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Parasites, Hosts and Diseases Nov 2023Paleoparasitology is a discipline that applies existing conventional and molecular techniques to study parasites found in ancient ruins. This review focuses on the... (Review)
Review
Paleoparasitology is a discipline that applies existing conventional and molecular techniques to study parasites found in ancient ruins. This review focuses on the history of the discovery of parasites (mostly helminth eggs and larvae) in archaeological soil samples and mummies in Korea from the Three Kingdoms Period to the Joseon Dynasty (100 BCE-1910 CE). We also briefly review important milestones in global paleoparasitology. The helminth species reported so far in Korea included Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Strongyloides stercoralis (larva), Trichostrongylus sp. (larva), Paracapillaria philippinensis (syn. Capillaria philippinensis), Enterobius vermicularis, Fasciola hepatica, dicrocoeliids, Paragonimus westermani, Clonorchis sinensis, Metagonimus yokogawai, Pygidiopsis summa, Gymnophalloides seoi, Isthmiophora hortensis, Dibothriocephalus nihonkaiensis (syn. Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense), and Taenia spp. tapeworms. The findings obtained by Korean paleoparasitologists/archaeologists have brought about deep insight into the status of helminthic infections in Korea's past populations. Continued paleoparasitological research is essential for further understanding of ancient parasites and parasitic diseases in Korea.
Topics: Animals; Larva; Republic of Korea; Parasitic Diseases; Helminthiasis; Trematoda; Parasites; Heterophyidae
PubMed: 38043533
DOI: 10.3347/PHD.23085 -
The Korean Journal of Parasitology Dec 2009The present study investigated the infection status of Paragonimus westermani metacercariae in freshwater crabs (n = 363) and crayfish (n = 31) from October 2007 to...
The present study investigated the infection status of Paragonimus westermani metacercariae in freshwater crabs (n = 363) and crayfish (n = 31) from October 2007 to October 2008 using the crush method. All of the freshwater crabs, Eriocheir japonicus, were negative for P. westermani metacercariae while 10 (32.3%) of the 31 examined crayfish were positive. The 10 positive crayfish were caught in Haenam, Jeollanam-do, and there were 8-59 (mean 28.4) metacercariae per infected crayfish. These results suggest that P. westermani metacercariae are still transmitted by crayfish enzootically in southern Korea, and that freshwater crabs may transmit metacercariae only on rare occasions.
Topics: Animals; Astacoidea; Brachyura; Humans; Korea; Paragonimiasis; Paragonimus westermani; Prevalence
PubMed: 19967096
DOI: 10.3347/kjp.2009.47.4.425 -
Parasitology Research 1995Two groups of Paragonimus westermani (Tematoda: Platyhelminthes) exist in nature: diploids and triploids. Generally, these two groups live allopatrically, but in...
Two groups of Paragonimus westermani (Tematoda: Platyhelminthes) exist in nature: diploids and triploids. Generally, these two groups live allopatrically, but in Kuandian, Liaoning Province, in the Republic of China, they live sympatrically. In our Chinese experiment on Paragonimus we used metacercariae of P. westermani, which we collected in Kuandian, Xigutai, and performed a cytological analysis. The results were as follows: (1) the P. westermani in Xigutai lived sympatrically as diploids and triploids; (2) all of the small metacercariae were diploids; (3) the large metacercariae were in large proportion triploids; (4) we found one tetraploid specimen in both the medium and the large metacercariae--this was the first time tetraploid lung flukes were discovered; (5) the somatic chromosomes of the tetraploids were different in numbers (4n = 44), but we could not find any difference in the karyotype of haploid sets and that of the diploids and the triploids; (6) unlike the triploids, during their meiosis the tetraploids produced a chromosome pairing, and we found a tendency of the large chromosomes to become quadrivalent; and (7) also unlike the triploids, a great number of spermatids were found in the tetraploid testes. Because of these findings, we can consider tetraploids to be autotetraploids, and these are probably produced by the fertilization of diploids and triploids. We also think that the gametes of tetraploids have a fertilization capability.
Topics: Animals; China; Chromosomes; Diploidy; Female; Fertilization; Karyotyping; Male; Paragonimus; Polyploidy; Spermatocytes; Spermatogonia
PubMed: 7479656
DOI: 10.1007/BF00932031 -
Paediatrics and International Child... Nov 2018An 11-year-old boy collapsed during morning assembly at his junior high school. The automated external defibrillator detected ventricular fibrillation and provided shock...
An 11-year-old boy collapsed during morning assembly at his junior high school. The automated external defibrillator detected ventricular fibrillation and provided shock delivery. He was successfully resuscitated and reverted to sinus rhythm. Electrocardiography showed ST-T elevation in the precordial leads. Echocardiography and angiography demonstrated akinesia of the apex and mid-wall of the left ventricle with preserved contraction of the basal segments, which suggested Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. The patient and his family had often eaten uncooked crab, and his father had a past history of infection with Paragonimiasis westermani. The patient had had a persistent cough and chest pain for several weeks. Chest radiograph showed cystic cavities in the left upper lung. Microbiological examination of the sputum demonstrated an egg of P. westermani and immunological assay showed a raised antibody titre to P. westermani. On the12th day of admission, he developed seizures, and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated cerebral involvement. After the administration of praziquantel for 3 days, the clinical manifestations improved immediately, and echocardiography normalised within 3 weeks. The patient was discharged on the 32nd day + and follow-up was normal. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy following a potentially fatal arrhythmia is a rare cardiac complication associated with pulmonary and central nervous system infection by P. westermani.
Topics: Angiography; Animals; Antiparasitic Agents; Central Nervous System Parasitic Infections; Child; Echocardiography; Electrocardiography; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Microbiological Techniques; Paragonimiasis; Paragonimus westermani; Praziquantel; Radiography, Thoracic; Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 28884631
DOI: 10.1080/20469047.2017.1371482 -
Parasitology Research Apr 2008Adult flukes of Paragonimus species were obtained from lungs of experimental animals infected with metacercariae found in field-collected freshwater crabs in Sri Lanka....
Adult flukes of Paragonimus species were obtained from lungs of experimental animals infected with metacercariae found in field-collected freshwater crabs in Sri Lanka. Morphological studies of adult worms under a scanning electron microscope as well as a ordinary microscope were performed in the present study. All of morphological features observed clearly indicated that this species is P. westermani. On the other hand, the shapes of metacercariae were found to be mainly oval, but semioval and spherical ones also coexisted. In spite of the variety of their morphology of the metacercariae, there is no correlation between their shapes of metacercariae and the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences. Molecular phylogenetic analyses using two DNA regions (partial mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 and second internal transcribed spacer of the nuclear ribosomal gene repeat) placed the adult flukes of P. westermani from Sri Lanka basal in a tree including all specimens of P. westermani from various areas in Asia and P. siamensis from Thailand. The present study showed that P. westermani from Sri Lanka is an ancestral form.
Topics: Animals; Base Sequence; Brachyura; DNA, Helminth; DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; Electron Transport Complex IV; Evolution, Molecular; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Molecular Sequence Data; Paragonimus westermani; Phylogeny; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sri Lanka
PubMed: 18193283
DOI: 10.1007/s00436-007-0820-4 -
Kisaengch'unghak Chapchi. the Korean... Jun 1985In order to determine the epidemiological pattern of the Paragonimus westermani, the infestation rates of the cercarial and metacercarial larvae of digenetic trematodes...
In order to determine the epidemiological pattern of the Paragonimus westermani, the infestation rates of the cercarial and metacercarial larvae of digenetic trematodes in the snail and crayfish host, and the prevalence of Paragonimus westermani among the residents in the vicinity of the stream Namdae, Wyangpi, and Kwang, in the Ulchin county, Kyungpook province were studied from March to October in 1984. The population density of the snails per square meter of the habitats ranged form 5 to 25, with average of 15. Among the seven habitats, one, Ducheon, had snails infested with the cercariae of Paragonimus westermani, and the proportion of infested snails was very low, the average being 0.152 per thousand. Of six hundred and four crayfish examined, 113 or 18.7 per cent harboured the encysted larvae of Paragonimus westermani. A high infestation rate for the metacercariae in the crayfish was found in two habitats; 39.0 per cent in the Ducheon and 21.6 per cent in the Sokwang. The prevalence of Paragonimus westermani among the residents in Ulchin county was relatively high, 25.8 per cent by the Paragonimus intradermal tests and the difference in the rate of infection between males and females was found to be significant(t>2). The results obtained in this study indicate that endemic foci of Paragonimus westermani exist in Ulchin county and the prevalence of this lung fluke among the residents is relatviely high.
PubMed: 12888692
DOI: 10.3347/kjp.1985.23.1.102 -
Infectious Disease Clinics of North... Sep 1993The parasitic diseases of the liver and lung are caused by trematodes or flukes--Opisthorchis viverrini, O. felineus, Fasciola hepatica, and Paragonimus westermani.... (Review)
Review
The parasitic diseases of the liver and lung are caused by trematodes or flukes--Opisthorchis viverrini, O. felineus, Fasciola hepatica, and Paragonimus westermani. Humans get infected by eating the second intermediate host of the fluke, for example, fish, crab, or water plant. The disease runs a chronic course. The diagnosis is made by the recover of eggs in stools or sputum, or by serodiagnosis. Praziquantel is the drug of choice except in falcioliaisis.
Topics: Adult; Animals; Anthelmintics; Benzimidazoles; Clonorchiasis; Fascioliasis; Humans; Liver; Opisthorchiasis; Paragonimiasis; Praziquantel; Trematoda; Triclabendazole; Ultrasonography
PubMed: 8254167
DOI: No ID Found -
Advances in Experimental Medicine and... 2019Digenetic trematodes infecting humans are more than 91 species which belong to 46 genera all over the world. According to their habitat in definitive hosts, they are...
Digenetic trematodes infecting humans are more than 91 species which belong to 46 genera all over the world. According to their habitat in definitive hosts, they are classified as blood flukes (Schistosoma japonicum. S. mekongi, S. mansoni, S. haematobium, and S. intercalatum), liver flukes (Clonorchis sinensis, Opisthorchis viverrini, O. felineus, Metorchis conjunctus, M. bilis, M. orientalis, Fasciola hepatica, F. gigantica, Dicrocoelium dendriticum, and D. hospes), lung flukes (Paragonimus westermani, P. heterotremus, P. skrjabini, P. miyazakii, P. kellicoti, P. mexicanus, P. africanus, and P. uterobilateralis), throat fluke (Clinostomum complanatum), pancreatic fluke (Eurytrema pancreaticum), and intestinal flukes (Metagonimus yokogawai, M. miyatai, M. takahashii, Heterophyes nocens, H. heterophyes, Haplorchis taichui, H. pumilio, H. yokogawai, Centrocestus formosanus, Echinostoma revolutum, E. ilocanum, Isthmiophora hortensis, Echinochasmus japonicus, E. lilliputanus, Artyfechinostomum malayanum, A. sufrartyfex, A. oraoni, Fasciolopsis buski, Gymnophalloides seoi, Neodiplostomum seoulense, Caprimolgorchis molenkampi, Phaneropsolus bonnei, and Plagiorchis muris). The mode of transmission to humans includes contact with cercariae contaminated in water (schistosomes) and ingestion of raw or improperly cooked fish (liver and throat flukes, heterophyids, and echinostomes), snails (echinostomes and gymnophallids), amphibia, reptiles (neodiplostomes), aquatic vegetables (amphistomes), or insect larvae or adults (plagiorchiids, lecithodendriids, and pancreatic fluke). Praziquantel has been proved to be highly effective against most species of trematode infections except fascioliasis. Epidemiological surveys and detection of human infections are required for better understanding of the geographical distribution and endemicity of each trematode species.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Trematoda; Trematode Infections
PubMed: 31297768
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-18616-6_12 -
Parasitology Research May 2011In the present study, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was developed and validated for the detection of Paragonimus westermani adults,...
In the present study, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was developed and validated for the detection of Paragonimus westermani adults, metacercariae, and eggs in human and animal samples. The LAMP amplification can be finished in 45 min under isothermal condition at 60°C by employing a set of four species-specific primer mixtures and the results can be checked by naked-eye visualization. No amplification products were detected with deoxyribunucleic acid (DNA) of related trematode species including Fasciola hepatica, Fasciola gigantica, Clonorchis sinensis, Opisthorchis viverrini, Schistosoma mansoni, and Schistosoma japonicum. The method was further validated by examining P. westermani DNA in intermediate hosts including freshwater crabs and crayfish, as well as in sputum and pleural fluid samples from patients of paragonimiasis. These results indicated that the LAMP assay was highly specific, sensitive, and rapid, and it was approximately 100 times more sensitive than conventional specific PCR. The LAMP assay established in this study provides a rapid and sensitive tool for the detection of P. westermani DNA in freshwater crabs, crayfish, sputum, and pleural fluid samples, which has important implications for effective control of human paragonimiasis.
Topics: Animals; Astacoidea; Brachyura; DNA Primers; Humans; Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; Paragonimiasis; Paragonimus westermani; Parasitology; Sensitivity and Specificity; Temperature; Time Factors
PubMed: 21107864
DOI: 10.1007/s00436-010-2162-x -
Neuroscience Research Oct 2009Excretory-secretory products (ESP) from helminthic parasites may play pivotal roles in the immune regulation in hosts. Previously, we reported that ESP produced from...
Excretory-secretory products (ESP) from helminthic parasites may play pivotal roles in the immune regulation in hosts. Previously, we reported that ESP produced from Paragonimus westermani induced morphological activation of microglial cells and markedly stimulated nitric oxide (NO) production via activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). In the present study, we investigated the role of protein kinase C and protein kinase A in MAPKs-dependent NO production by ESP. We found that treatment with protein kinase C inhibitor Go6976 strongly inhibited the phosphorylation of p38 and JNK, but not ERK, of MAPKs and decreased the production of NO in ESP-stimulated microglial cells. Inhibition of ERK, p38 or PKC decreased the ESP-induced activation of NF-kappaB, an important transcription factor for iNOS expression. Furthermore, ESP increased the level of p-CREB in microglial cells. However, adenylyl cyclase activator (forskolin), adenylyl cyclase inhibitor (SQ22536), cAMP analogue (db-cAMP) or protein kinase A inhibitor (H89) was not able to change iNOS expression and NO production in ESP-treated microglial cells. It implies that the cAMP-PKA-CREB pathway is not implicated in the ESP-evoked NO production in microglial cells. Thus, our results indicate that ESP stimulates microglial expression of iNOS via both PKC-dependent and -independent MAPKs phosphorylation and NF-kappaB activation.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Cells, Cultured; Central Nervous System Infections; Cyclic AMP; Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases; Encephalitis; Enzyme Inhibitors; JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; MAP Kinase Signaling System; Microglia; NF-kappa B; Nitric Oxide; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; Paragonimiasis; Paragonimus westermani; Phosphorylation; Protein Kinase C; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
PubMed: 19539668
DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2009.06.006