• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.12
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• pp.1257-1260
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• 2007

E. histolytica has a simple life cycle with two stages: an infective cyst and an invasive trophozoite. It lives on humans as its host. Its infection occurs through the ingestion of the cyst form, and the disease begins when the trophozoite, converted at the small intestine, adheres to colonic epithelial cells with a latent period of two days to four months. In some instances, amoebic abscess formations can occur at the liver, lung, brain, or spleen via the lymphoid system. Rare cases of amoebiasis in neonates have been reported, much less any intrauterine infections in the world that may have occurred during the gestation period. We've recently experienced a case of neonatal amoebiasis that entailed after-birth vomiting and bloody stool. The infant seemed pre-infected with E. histolytica before birth.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.335-337
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• 2014

To determine the cause of death of prisoners of war during the Korean War (1950-1953), death certificates or medical records were analyzed. Out of 7,614 deaths, 5,013 (65.8%) were due to infectious diseases. Although dysentery and tuberculosis were the most common infectious diseases, parasitic diseases had caused 14 deaths: paragonimiasis in 5, malaria in 3, amoebiasis in 2, intestinal parasitosis in 2, ascariasis in 1, and schistosomiasis in 1. These results showed that paragonimiasis, malaria, and amoebiasis were the most fatal parasitic diseases during the early 1950s in the Korean Peninsula. Since schistosomiasis is not endemic to Korea, it is likely that the infected private soldier moved from China or Japan to Korea.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.84-87
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• 2019

Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry is widely employed in proteomics studies. One of such instruments is the Liquid Chromatography (LC)-Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation (MALDI)-Time of flight (TOF) or LC-MALDI-TOF/TOF. In this study, this instrument was used to identify the membrane proteins of a protozoan parasite namely Entamoeba histolytica. It causes amoebiasis in human. The E. histolytica trophozoites were cultured prior to the membrane protein extraction using the conventional method, $ProteoPrep^{(R)}$ and $ProteoExtract^{(R)}$ kits. Then, the membrane protein extracts were trypticdigested and analysed by LC-MALDI-TOF/TOF. Approximately, 194 proteins were identified and 27.8% (54) were predicted as membrane proteins having 1 to 15 transmembrane regions and signal peptides by combining all three extraction methods. Also, this study has discovered 3 unique proteins as compared to our previous study which merit further investigation.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 1983

Thin layer immunoassay was carried out to demonstrate antibodies against Clcnorchis sinensis in sera from clonorchiasis patients. Saline extract of adult worm was used as antigen. TIA technique was performed as described earlier by Elwing et at. (1976), but agarose was used instead of agar. The antibody titres of sera in 60 clonorchiasis casts were higher than that of 10 healthy and 10 amoebiasis cases, but not different comparing with that of 10 paragonimiasis cases. Antibody litres in clonorchiasis gave no differences according to the age, sex, EPG in feces, eosinophilia degree of blood, level of alkaline phosphatase and transaminase (SGOT, SGPT) in sera. It is suggested that, after evaluation, the TIA might supplement or be used as an alternative to other immunodiagnostic tests already in use for the diagnosis of clonorchiasis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.155-161
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• 2022

All living organisms are destined to die. Cells, the core of those living creatures, move toward the irresistible direction of death. The question of how to die is critical and is very interesting. There are various types of death in life, including natural death, accidental death, questionable death, suicide, and homicide. The mechanisms and molecules involved in cell death also differ depending on the type of death. The dysenteric amoeba, E. histolytica, designated by the German zoologist Fritz Schaudinn in 1903, has the meaning of tissue lysis; i.e., tissue destroying, in its name. It was initially thought that the amoebae lyse tissue very quickly leading to cell death called necrosis. However, advances in measuring cell death have allowed us to more clearly investigate the various forms of cell death induced by amoeba. Increasing evidence has shown that E. histolytica can cause host cell death through induction of various intracellular signaling pathways. Understanding of the mechanisms and signaling molecules involved in host cell death induced by amoeba can provide new insights on the tissue pathology and parasitism in human amoebiasis. In this review, we emphasized on the signaling role of NADPH oxidases in reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent cell death by pathogenic E. histolytica.

• CELLMED
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.21.1-21.15
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• 2016

In Kenya, traditional knowledge on herbal medicine has remained a mainstream source of maintaining wellbeing for generations in many communities. However, the knowledge has been eroded in the course of time due to sociocultural dynamics virtually advanced by Christianity and formal education especially in the Kikuyu community. The study documented current ethnobotanical knowledge and threat to the traditional knowledge on medicinal plants among the Kikuyu community. A survey was carried out in Mathira, Tetu, Kieni, Othaya, Mukurweini, and Nyeri Town constituencies. Thirty practicing herbalists were purposively sampled; 5 per constituency. Data was obtained through semi - structured questionnaires and analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. A total of 80 ailments treated using 111 medicinal plant species distributed within 98 genera and 56 families were documented. Prevalent communicable diseases treated using herbal medicine included; gonorrhea (17.5%), malaria (15%), respiratory infections (12%), colds (10%) and amoebiasis (10%). Non-communicable diseases were; joint pains (11.1%), ulcers/hyperacidity (8.7%), high blood pressure (8.7%), intestinal worms (11.1%) and arthritis/gout (10%). Frequently harvested plant materials were; roots, barks and leaves. The study concluded that, traditional medicine practitioners in Nyeri County possessed wide knowledge of herbal medicine but this knowledge was on the verge of disappearing as it was largely a preserve of the aged generation. The study recommended massive campaign about the benefits of using herbal medicine in the study area. Further pharmacological studies are recommended on the mentioned plant species aimed at establishing their efficacy and safety as well as standardization as potential drugs.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.265-269
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• 1983

A comparison was made of a new serological method, thin layer immunoassay (TIA), and an established method, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), in the detection and quantiacation of antibodies in clonorchiasis. Saline extract of Iyophilized Clonorchis sinensis adult worm was used as antigen, and TIA by the method of Elwing et at. (1976) and ELISA by Voller et at. (1974) were performed. Using sera from known clonorchiasis cases,100% of the sera tested were Positive by TIA and 88.35 by ELISA. TIA produced false positive results in 14 out of 36 cases, which were 10 amoebiasis cases, 16 paragonimiasis cases and 10 healthy controls. ELISA. however, produced a small number of false positives, 7 out of 55 cases. There was correlation between Immunoglobulin G level in sera and ELISA value (correlation coefficient, 0.69), whereas no correlation between Immunoglobulin G level and TIA result. The Performance of TIA and ELISA was not correlated in the results using homologous antigen.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.270-280
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• 1983

Agar-gel Diffusion test (AGD), Counterimmunoelectrophoresis(CIEP) and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay(ELISA) were examined with the sera of skin test positives for paragonimiasis. The crude antigen (Paragcnimus whole worm extracts: protein concentration, 7.56mg/m1) and human sera were used in AGD and CIEP. And in ELISA test, diluted antigen with 1:40, 000 of crude antigen and diluted sera with 1:100, 1:200 were used in the test. The positive identical ratio between AGD and CIEP reactions is 985 and negative identical ratio is 100%. One or three precipitin bands are observed in AGD. One to seven precipitin bands are also revealed in CIEP. Especially, deeply stained bands are observed in CIEP than those of AGD. The positive identical ratios between AGD and ELISA tests are 96% in 1:100 diluted sera, and 94% in 1:200 diluted sera. But the negative identical ratios between AGD and ELISA tests are 97% and 99% respectively in 1:100 and 1:200 diluted sera. The positive identical ratios between CIEP and ELIEA tests are 98% and 96% respectively in 1:100 and 1:200 diluted sera, but also 97% and 99% in 1:100 and 1:200. Control sera, such as clonorchiasis, amoebiasis and toxoplasmcsis, revealed all negatives with Paragonimus antigen in AGD, CIEP and ELISA tests. By above results, ELISA was mcst sensitive, next CIEP and AGD, But AGD test apprars to be more useful when used to crude antigen without cross rfacticn with other parasitic infections. CIEP test is basically equal in terms of precipitin reaction, but CIEP is able to be detected more sensitively and rapidly though less simple in handiwork than AGD. Consequently, three methods for inlmunological tests of paragonimiasis have gccd correlations with one another. Also, each of these has both merits and demerits in iymunolcgical test for paragonimiasis. But the ELISA test was proved to be the most sensitive and convenient tool for mass screening test, especially in cacti of using purified antigen.