• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제57권2호
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• pp.179-184
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• 2019

Sparganosis is a parasitic infestation caused by sparganum, a plerocercoid tapeworm larva of the genus Spirometra. Since the first case of human sparganosis reported in 1908, sparganosis has been a global disease, and is common in China, Japan, and Southeast Asian countries. Consumption of raw snakes, frogs, fish, or drinking contaminated beverages are sources of human infections. Human sparganosis usually manifests in subcutaneous fat in areas such as the abdomen, genitourinary tract, and limbs. Breast sparganosis cases are rare, representing less than 2% of total cases of human infections. Complete surgical extraction of the sparganum is the treatment of choice. Because of the rarity of the disease, clinical suspicion is vital to reach the diagnosis of breast sparganosis. Here we report 2 rare cases of breast sparganosis presenting with a painless breast lump, both treated with surgical excision and sparganum extraction.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제58권5호
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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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• 제60권6호
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• pp.419-421
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• 2022

To improve our understanding of the migration of sparganum in humans, we report a case of ocular sparganosis having the migratory episode from the muscle cone to the subconjunctiva. A 34-year-old woman was admitted to the Hospital of Anhui Medical University (Hefei, China), in December 2019. She presented with conjunctival hemorrhage and recurrent pain in the left eye. A foreign body was found in the muscle cone of the eye. Two months later, a ribbon-like white material was found under the conjunctiva on slit-lamp examination. A long and slender, actively moving parasite was extracted by surgery. The extracted worm was approximately 8 cm long and 2 mm wide. The worm was whitish, wrinkled, ribbon shaped, and had a slightly enlarged scolex. The worm sample was morphologically identified as a plerocercoid larva (sparganum) of the Spirometra tapeworm. Her conjunctival blood suffusion and eye pain ceased within 1 week after operation. She has been in good health without any symptoms during the 2-year follow-up. A case of ocular sparganosis, in which larval worm migrated from the muscle cone to the subconjunctiva is reported from China.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제43권3호
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• pp.119-122
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• 2005

Calcareous corpuscles are a characteristic structure found in larval and adult stage cestddes, These corpuscles are known to contain several protein components and to possess protein-binding activity. However, the proteins bound to calcareous corpuscles in situ have not been studied. The present study was undertaken to identify the proteins on calcareous corpuscles. Calcareous corpuscles were purified from the plerocercoids (= spargana) of Spirometra erinacei, and serially dissolved using 0.1 M sulfamic acid solution. Collected supernatants were examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and silver staining. The results showed that only the fraction remaining after the 19th dissolved fraction contained proteins. A total of 20 protein molecules were detected in gel, with major bands at 56, 53, 46, 40, 35, 29, 28, 24.5, 21, 19, 16, 13, 10 and 8 kDa. In particular, the proteins corresponding to the 21 and 16 kDa bands were most abundant. Our results demonstrated for the first time the protein contents of the calcareous corpuscles of spargana. Further studies on the functions of these proteins are required.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제52권1호
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• pp.41-46
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• 2014

The mature domain of a cysteine protease of Spirometra erinacei plerocercoid larva (i.e., sparganum) was expressed in Escherichia coli, and its value as an antigen for the serodiagnosis of sparganosis was investigated. The recombinant protein (rSepCp-1) has the molecular weight of 23.4 kDa, and strongly reacted with the sparganum positive human or mice sera but not with negative sera by immunoblotting. ELISA with rSepCp-1 protein or sparganum crude antigen (SeC) was evaluated for the serodiagnosis of sparganosis using patient's sera. The sensitivity and specificity of ELISA using rSepCp-1 protein were 95.0% (19/20) and 99.1% (111/112), respectively. In contrast, the sensitivity and specificity of ELISA with SeC were 100% (20/20) and 96.4% (108/112), respectively. Moreover, in experimentally infected mice, the sensitivity and specificity of both ELISA assays were 100% for the detection of anti-sparganum IgG. It is suggested that the rSepCp-1 protein-based ELISA could provide a highly sensitive and specific assay for the diagnosis of sparganosis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제56권3호
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• pp.295-300
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• 2018

Human sparganosis was diagnosed by morphological and genetic analyses in Korea. The complete mitochondrial genomes of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei and S. decipiens isolated in Korea have been recorded. Present study was performed to provide information to diagnose the etiologic agent of sparganosis by multiplex PCR using mitochondrial genome sequences of S. erinaceieuropaei and S. decipiens. In an effort to examine the differential diagnosis of spirometrid tapeworms, multiplex PCR assays were performed on plerocercoid larvae of S. erinaceieuropaei and S. decipiens. The PCR products obtained using species-specific primers were positively detected in all PCR assays on mixture of S. erinaceieuropaei and S. decipiens DNA. S. erinaceieuropaei-specific bands (239 bp and 401 bp) were obtained from all PCR assays using a mixture of S. erinaceieuropaei-specific primers (Se/Sd-1800F and Se-2018R; Se/Sd-7955F and Se-8356R) and S. erinaceieuropaei template DNA. S. decipiens-specific bands (540 bp and 644 bp) were also detected in all PCR assays containing mixtures of S. decipiens-specific primers (Se/Sd-1800F and Sd-2317R; Se/Sd-7955F and Sd-8567R) and S. decipiens template DNA. Sequence analyses on these species-specific bands revealed 100% sequence identity with homologous regions of the mtDNA sequences of S. erinaceieuropaei and S. decipiens. The multiplex PCR assay was useful for differential diagnosis of human sparganosis by detecting different sizes in species-specific bands.

• 한국동물학회지
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.225-235
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• 1988

spirometra ernacei의 제3기 유충 plerocercoid(sparganum)를 중간숙주인 흰쥐와 종숙주인 고양이에게 감염시켜서 회수한 sparganum과 성충의 non-specific esterase와 acid,alkaline phosphatased의 분포 및 isozyme pattern 변화를 비교하기 위하여 효소조직화학적 방법과 전기영동법을 이용하여 다음과 같은 결과를 얻었다. 첫째,non-specific esterase는 sparganum과 성체의 근층과 유조직층에 많이 분포하였고 표피층에는 거의 분포가 없었다. 이의 isozyme band pattern은 sparganum에서 7개의 성체에서 8개의 isozyme band로 분리 되었는데 sparganum과 성체의 major band는 각각 3번과 4번 band였다. 둘째,acid phosphatse는 sparganum과 성체의 표피층과 근층에서 많이 부포하였고 유조직층에는 거의 분포가 없었다. isozyme band pattern은 sparganum과 성체에서 각각 3개의 band로 분리되었는데 3번 band가 major band였다.셋째, alkaline phoosphatase는 sparganum과 성체의 표피층과 근층에서 많은 분포를 보였으며 유조직층에서 더 상당한 분포가 있었다. isozyme band pattern은 sparganum에서 2개 성체에서 4개가 분리되었는데 sparganum성체 모두 2번 band가 major band였다.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• 제33권44호
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• pp.273.1-273.15
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• 2018

Background: Sparganosis is a larval cestodiasis caused by the plerocercoid of Spirometra spp. Since the first description of human sparganosis in 1924, several hundred cases have been reported in Korea. However, systematic approaches for literature surveys of Korean sparganosis have seldom appeared. Methods: We searched publicly available databases such as PubMed, Research Information Sharing Service, and Korea Medical Citation Index with relevant Medical Subject Headings. Results: At least 438 Korean sparganosis cases have been described from 1924 to 2015. Preoperative diagnosis has been significantly increased since the 1980s due to popularization of serological and imaging diagnostics. Cases were largely detected from fifth decades in general, but cerebral sparganosis was detected in relatively young age groups (third and fourth decades). Sparganosis was prevalent in men (75.9%). Consumption of frog/snake and drinking unfiltered water were found in 63.4% and 16.9% of patients, respectively. Most frequently affected sites were subcutaneous tissues (49.9%), followed by the central nervous system (36.2%). Involvements of visceral organs (7.6%), ocular regions (3.6%), and muscles (2.7%) were noticed. In women, breast sparganosis constituted a large proportion (34.2%). Sparganosis associated with immunocompromised patients has recently been reported. Conclusion: Sparganosis has been continuously reported in Korea during the past 90 years, although its incidence has decreased during the last 20 years. The disease is mostly characterized by subcutaneous nodule, but infection of the worm in vital organs often results in serious illness. Continuous awareness is warranted to monitor sparganosis occurrence and associated clinical consequences.

• 대한영상의학회지
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• 제81권5호
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• pp.1210-1215
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• 2020

스파르가눔증은 스피로메트라 아속의 유충 감염에 의해 발생하는 드문 기생충 질환이다. 경부 스파르가눔증은 드문 질환이기 때문에 림프절 병증이나 연부 조직 종양으로 오인되어 진단이 어려울 수 있다. 저자들은 영상 소견이 진단에 중요한 역할을 하였던 53세 여성 환자의 현성 경부 스파르가눔증의 증례를 보고한다. 이 증례 보고를 통해 저자들은 만져지는 경부 종물이 있을 때 스파르가눔증을 감별진단으로 고려해야 하며, 정확한 진단을 위해서는 스파르가눔증에 대한 임상적 의심 및 영상의학적 소견에 대한 이해가 중요함을 강조하고자 한다.

• Applied Microscopy
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.41-56
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• 2005

실험실내 생활사를 통하여 획득한 만손열두조충의 각 발육단계별 유충 및 성충의 표피미세구조를 주사 및 투과전자현미경으로 관찰하고자 하였다. 주사전자현미경 관찰에서 섬모유충은 타원형이었고 체표면에 직경이 약 $0.2{\mu}m$인 섬모, 작은 결절 및 좁쌀모양의 돌기 등이 밀생하고 있었으며 직경 약 $0.2{\mu}m$인 구멍이 드물게 분포하였다. 원미충의 전단에는 가시모양 미세모가 밀생하였고 체부위 체표면에는 끝이 약간 구부러진 긴 쐐기형 미세모가 밀생하였으며 꼬리혹에는 둔단의 짧은 미세모가 분포하였다. 실험감염 올챙이에서 감염 후 3일에 회수한 충미충은 성숙한 원미충과 형태가 유사하였고 전단홈에는 억센 가시모양의 미세모가 밀생해 있었다. 감염 5일된 충미충의 전단홈에는 3일된 충체에서 관찰되었던 가시모양 미세모는 없었고 체부위에서 관찰되는 것과 동일한 미세모가 분포하였다. 성숙한 충미충의 체표면에는 원추형의 미세모가 밀생해 있었는데 전반부에 분포하는 것이 후반부의 것보다 약간 억센 모양이었다. 성충의 두절에는 긴 섬모상의 미세모와 짧고 억센 모양의 미세모가 혼재되어 있었으며 섬유상 미세모의 밀도는 두절의 중간부위보다 전반부에서 높았다. 경절과 미성숙 편절에는 짧고 억센 원추형의 미세모가 밀생해 있었다. 투과전자현미경 관찰에서 섬모유충은 배막과 육구유충이 명백히 나누어져 있었고 배막에는 무수히 많은 섬모와 글리코겐 입자, 사립체 및 지질과립 등이 분포하였다. 섬모는 9쌍의 미세소관과 2개의 중심복합체로 구성되어 있었고 육구유충은 얇고 표면이 매끈한 표피로 덮여 있었으며 다핵성 구조이었다. 원미충 및 충미충의 표피는 송곳 모양의 미세모가 포함되어 있는 원형질막과 합포체, 기저층 및 근육층으로 이루어져 있었고 합포체에는 수 많은 원반모양체와 공포 및 사립체 등이 분포하였다. 실질층에서는 배설관과 표피세포가 관찰되었으며 표피세포는 핵 주위에 무수히 많은 과립형질내세망과 분비과립 등을 내포하고 있었다. 이상의 결과로 만손열두조충의 표피미세구조가 발육단계에 따라 변화하면서 특징적인 소견을 나타냄을 확인하였다.