog was found to be infected with a species of echinostome (55), hook-worms (7), toxocarids (3), P. summa (3), and S. erinacei (1). No G. seoi was found in the raccoon dog. The results indicate that feral cats and raccoon dogs on Aphaedo are natural definitive hosts for intestinal trematodes and cestodes, including G. seoi, H. nocens, and S. erinacei, It has been first confirmed that cats, a mammalian species other than humans, play the role of a natural definitive host for G. seoi on Aphaedo Island.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.309-314
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• 1975

In survey for internal parasites of 395 heads of swine by fecal examination at ict, incidences of each parasite were obtained as follows: Giardia lamblia 1.0% Entamoehaspp. 55.4 Eimeria& Isospora spp. 22.5 Balantidium coli 66.6 Metastrongylus elongatus 17.6 Ascaris suum 25.6 Oesophagostomun dentatum 29.1 Hyostrongylus ryubidus 14.6 Trichuris suis 4.2 Strongyloides ransomi 7.2 Mecistocirrus digitatus 1.0 Check-list for the internal parasites of swine made by all the materials repor years from 1920 to 1975 in Korea is as follows: No. Parasites Habitat References 1. Ascaris lumbricoides small intestine Kawamura(1923) 2. Oesophagostomum dentatum large intestine Kawamura(1923) 3. Echinococcus veterinorum lung & liver Kawamura(1923) 4. Cysticercus cellulosae muscle Yunoba(1923) 5. Sarcooystis sp. muscle Arahayase(1927) 6. Entamoeba polecki intestine Kuwabara(1931) 7. Balantidium coli large intestine Huruyama(1931) 8. Metastrongylus elongatus lung Lee(1956) 9. Gongylonema pulckrum oesophagus Isshiki(1960) 10. Ascarops strongylina stomach Isshiki(1960) 11. Cysticercus tenuicollis peritoneum Isshiki(1960) 12. Cysticercus bovis? diaphragm Isshiki(1960) 13. Toxoplasma gondii interna organs Mun(1960) 14. Trichuris suis large intestine Lee et al.(1963) 15. Stephamirus dentatus feces Lee et al.(1963) 16. Spirometra mansonides fat layer of muscle Jang(1964) 17. Hyostrongylus rubidus stomach Kim et al.(1969) 18. Strongyloides ransomi feces Kim et al.(1969) 19. Eimeria perminuta feces Jang(1972) 20. E. debrieki feces Jang(1972) 21. E. polita feces Jang(1972) 22. E. scabra feces Jang(1972) 23. E. scrofae feces Jang(1972) 24. Isospora suis feces Jang(1972) 25. Entamoeba coli feces Jang(1975) 26. Mecistocirrus digitatus feces Jang(1975) 27. Giardia lamblia feces Jang(1975).

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.44 no.2 s.138
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• pp.151-156
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• 2006

A case of breast sparganosis was confirmed by surgical excision of a worm (fragmented into 5 pieces) in a 59-year-old Korean woman suffering from a palpable mass in the left breast. Mammography and ultrasonography characteristically revealed the presence of several well-defined, isodense and hypoechoic tubular masses, in the upper quadrant of the left breast, each mass consisting of a continuous cord- or worm-like structure. During surgery, a long segment of an actively moving sparganum of Spirometra sp. and 4 small fragments of the same worm, giving a total length of 20.3 cm, were extracted from the upper outer quadrant of the left breast and the axillary region. The infection source remains unclear, because the patient denied ingesting any snake or frog meat or drinking untreated water.