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The Veterinary Clinics of North... Mar 2020Internal parasites are a major concern in livestock production because they can impact the health and well-being of animals clinically and subclinically, and ultimately... (Review)
Review
Internal parasites are a major concern in livestock production because they can impact the health and well-being of animals clinically and subclinically, and ultimately cause significant production loss. Among these internal parasites are nematodes, tapeworms, flukes, and coccidian protozoans. This review focuses on the diagnostic tests that are routinely performed by veterinarians and diagnostic laboratories, but also highlights recently developed tools that may improve diagnostic capabilities, including molecular and immunodiagnostic tests. Overall, diagnostic tests for parasites of livestock are an integral part of health management practices, and for assessing individual animal and herd health.
Topics: Animals; Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; Feces; Livestock; Protozoan Infections, Animal
PubMed: 32029179
DOI: 10.1016/j.cvfa.2019.12.003 -
Pharmacological Research Mar 2017Parasitic protozoan diseases continue to rank among the world's greatest global health problems, which are also common among poor populations. Currently available drugs... (Review)
Review
Parasitic protozoan diseases continue to rank among the world's greatest global health problems, which are also common among poor populations. Currently available drugs for treatment present drawbacks, urging the need for more effective, safer, and cheaper drugs. Artemisinin (ART) and its derivatives are some of the most important classes of antimalarial agents originally derived from Artemisia annua L. However, besides the outstanding antimalarial and antischistosomal activities, ART and its derivatives also possess activities against other parasitic protozoa. In this paper we review the activities of ART and its derivatives against protozoan parasites in vitro and in vivo, including Leishmania spp., Trypanosoma spp., Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, Eimeria tenella, Acanthamoeba castellanii, Naegleria fowleri, Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia lamblia, and Babesia spp. We conclude that ART and its derivatives may be good alternatives for treating other non-malarial protozoan infections in developing countries, although more studies are necessary before they can be applied clinically.
Topics: Animals; Antimalarials; Artemisinins; Humans; Malaria; Protozoan Infections
PubMed: 27867026
DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2016.11.012 -
Journal of Clinical Microbiology Jan 2024Human infections with the protozoan have been increasingly reported in the medical literature over the past three decades. Initial reports were based on microscopic... (Review)
Review
Human infections with the protozoan have been increasingly reported in the medical literature over the past three decades. Initial reports were based on microscopic identification of the purported pathogen in respiratory specimens. Later, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was developed to detect , following which there has been a significant increase in reports. In this minireview, we thoroughly examine the published reports of infection to evaluate its potential role as a human pathogen. We examined the published images and videos of purported compared its morphology and motility characteristics with host bronchial ciliated epithelial cells and true derived from cockroaches, analyzed the published PCR that is being used for its diagnosis, and reviewed the clinical data of patients reported in the English and Chinese literature. From our analysis, we conclude that the images and videos from human specimens do not represent true and are predominantly misidentified ciliated epithelial cells. Additionally, we note that there is insufficient clinical evidence to attribute the cases to infection, as the clinical manifestations are non-specific, possibly caused by other infections and comorbidities, and there is no associated tissue pathology attributable to . Finally, our analysis reveals that the published PCR is not specific to and can amplify DNA from commensal trichomonads. Based on this thorough review, we emphasize the need for rigorous scientific scrutiny before a microorganism is acknowledged as a novel human pathogen and discuss the potential harms of misdiagnoses for patient care and scientific literature.
Topics: Humans; Protozoan Infections; Parabasalidea; Diagnostic Errors
PubMed: 37902329
DOI: 10.1128/jcm.00845-23 -
Infection and Immunity Aug 2017Parasitic protozoan infections represent a major health burden in the developing world and contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality. These infections are... (Review)
Review
Parasitic protozoan infections represent a major health burden in the developing world and contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality. These infections are often associated with considerable variability in clinical presentation. An emerging body of work suggests that the intestinal microbiota may help to explain some of these differences in disease expression. The objective of this minireview is to synthesize recent progress in this rapidly advancing field. Studies of humans and animals and studies of the contribution of the intestinal microbiota to infectious disease are discussed. We hope to provide an understanding of the human-protozoal pathogen-microbiome interaction and to speculate on how that might be leveraged for treatment.
Topics: Animals; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Host-Parasite Interactions; Humans; Parasites; Protozoan Infections
PubMed: 28584161
DOI: 10.1128/IAI.00101-17 -
Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents Mar 2023, and are the causative agents of toxoplasmosis, trichomoniasis, and giardiasis, three important infections threatening human health and affecting millions of people... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
, and are the causative agents of toxoplasmosis, trichomoniasis, and giardiasis, three important infections threatening human health and affecting millions of people worldwide. Although drugs and treatment are available to fight these protozoan parasites, side effects and increasing drug resistance require continuous efforts for the development of novel effective drugs.
AREAS COVERED
The patents search was carried out in September/October 2022 with four official scientific databases (Espacenet, Scifinder, Reaxys, Google Patents). Treatments for toxoplasmosis, trichomoniasis, and giardiasis (2015-2022) have been grouped according to their chemotypes. In particular, novel chemical entities have been reported and investigated for their structure-activity relationship, when accessible. On the other hand, drug repurposing, extensively exploited to obtain novel antiprotozoal treatment, has been in-depth described. Finally, natural metabolites and extracts have also been reported.
EXPERT OPINION
, and are protozoan infections usually controlled by immune system in immunocompetent patients; however, they could represent a threatening health for immunocompromised people. The needs of novel effective drugs, endowed with new mechanisms of actions, arises from the increasing drug resistance affecting antibiotic as well as antiprotozoal therapies. In this review different therapeutic approaches to treat protozoan infections have been reported.
Topics: Humans; Giardiasis; Trichomonas vaginalis; Toxoplasma; Patents as Topic; Antiprotozoal Agents; Trichomonas Infections; Toxoplasmosis
PubMed: 37099697
DOI: 10.1080/13543776.2023.2206017 -
Acta Tropica Jul 2023Annexins (ANXs) exert different functions in cell biological and pathological processes and are thus known as double or multi-faceted proteins. These sophisticated... (Review)
Review
Annexins (ANXs) exert different functions in cell biological and pathological processes and are thus known as double or multi-faceted proteins. These sophisticated proteins might express on both parasite structure and secretion and in parasite-infected host cells. In addition to the characterization of these pivotal proteins, describing their mechanism of action can be also fruitful in recognizing their roles in the pathogenesis of parasitic infections. Accordingly, this study presents the most prominent ANXs thus far identified and their relevant functions in parasites and infected host cells during pathogenesis, especially in the most important intracellular protozoan parasitic infections including leishmaniasis, toxoplasmosis, malaria and trypanosomiasis. The data provided in this study demonstrate that the helminth parasites most probably express and secret ANXs to develop pathogenesis while the modulation of the host-ANXs could be employed as a crucial strategy by intracellular protozoan parasites. Moreover, such data highlight that the use of analogs of both parasite and host ANX peptides (which mimic or regulate ANXs physiological functions through various strategies) might suggest novel therapeutic insights into the treatment of parasitic infections. Furthermore, due to the prominent immunoregulatory activities of ANXs during most parasitic infections and the expression levels of these proteins in some parasitic infected tissues, such multifunctional proteins might be also potentially relevant as vaccine and diagnostic biomarkers. We also suggest some prospects and insights that could be useful and applicable to form the basis of future experimental studies.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Annexins; Parasitic Diseases; Protozoan Infections; Malaria; Leishmaniasis; Parasites
PubMed: 37172709
DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2023.106942 -
Journal of the American Veterinary... Dec 2016
Topics: Animal Husbandry; Animals; Female; Male; Poultry Diseases; Protozoan Infections, Animal; Turkeys
PubMed: 27901459
DOI: 10.2460/javma.249.12.1371 -
Genes Aug 2019The epithelium represents the first and most extensive line of defence against pathogens, toxins and pollutant agents in humans. In general, pathogens have developed... (Review)
Review
The epithelium represents the first and most extensive line of defence against pathogens, toxins and pollutant agents in humans. In general, pathogens have developed strategies to overcome this barrier and use it as an entrance to the organism. , and spp. are amoebae mainly responsible for intestinal dysentery, meningoencephalitis and keratitis, respectively. These amoebae cause significant morbidity and mortality rates. Thus, the identification, characterization and validation of molecules participating in host-parasite interactions can provide attractive targets to timely intervene disease progress. In this work, we present a compendium of the parasite adhesins, lectins, proteases, hydrolases, kinases, and others, that participate in key pathogenic events. Special focus is made for the analysis of assorted molecules and mechanisms involved in the interaction of the parasites with epithelial surface receptors, changes in epithelial junctional markers, implications on the barrier function, among others. This review allows the assessment of initial host-pathogen interaction, to correlate it to the potential of parasite invasion.
Topics: Acanthamoeba; Animals; Entamoeba histolytica; Epithelial Cells; Host-Parasite Interactions; Humans; Naegleria fowleri; Protozoan Infections
PubMed: 31416298
DOI: 10.3390/genes10080618 -
Impact of parasitic infection on mental health and illness in humans in Africa: a systematic review.Parasitology Jul 2022A growing body of research implicates inflammation as a potential pathway in the aetiology and pathophysiology of some mental illnesses. A systematic review was...
A growing body of research implicates inflammation as a potential pathway in the aetiology and pathophysiology of some mental illnesses. A systematic review was conducted to determine the association between parasitic infection and mental illnesses in humans in Africa and reviewed the state of the evidence available. The search focused on publications from Africa documenting the relationship between parasites from two parasite groups, helminths and protozoans, and four classifications of mental illness: mood affective disorders, neurotic and stress-related disorders, schizotypal disorders and unspecified mental illnesses. In the 26 reviewed papers, the prevalence of mental illness was significantly higher in people with parasitic infection compared to those without infection, i.e., 58.2% 41.8% ( < 0.001). An overall odds ratio found that the association of having a mental illness when testing positive for a parasitic infection was four times that of people without infection. Whilst the study showed significant associations between parasite infection and mental illness, it also highlights gaps in the present literature on the pathophysiology of mental illness in people exposed to parasite infection. This study highlighted the importance of an integrated intervention for parasitic infection and mental illness.
Topics: Africa; Animals; Helminthiasis; Humans; Inflammation; Mental Disorders; Mental Health; Parasitic Diseases; Prevalence; Protozoan Infections
PubMed: 35549773
DOI: 10.1017/S0031182022000166 -
Parasitology Research Jan 2022The current drug treatments against protozoan parasitic diseases including Chagas, malaria, leishmaniasis, and toxoplasmosis represent good examples of drug resistance... (Review)
Review
The current drug treatments against protozoan parasitic diseases including Chagas, malaria, leishmaniasis, and toxoplasmosis represent good examples of drug resistance mechanisms and have shown diverse side effects. Therefore, the identification of novel therapeutic strategies and drug compounds against such life-threatening diseases is urgent. According to the successful usage of selenium (Se) compounds-based therapy against some diseases, this therapeutic strategy has been recently further underlined against these parasitic diseases by targeting different parasite´s essential pathways. On the other hand, due to the important functions played by parasite selenoproteins in their biology (such as modulating the host immune response), they can be also considered as a novel therapeutic strategy by designing specific inhibitors against these important proteins. In addition, the immunomodulatory potentiality of these compounds to trigger T helper type 1 (Th1) cells and cytokine-mediated immune response for the substantial induction of proinflammatory cytokines, thus, Se, selenoproteins, and parasite selenoproteins could be further investigated to find possible vaccine antigens. Herein, we collect and present the results of some studies regarding Se-based therapy against protozoan parasitic diseases and highlight relevant information and some viewpoints that might be insightful to advance toward more effective studies in the future.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Immunity, Cellular; Protozoan Infections; Selenium; Selenoproteins
PubMed: 34993638
DOI: 10.1007/s00436-021-07400-8