• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제61권1호
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• pp.72-77
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• 2023

Human babesiosis is a tick-borne disease induced by the genus Babesia and has been significantly reported in the Republic of Korea. This report shows the cases of 2 patients with human babesiosis who traveled to the USA in 2019. The 2 patients experienced fever and had travel histories to babesiosis-endemic regions. The diagnoses of both cases were verified by the identification of Babesia-infected red blood cells on blood smears. One patient was found to be infected with Babesia microti using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for 18S rRNA, which discovered the phylogenetic link to the B. microti strain endemic in the USA. The 2 patients recovered from fever with subsequent hemoparasite clearance. Babesiosis could be diagnosed in anyone with histories of travel to babesiosis-endemic countries and tick bites. Furthermore, Babesia-specific PCR is required for determining geno-and phenotypic characteristics.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제61권1호
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• pp.42-52
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• 2023

The genus Babesia includes parasites that can induce human and animal babesiosis, which are common in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The gut microbiota has not been examined in hamsters infected by Babesia duncani. Red blood cells infected with B. duncani were injected into hamsters through intraperitoneal route. To evaluate the changes in gut microbiota, DNAs were extracted from small intestinal contents, acquired from hamsters during disease development. Then, the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene of bacteria was sequenced using the Illumina sequencing platform. Gut microbiota alternation and composition were assessed according to the sequencing data, which were clustered with >97.0% sequence similarity to create amplicon sequence variants (ASVs). Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were made up of the major components of the gut microbiota in all samples. The abundance of Bacteroidetes elevated after B. duncani infection than the B. duncani-free group, while Firmicutes and Desulfobacterota declined. Alpha diversity analysis demonstrated that the shown ASVs were substantially decreased in the highest parasitemia group than B. duncani-free and lower parasitemia groups. Potential biomarkers were discovered by Linear discriminant analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analysis, which demonstrated that several bacterial families (including Muribaculaceae, Desulfovibrionaceae, Oscillospiraceae, Helicobacteraceae, Clostridia UGG014, Desulfovibrionaceae, and Lachnospiraceae) were potential biomarkers in B. duncani-infected hamsters. This research demonstrated that B. duncani infectious can modify the gut microbiota of hamsters.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제62권1호
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• pp.53-63
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• 2024

The intracellular parasite Babesia microti is among the most significant species causing human babesiosis and is an emerging threat to human health worldwide. Unravelling the pathogenic molecular mechanisms of babesiosis is crucial in developing new diagnostic and preventive methods. This study assessed how priming with B. microti surface antigen 1 (BHSA 1) and seroreactive antigen 5-1-1 (BHSA 5-1-1) mediate protection against B. microti infection. The results showed that 500 ㎍/ml rBMSA1 and rBMSA5-1-1 partially inhibited the invasion of B. microti in vitro by 42.0±3.0%, and 48.0±2.1%, respectively. Blood smears revealed that peak infection at 7 days post-infection (dpi) was 19.6%, 24.7%, and 46.7% in the rBMSA1, rBmSA5-1-1, compared to the control groups (healthy mice infected with B. microti only), respectively. Routine blood tests showed higher white blood cell, red blood cell counts, and haemoglobin levels in the 2 groups (BMSA1 and BMSA5 5-1-1) than in the infection control group at 0-28 dpi. Moreover, the 2 groups had higher serum interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α and Interleukin-17A levels, and lower IL-10 levels than the infection control group throughout the study. These 2 potential vaccine candidate proteins partially inhibit in vitro and in vivo B. microti infection and enhance host immunological response against B. microti infection.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제52권4호
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• pp.443-447
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• 2014

Babesiosis is an emerging tick-borne disease in humans worldwide; however, little is known about the frequency of infection or prevalence of this disease in other parts of the world, excluding North America. In this study, we aimed to investigate Babesia microti infection frequency in a human population in Mongolia. One hundred blood samples were collected from stock farmers living in Khutul city of Selenge province, Mongolia. The sera and DNA from blood samples were evaluated for the presence of B. microti infection by using indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) tests and PCR. The positive detection rates obtained using the IFA tests and PCR assays were 7% and 3%, respectively. This study is the first to detect of B. microti infections based on antibody seroprevalence or PCR assays for the presence of B. microti DNA in a Mongolian population.

• 원예과학기술지
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• 제34권2호
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• pp.331-341
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• 2016

본 연구는 기능성 지표물질 확인을 위한 동양란 심비디움(Cymbidium) 향기 성분 비교 분석을 목적으로 하며, GC/MS 방법을 사용하여 한국춘란(Cymbidium goerigii L.), 중국춘란(C. forrestii R.)과 일경구화(C. faberi R.)의 향기성분을 비교 분석하였다. 분석은 한국춘란으로 '민춘란', '주금화', 중국춘란으로 '취개', '송매', '용자', 일경구화로 '최매', '남양매', '화자'등을 사용하였다. GC/MS 방법을 통해 검출된 성분들을 peak area(%)값 분석을 사용하여 3%이상의 주요 향기성분으로 분류하였다. 향기 성분 분석 결과 한국춘란에서는 유방암, 자궁경부암, 교모세포종암에 세포독성 기능성을 가진 ${\alpha}$-bergamotene과, 인체 간암 세포(HepG2)의 사멸과 성장 억제, 항진균제 및 바베스열원충, 충치균에 대한 억제 기능성을 가진 nerolidol이 가장 많았다. 중국 춘란에서는 nerolidol과 악성 흑색종 세포(B16-F10), 인체 간암 세포와 백혈병 세포(HL-60, K562)의 사멸과 억제 등의 기능성을 가진 ${\beta}$-bisabolene이 가장 많았다. 일경구화에서는 교모세포종(SF-767)의 억제와 간암세포주(BEL-7402)에 소염작용 억제 효과를 가진 ${\alpha}$-pinene, 위장 보호 효과 기능을 가진 1,8-cineole과 페로몬의 기능을 가진 1,3,7-octatriene이 가장 많았다. 이상에서 동양란의 주요 향기 성분으로 밝혀진 물질들은 인간에게 유익한 다양한 기능성을 갖고 있는 것으로 확인되었다.