• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.599-602
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• 2013

A male patient with neurocysticercosis was identified in Montai Village, Xay District, Oudomxay Province, Lao PDR in February 2004. He had a history of diagnosis for neurocysticercosis by a CT scan in Thailand after an onset of epileptic seizure in 1993. A pig in the same district was found to contain Taenia solium metacestodes (=cysticerci); the slaughtered pig body contained more than 2,000 cysticerci. In addition to morphological identification, molecular identification was also performed on the cysticerci by DNA sequencing analysis of the mitochondrial cox1 gene; they were confirmed as T. solium metacestodes. The patient is regarded as an indigenous case of neurocysticercosis infected in an endemic focus of T. solium taeniasis/cysticercosis in Oudomxay Province, Lao PDR.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.173-177
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• 2014

Neurocysticercosis is the commonest parasitic disease of the human central nervous system. The incidence of intra ventricular form of neurocysticercosis (NCC) is less common accounting 10-20% that of total central nerve system cysticercosis. Intra ventricular NCC is complicated due, to its high incidence of acute hydrocephalus caused by ball valve mechanism. The only reliable tool for diagnosis of NCC is by neuroimaging with CT or MRI. MRI preferred over CT because of its high specificity and sensitivity. In emergency situations like acute hydrocephalus one can proceed with emergency endoscopic surgery. Through the endoscopic view, intra ventricular NCC (IVNCC) has distinguished morphological features like the full moon sign. This feature not only helps in identification of IVNCC, but also guides in further endoscopic treatment strategy. Authors report two cases of 3rd ventricular NCC with acute hydrocephalus managed with emergency endoscopy. Authors have discussed the clinical features, intra operative endoscopic findings and role of endoscopy in emergency surgery for NCC with acute hydrocephalus.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 1988

The applicability of indirect immunoftuorescent antibody test (IFAT) was compared with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in sera from 163 cases of confirmed neurocysticercosis, 101 other neurologic and parasitic diseases and 100 normal controls. As antigen, frozen sections of a Taenia solium metacestode from a human brain was used in IFAT and cystic fluid was used in ELISA. For the detection of specific IgG antibody, IFAT was equally sensitive (89.6%) and specific (85.1%) as ELISA. The antibody titers by IFAT were correspondingly increased with mean absorbance of ELISA. The corresponding rate of positivity in the two techniques was 90.8%. Except for the difficulty in detecting antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), IFAT was concluded to be very useful for the serodiagnosis of human neurocysticercosis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.265-271
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• 2019

The prevalence of human taeniasis has decreased in Korea. The stool egg positive proportion decreased from 1.9% in 1971 to 0% in 2004 in nationwide surveys. The neurocysticercosis (NCC) is also presumed to decrease. However, detailed information regarding the recent status of NCC in Korea is lacking. We retrospectively reviewed NCC cases from 1990 to 2016 at Asan Medical Center, a 2700-bed tertiary referral hospital in Korea. We identified patients based on clinical symptoms, brain imaging, pathology and serological assay. The cases were classified as parenchymal, extraparenchymal, and mixed NCC. Eighty-one patients were included in the analysis. The mean age was 54.5 years, and 79.0% were male. The number of NCC cases was highest from 1995 to 1999, and continuously decreased thereafter. Forty (49.4%) patients had parenchymal NCC, while 25 (30.9%) patients had extraparenchymal NCC, and 16 (19.8%) patients had mixed NCC. The seizure and headache were most common symptom of parenchymal NCC and extraparenchymal NCC respectively. Hydrocephalus was more common in extraparenchymal NCC, and patients with extraparenchymal NCC were more likely to require a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Cases of NCC are decreasing accordingly with human taeniasis and lesion location was the most important determinant of clinical presentation and outcome of NCC in Korea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.101-108
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• 1990

Surgically collected cystic fluid of Taenia solium metacestodes from patients of intracranial cystic lesion were compared in their protein composition with those from naturally infected pigs in Cheju Do, Korea and Ecuador. In non-denaturing discontinuous-polyacryla aide gel electrophoresis (disc-PAGE) , no discernible differences were recognized in banding patterns between the cystic fluids from Cheju Do and Ecuador, and between the cystic quids from pigs and human lesions except wider bands that corresponded to human albumin and T-globulin (in 4 of 9 patients). In reducing SDS-PAGE, bands in the cystic Ruid from Ecuador showed the same banding pattern with that from Cheju Do but two bands of 21 and 17 kDa were stained darker. Cystic quids (rom patients revealed the same protein compositions of the major protein bands of 94, 64, 15, 10 and 7 kDa as in the cystic fluid of pig origin, but human albumin (66 kDa), heavy and light chains of gamma globulin (55 and 22.5 kDa) were contaminated in 4 of 9 cystic fluids. Human CSF proteins seem to have been contaminated during cystic ftuid collection. In any cystic quid from patients, the majcr Protein component was 150 kDa which was subdivided into 15, 10 and 7 kDa in reducing SDS-PAGE.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.25-41
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• 1986

The applicability of micro-ELISA was evaluated in human neuro-cysticercosis using paired samples of serum and CSF. A total of 355 cases who were mostly neurologic patients was subjected. Cystic fluid of C. cellulosae was used as antigen in protein concentration of $2.5{\;}{\mu}g/ml$. Serum was diluted to 1 : 100 and CSF was undiluted in the assay for the specific IgG antibody level. The differential criterion of the positive reaction was the abs. of o. 18 in both samples. The results were summarized as follows: 1. The overall sensitivity of the micro-ELISA in 71 confirmed neurocysticercosis was 90.1% ; the sensitivity by serum was 77.5% and that by CSF was 83.1%. CSF was a more sensitive and valuable material. Most of the false negative cases of neuro-cysticercosis showed far lower level of abs. rather than marginal. 2. The overall specificity of the micro-ELISA in 52 confirmed other neurologic diseases was 88.5%; the specificities by serum and by CSF were 94.2% respectively. Cases of other neurologic diseases did not show false positive reactions in both samples. 3. When serum was assayed, taeniasis(2/18), sparganosis(2/20), paragonimiasis(1/56), clonorchiasis(1/15) and fascioliasis(1/1) cases showed cross reactions. When CSF was assayed, 2 ot 10 neuro-sparganosis showed cross reactions while none of 9 neuro-paragonimiasis showed it. Out of 71 confirmed neuro-cysticercosis cases, 6 and 11 showed cross reactions by serum and CSF to crude extract antigen of sparganum; but no case did show it to crude extract antigen of Paragonimus westermani. 4. Ventricular CSF showed low or negative levels of IgG antibody than lumbar CSF unless the lesion was at the lateral ventricle itself. 5. Out of 4 racemose cysticercosis cases, 3 showed positive reaction in serum while all of 3 examined CSF were positive. The above results indicated that the serological test for detecting the specific IgG antibody by micro-ELISA using paired samples of serum and CSF was very helpful for clinical differentiation of neuro-cysticercosis from neurologic diseases of other causes.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.145-158
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• 1986

This study was undertaken to purify cystic fluid (CF) antigen of Taenia solium metacestodes by affinity chromatogaphy using specific monoclonal antibody(McAb) and to characterize the antigenicity of the purified antigen. The hybridoma cell lines, prepared by fusion between mouse plasmacytoma and spleen cells from BALB/c mice immunized with CF, secreted antibodies reacting to various helminthic antigens. Majority of cell lines reacted to CF only but some also reacted to parenchymal antigen of T. solium metacestodes, adult T. saginata, sparganum, hydatid cystic fluid, Paragonimus westermani and Clonorchis sinensis, either in combination with CF, other antigens or independently. Cloned cells derived from monoclonal lines also produced antibodies reacting either to CF only or to other helminthes in combination or independently. These results indicated that CF of T. solium metacestodes contained proteins which possessed antigenic determinants not only specific to CF but also cross reactive with the afore-mentioned helminthes. CF of T. solium metacestodes was purified by affinity chromatography using the McAb which reacted to CF and parenchymal antigens. The affinity-purified antigen (A-Ag) and unbound pool CF (U-Ag) were separated. A-Ag showed 2 protein bands by disc-PAGE whereas CF exhibited 6 bands and U-Ag consisted of all bands CF had. The diagnostic significance of A-Ag was evaluated by ELISA in human neurocysticercosis and other helminthic and neurologic diseases. By A-Ag, the levels of the specific IgG antibody, as shown by absorbance in sera and CSF, were lower than those of CF and U-Ag. Accordingly, the sensitivity was about 70% of CF and U-Ag. However, the nonspecific positive reactions to CF and U-Ag, observed in sparganosis, T. saginata infection and paragonimiasis did not occur when A-Ag was used. These results indicated that the affinity-purified A-Ag had the higher specificity but the lower sensitivity as a diagnostic antigen in cysticercosis, probably because it only detected a single or limited numbers of monospecific antibodies among the diverse polyclonal antibodies produced in the patients with neurocysticercosis.