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Biomolecules Sep 2021is a free-living amoeba (FLA) that is commonly known as the "brain-eating amoeba." This parasite can invade the central nervous system (CNS), causing an acute and... (Review)
Review
is a free-living amoeba (FLA) that is commonly known as the "brain-eating amoeba." This parasite can invade the central nervous system (CNS), causing an acute and fulminating infection known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). Even though PAM is characterized by low morbidity, it has shown a mortality rate of 98%, usually causing death in less than two weeks after the initial exposure. This review summarizes the most recent information about , its pathogenic molecular mechanisms, and the neuropathological processes implicated. Additionally, this review includes the main therapeutic strategies described in case reports and preclinical studies, including the possible use of immunomodulatory agents to decrease neurological damage.
Topics: Animals; Antiprotozoal Agents; Brain; Central Nervous System Protozoal Infections; Humans; Inflammation; Naegleria fowleri
PubMed: 34572533
DOI: 10.3390/biom11091320 -
Enfermedades Infecciosas Y... Jan 2020Infections causes by parasites of the gastrointestinal tract are a global public health problem. In industrialised countries, their particular epidemiological (low... (Review)
Review
Infections causes by parasites of the gastrointestinal tract are a global public health problem. In industrialised countries, their particular epidemiological (low general prevalence of enteroparasites), economic (high labour costs) and clinical characteristics (constant increase in the number of samples and diagnostic determinations to be performed) have led molecular techniques to progressively replace conventional microscopy as the first-line diagnostic method of these pathogens in modern clinical laboratories. PCR-based techniques, particularly those developed for the simultaneous detection of the various agents that can cause the same infectious disease (syndromic diagnosis), already represent a cost-effective option that allow process automisation, workflow optimisation, and comparison of results among different laboratories, and facilitate accreditation of diagnostic procedures. This review clearly and concisely discusses the current situation of the molecular diagnosis of the main species of intestinal parasites in humans, particularly the enteric protozoans causing diarrhoea (Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia duodenalis, Entamoeba histolytica), the most important members the Microsporidia phyla (Enterocytozoon bieneusi) and Stramenopiles phyla (Blastocystis sp.), as well as the helminths transmitted by soil (Ancylostoma spp., Ascaris lumbricoides, Necator americanus, Strongyloides stercoralis and Trichuris trichiura) and food (Anisakis spp., Clonorchis sinensis, Fasciola spp., Taenia solium, and Trichinella spiralis). Special attention is paid to the description of available techniques and formats, to their diagnostic benefits and the most widely used genetic markers for their detection, both in clinical laboratories and genotyping in referral and research centres.
Topics: Animals; Diarrhea; Feces; Helminthiasis; Humans; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic; Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; Protozoan Infections; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
PubMed: 32111362
DOI: 10.1016/j.eimc.2020.02.005 -
Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology... Feb 2020Naegleria fowleri, a thermophilic flagellate amoeba known as a "brain-eating" amoeba, is the aetiological agent of a perilous and devastating waterborne disease known as... (Review)
Review
Naegleria fowleri, a thermophilic flagellate amoeba known as a "brain-eating" amoeba, is the aetiological agent of a perilous and devastating waterborne disease known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), both in humans as well as in animals. PAM is a rare but fatal disease affecting young adults all around the world, particularly in the developed world but recently reported from developing countries, with 95%-99% mortality rate. Swimmers and divers are at high risk of PAM as the warm water is the most propitious environment adapted by N. fowleri to cause this infection. Infective amoeba in the trophozoite phase enter the victim's body through the nose, crossing the cribriform plate to reach the human brain and cause severe destruction of the central nervous system (CNS). The brain damage leads to brain haemorrhage and death occurs within 3-7 days in undiagnosed cases and maltreated cases. Though the exact pathogenesis of N. fowleri is still not known, it has exhibited two primary mechanisms, contact-independent (brain damage through different proteins) and contact-dependent (brain damage through surface structures food cups), that predominantly contribute to the pathogen invading the host CNS. For the management of this life-threatening infection different treatment regimens have been applied but still the survival rate is only 5% which is ascribed to its misdiagnosis, as the PAM symptoms closely resembled bacterial meningitis. The main objectives of this review article are to compile data to explore the sources and routes of N. fowleri infection, its association in causing PAM along with its pathophysiology; latest techniques used for accurate diagnosis, management options along with challenges for Pakistan to control this drastic disorder.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Infective Agents; Brain; Central Nervous System Protozoal Infections; Disease Management; Humans; Naegleria fowleri; Olfactory Mucosa
PubMed: 31612525
DOI: 10.1111/1440-1681.13192 -
The Veterinary Clinics of North... Nov 2022Cytauxzoon felis is a hematoprotozoan parasite with a complex life cycle involving a tick-vector and a mammalian host. The mammalian hosts are all felidae but in the... (Review)
Review
Cytauxzoon felis is a hematoprotozoan parasite with a complex life cycle involving a tick-vector and a mammalian host. The mammalian hosts are all felidae but in the bobcat reservoir host, the parasite typically causes only a brief, self-resolving illness followed by a prolonged subclinical infection. In domestic cats, however, infection often leads to an acute febrile illness characterized by severe morbidity and mortality. Diagnosis is based on microscopic identification of parasites or molecular testing. Treatment for ill cats is expensive, difficult, and often unsuccessful. Prevention is quite possible and depends on avoidance of feeding by vector ticks.
Topics: Animals; Cats; Protozoan Infections, Animal; Disease Reservoirs; Piroplasmida; Lynx; Ticks; Cat Diseases
PubMed: 36336418
DOI: 10.1016/j.cvsm.2022.06.007 -
Medecine Tropicale Et Sante... Sep 2023Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran - 18 June 1845 - 18 May 1922: first French Nobel Prize in Medicine, "in recognition of his work on the role played by protozoa in causing...
Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran - 18 June 1845 - 18 May 1922: first French Nobel Prize in Medicine, "in recognition of his work on the role played by protozoa in causing diseases". One hundred years after his death, only written records remain of his work and life. The witnesses to this period are no more. Alphonse Laveran has become an "object" of history.He was deeply involved in a turbulent historical period, marked by crises of regime change (Monarchy/Empire/Republic), military events (French colonial expansion in North Africa from 1830, the wars of 1870 and 1914-1918) and their consequences (the medical impact of infections in the colonial empire and during armed conflicts, the Dreyfus affair, among others), the advent of Pasteurian "microbiology" and the deciphering of the causes and modes of transmission of infectious diseases. A player on the edge of the military and civilian worlds, with their own, sometimes incompatible, visions of the aims and objectives to be pursued, Alphonse Laveran lived through these upheavals in a society in the throes of change, in his family and scientific environment.Paradoxically, the primary sources available to us for learning about this scientist and man are both abundant and "scarce" for us in the 21st century. His scientific publications and many of his speeches at various academies, committees and meetings are for the most part public and accessible, giving us a vision of a professional in scientific and medical research in action, presenting and convincing people of his ideas and theoretical and practical insights. The writings of his contemporaries, both public and private, shed light on - distort? - the man's many facets. On the other hand, there are few surviving sources on the man and his vision of life, his life and that of his family and friends.We will rely on the archives that have been preserved, in particular by the organisations that welcomed him during his military and civilian career, as well as by his wife Marie Laveran and his colleague Marie Phisalix, one of the first doctors of medicine in France and a renowned herpetologist. These two female figures have preserved and contributed to his memory. Let's take a closer look at the man behind the scientist, as we can imagine him through the traces that remain.
Topics: Humans; Africa, Northern; France; Protozoan Infections; History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century
PubMed: 38094485
DOI: 10.48327/mtsi.v3i3.2023.406 -
Experimental Eye Research Jan 2021Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is a rare protozoal infection of the cornea. At least eight species of Acanthamoeba are known to cause this sight-threatening disease of the... (Review)
Review
Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is a rare protozoal infection of the cornea. At least eight species of Acanthamoeba are known to cause this sight-threatening disease of the ocular surface. Acanthamoeba spp. exist in a wide array of niches ranging from thermal springs to under ice and every conceivable habitat in between. Contact lens wear is the leading risk factor for AK and is practiced by over 30 million individuals in the United States, yet the incidence of AK is less than 33 cases per one million contact lens wearers. Serological studies have reported that 90%-100% of individuals with no history of AK possess antibodies specific for Acanthamoeba antigens indicating that exposure to this organism is commonplace, yet disease is remarkably rare. Animal studies have shed light on the pathobiology and immunobiology of AK and indicate that a constellation of factors including the ocular surface microbiome and the microbiome of Acanthamoeba itself contribute to the pathogenesis of AK. Interesting, secretory antibodies produced by the adaptive immune response can prevent the initiation of corneal infection, but once Acanthamoeba trophozoites breach the corneal epithelium the adaptive immune system is helpless in altering the course of AK. It has been almost 50 years since AK was first described, yet many questions remain unanswered about this curious and enigmatic disease of the ocular surface.
Topics: Acanthamoeba; Acanthamoeba Keratitis; Animals; Antibodies, Protozoan; Contact Lenses; Cornea; Eye Infections, Parasitic; Humans; Risk Factors
PubMed: 33221372
DOI: 10.1016/j.exer.2020.108365 -
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection... 2022
Topics: Humans; Protozoan Infections
PubMed: 36118046
DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.1002602 -
Frontiers in Immunology 2023Protozoan diseases cause great harm in animal husbandry and require human-provided medical treatment. Protozoan infection can induce changes in cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)... (Review)
Review
Protozoan diseases cause great harm in animal husbandry and require human-provided medical treatment. Protozoan infection can induce changes in cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression. The role played by COX-2 in the response to protozoan infection is complex. COX-2 induces and regulates inflammation by promoting the synthesis of different prostaglandins (PGs), which exhibit a variety of biological activities and participate in pathophysiological processes in the body in a variety of ways. This review explains the roles played by COX-2 in protozoan infection and analyzes the effects of COX-2-related drugs in protozoan diseases.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Cyclooxygenase 2; Protozoan Infections; Animal Husbandry; Inflammation; Prostaglandins
PubMed: 36875123
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.955616 -
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection... 2022In recent years, massive attention has been attracted to the development and application of machine learning (ML) in the field of infectious diseases, not only serving... (Review)
Review
In recent years, massive attention has been attracted to the development and application of machine learning (ML) in the field of infectious diseases, not only serving as a catalyst for academic studies but also as a key means of detecting pathogenic microorganisms, implementing public health surveillance, exploring host-pathogen interactions, discovering drug and vaccine candidates, and so forth. These applications also include the management of infectious diseases caused by protozoal pathogens, such as , , , , and , a class of fatal or life-threatening causative agents capable of infecting humans and a wide range of animals. With the reduction of computational cost, availability of effective ML algorithms, popularization of ML tools, and accumulation of high-throughput data, it is possible to implement the integration of ML applications into increasing scientific research related to protozoal infection. Here, we will present a brief overview of important concepts in ML serving as background knowledge, with a focus on basic workflows, popular algorithms (e.g., support vector machine, random forest, and neural networks), feature extraction and selection, and model evaluation metrics. We will then review current ML applications and major advances concerning protozoal pathogens and protozoal infectious diseases through combination with correlative biology expertise and provide forward-looking insights for perspectives and opportunities in future advances in ML techniques in this field.
Topics: Algorithms; Animals; Communicable Diseases; Cryptosporidiosis; Cryptosporidium; Machine Learning; Neural Networks, Computer
PubMed: 35573796
DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.882995 -
The Veterinary Clinics of North... Nov 2022Canine babesiosis results from infection of 1 of 5 identified protozoal species in the United States (Babesia conradae, Babesia sp. "coco," Babesia gibsoni, Babesia... (Review)
Review
Canine babesiosis results from infection of 1 of 5 identified protozoal species in the United States (Babesia conradae, Babesia sp. "coco," Babesia gibsoni, Babesia vogeli, and Babesia vulpes). They are part of the Apicomplexa family of protozoa and are obligate intraerythrocytic parasites. Domestic and wild canids are suspected of being intermediate hosts. This updated article aims to provide practical guidance about the clinical manifestations of disease, treatment options, and outcomes. In addition, the authors hope to provide some clarity about the taxonomy and nomenclature of these organisms, as they have undergone multiple changes since their initial discovery.
Topics: Animals; Dogs; Babesia; Babesiosis; Dog Diseases; North America
PubMed: 36336417
DOI: 10.1016/j.cvsm.2022.07.016