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Scientific Reports May 2024Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) exhibits a heightened incidence in regions with a high prevalence of Opisthorchis viverrini infection, with previous studies suggesting an...
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) exhibits a heightened incidence in regions with a high prevalence of Opisthorchis viverrini infection, with previous studies suggesting an association with diabetes mellitus (DM). Our study aimed to investigate the spatial distribution of CCA in relation to O. viverrini infection and DM within high-risk populations in Northeast Thailand. Participants from 20 provinces underwent CCA screening through the Cholangiocarcinoma Screening and Care Program between 2013 and 2019. Health questionnaires collected data on O. viverrini infection and DM, while ultrasonography confirmed CCA diagnoses through histopathology. Multiple zero-inflated Poisson regression, accounting for covariates like age and gender, assessed associations of O. viverrini infection and DM with CCA. Bayesian spatial analysis methods explored spatial relationships. Among 263,588 participants, O. viverrini infection, DM, and CCA prevalence were 32.37%, 8.22%, and 0.36%, respectively. The raw standardized morbidity ratios for CCA was notably elevated in the Northeast's lower and upper regions. Coexistence of O. viverrini infection and DM correlated with CCA, particularly in males and those aged over 60 years, with a distribution along the Chi, Mun, and Songkhram Rivers. Our findings emphasize the association of the spatial distribution of O. viverrini infection and DM with high-risk CCA areas in Northeast Thailand. Thus, prioritizing CCA screening in regions with elevated O. viverrini infection and DM prevalence is recommended.
Topics: Humans; Cholangiocarcinoma; Thailand; Male; Opisthorchiasis; Female; Middle Aged; Opisthorchis; Animals; Bile Duct Neoplasms; Aged; Prevalence; Adult; Spatial Analysis; Diabetes Mellitus; Bayes Theorem; Risk Factors
PubMed: 38714779
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61282-1 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... May 2024Successful regeneration of missing tissues requires seamless integration of positional information along the body axes. Planarians, which regenerate from almost any...
Successful regeneration of missing tissues requires seamless integration of positional information along the body axes. Planarians, which regenerate from almost any injury, use conserved, developmentally important signaling pathways to pattern the body axes. However, the molecular mechanisms which facilitate cross talk between these signaling pathways to integrate positional information remain poorly understood. Here, we report a () which functionally integrates the anterior-posterior (AP) and the medio-lateral (ML) axes. inhibits WNT/β-catenin signaling along the AP axis and, functions synergistically with the β-catenin-independent WNT signaling of the ML axis. Furthermore, this functional integration is dependent on and -the components of the Hippo/Yorkie (YKI) pathway. Hippo/YKI pathway is a critical regulator of body size in flies and mice, but our data suggest the pathway regulates body axes patterning in planarians. Our study provides a signaling network integrating positional information which can mediate coordinated growth and patterning during planarian regeneration.
Topics: Animals; Body Patterning; Nuclear Proteins; p21-Activated Kinases; Planarians; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; Regeneration; Trans-Activators; Wnt Signaling Pathway
PubMed: 38713625
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2321919121 -
Genome Biology and Evolution May 2024In animals, three main RNA interference mechanisms have been described so far, which respectively maturate three types of small noncoding RNAs (sncRNAs): miRNAs, piRNAs,...
In animals, three main RNA interference mechanisms have been described so far, which respectively maturate three types of small noncoding RNAs (sncRNAs): miRNAs, piRNAs, and endo-siRNAs. The diversification of these mechanisms is deeply linked with the evolution of the Argonaute gene superfamily since each type of sncRNA is typically loaded by a specific Argonaute homolog. Moreover, other protein families play pivotal roles in the maturation of sncRNAs, like the DICER ribonuclease family, whose DICER1 and DICER2 paralogs maturate respectively miRNAs and endo-siRNAs. Within Metazoa, the distribution of these families has been only studied in major groups, and there are very few data for clades like Lophotrochozoa. Thus, we here inferred the evolutionary history of the animal Argonaute and DICER families including 43 lophotrochozoan species. Phylogenetic analyses along with newly sequenced sncRNA libraries suggested that in all Trochozoa, the proteins related to the endo-siRNA pathway have been lost, a part of them in some phyla (i.e. Nemertea, Bryozoa, Entoprocta), while all of them in all the others. On the contrary, early diverging phyla, Platyhelminthes and Syndermata, showed a complete endo-siRNA pathway. On the other hand, miRNAs were revealed the most conserved and ubiquitous mechanism of the metazoan RNA interference machinery, confirming their pivotal role in animal cell regulation.
Topics: Animals; Evolution, Molecular; Phylogeny; RNA Interference; Ribonuclease III; MicroRNAs; RNA, Small Interfering; Argonaute Proteins; Invertebrates
PubMed: 38713108
DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae098 -
Parasites & Vectors May 2024The role of pathogen genotype in determining disease severity and immunopathology has been studied intensively in microbial pathogens including bacteria, fungi, protozoa...
BACKGROUND
The role of pathogen genotype in determining disease severity and immunopathology has been studied intensively in microbial pathogens including bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses but is poorly understood in parasitic helminths. The medically important blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni is an excellent model system to study the impact of helminth genetic variation on immunopathology. Our laboratory has demonstrated that laboratory schistosome populations differ in sporocyst growth and cercarial production in the intermediate snail host and worm establishment and fecundity in the vertebrate host. Here, we (i) investigate the hypothesis that schistosome genotype plays a significant role in immunopathology and related parasite life history traits in the vertebrate mouse host and (ii) quantify the relative impact of parasite and host genetics on infection outcomes.
METHODS
We infected BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice with four different laboratory schistosome populations from Africa and the Americas. We quantified disease progression in the vertebrate host by measuring body weight and complete blood count (CBC) with differential over a 12-week infection period. On sacrifice, we assessed parasitological (egg and worm counts, fecundity), immunopathological (organ measurements and histopathology) and immunological (CBC with differential and cytokine profiles) characteristics to determine the impact of parasite and host genetics.
RESULTS
We found significant variation between parasite populations in worm numbers, fecundity, liver and intestine egg counts, liver and spleen weight, and fibrotic area but not in granuloma size. Variation in organ weight was explained by egg burden and intrinsic parasite factors independent of egg burden. We found significant variation between infected mouse lines in cytokine levels (IFN-γ, TNF-α), eosinophils, lymphocytes and monocyte counts.
CONCLUSIONS
This study showed that both parasite and host genotype impact the outcome of infection. While host genotype explains most of the variation in immunological traits, parasite genotype explains most of the variation in parasitological traits, and both host and parasite genotypes impact immunopathology outcomes.
Topics: Animals; Schistosoma mansoni; Mice; Genotype; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Schistosomiasis mansoni; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Female; Host-Parasite Interactions; Cytokines
PubMed: 38711063
DOI: 10.1186/s13071-024-06286-6 -
Fish & Shellfish Immunology Jun 2024Aporocotylids (Trematoda: Digenea), also known as fish blood flukes infect the circulatory system of fish leading to serious health problems and mortality. Aporocotylids... (Review)
Review
Aporocotylids (Trematoda: Digenea), also known as fish blood flukes infect the circulatory system of fish leading to serious health problems and mortality. Aporocotylids are a particular concern for farmed fish as infection intensity can increase within the farming environment and lead to mortalities. In the context of managing these infections, one of the most crucial aspects to consider is the host response of the infected fish against these blood flukes. Understanding the response is essential to improving current treatment strategies that are largely based on the use of anthelmintic praziquantel to manage infections in aquaculture. This review focuses on the current knowledge of farmed fish host responses against the different life stages of aporocotylids. New treatment strategies that are able to provide protection against reinfections should be a long-term goal and is not possible without understanding the fish response to infection and the interactions between host and parasite.
Topics: Animals; Trematode Infections; Fish Diseases; Trematoda; Aquaculture; Fishes; Host-Parasite Interactions; Anthelmintics
PubMed: 38710341
DOI: 10.1016/j.fsi.2024.109613 -
Heliyon May 2024Four species of dominant wild animals, namely, , , , and , are hosts of potential infectious agents, including helminths and protozoa. Therefore, it is necessary to...
Four species of dominant wild animals, namely, , , , and , are hosts of potential infectious agents, including helminths and protozoa. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the infectious agents present in these wild animals to monitor and control the spread of pathogens. In the present study, fecal samples from 51 wild animals were collected from the mountains of Yangpyeong, Hoengseong, and Cheongyang in South Korea and metabarcoding of the V9 region of the 18S rRNA gene was performed to identify various parasite species that infect these wild animals. Genes from nematodes, such as sp., spp., sp., and sp., were detected in the fecal samples from wild animals. In addition, platyhelminthes, including sp., Echinostomatidae gen. sp., sp., sp. and sp., and protozoa, including sp., sp., sp., sp., sp. and sp., were detected. In the present study, various parasites infecting wild animals were successfully identified using metabarcoding. Our technique may play a crucial role in monitoring parasites within wild animals, especially those causing zoonoses.
PubMed: 38707283
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30059 -
Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology Sep 2024Neurocysticercosis is the leading cause for acquired epilepsy worldwide, and it is caused by the larval stage of the parasite Taenia solium. Several proteins of this...
Neurocysticercosis is the leading cause for acquired epilepsy worldwide, and it is caused by the larval stage of the parasite Taenia solium. Several proteins of this stage have been characterized and studied to understand the parasite-host interaction, however, the proteins from the early cysticercus stages (the postoncospheral form) have not yet been characterized. The study of the postoncospheral form proteins is important to understand the host-parasite relationship in the early stages of infection. The aim of this work was to identify postoncospheral form antigenic proteins using sera from neurocysticercosis patients. T. solium activated oncospheres were cultured in HCT-8 cells to obtain the postoncospheral form. Soluble total and excretory/secretory proteins were obtained from the postoncospheral form and were incubated with both pool sera and individual serum of neurocysticercosis positive human patients. Immunoblotting showed target antigenic proteins with apparent molecular weights of 23 kDa and 46-48 kDa. The 46-48 kDa antigen bands present in soluble total and excretory/secretory postoncospheral form proteins were analyzed by LC-MS/MS; proteins identified were: nuclear elongation factor 1 alpha, enolase, unnamed protein product/antigen diagnostic GP50, calcium binding protein calreticulin precursor and annexin. The postoncospheral form expresses proteins related to interaction with the host, some of these proteins are predicted to be exosomal proteins. In conclusion, postoncospheral proteins are consistent targets of the humoral immune response in human and may serve as targets for diagnosis and vaccines.
Topics: Taenia solium; Antigens, Helminth; Animals; Humans; Neurocysticercosis; Helminth Proteins; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Antibodies, Helminth; Chromatography, Liquid; Molecular Weight
PubMed: 38705360
DOI: 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2024.111621 -
Acta Tropica Jul 2024Cystic echinococcosis (CE), caused by the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus, is a zoonotic parasitic disease that still represents a serious threat to human and animal...
Cystic echinococcosis (CE), caused by the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus, is a zoonotic parasitic disease that still represents a serious threat to human and animal health worldwide. The Mediterranean basin is recognized as one of the major hotspots of CE due to several factors, including the presence of diverse intermediate host species as well as socio-economic and cultural conditions of local communities. This study aims to take a closer look at epidemiological data on CE in the Mediterranean area and assess the knowledge attitudes and practices of shepherds towards this disease in four countries (Algeria, Greece, Italy and Tunisia), highly endemic for CE, with the final goal of identifying highly endemic risk areas and practices in use which might potentially allow the persistence of E. granulosus infection in these areas. To update the epidemiological scenario of CE in Mediterranean areas, a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed literature on CE prevalence data published during the 2017-2023 period was carried out and, through a geographical information system (GIS), a map displaying the current CE distribution in the Mediterranean area was generated. In addition, a questionnaire survey was conducted through in-depth interviews of the farmers to collect information on their management system as well as knowledge attitudes and practices towards CE. From the farmer-participatory survey some risky practices emerged including the non-regular deworming of dogs or the use of ineffective drugs or dosing, as well as the provision of uncooked animal viscera to dogs. Finally, lower levels of knowledge and awareness of the disease was observed among farmers from North Africa compared with those of European countries. In conclusion, the results obtained highlight that CE is still a very serious problem in Mediterranean areas and increased efforts are needed to promote awareness among farmers and to turn research results into policy in order to reduce the spread of this disease, according to the One Health perspective.
Topics: Animals; Echinococcosis; Livestock; Dogs; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Echinococcus granulosus; Mediterranean Region; Dog Diseases; Greece; Zoonoses; Humans; Italy; Prevalence; Cattle; Tunisia; Algeria; Surveys and Questionnaires; Sheep; Farmers
PubMed: 38705342
DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107240 -
Scientific Reports May 2024Presenting new molecular and scanning electron microscope (SEM) features, this study gives additional data to the better knowledge of Thaparocleidus vistulensis (Siwak,...
Presenting new molecular and scanning electron microscope (SEM) features, this study gives additional data to the better knowledge of Thaparocleidus vistulensis (Siwak, 1932) (Monopisthocotyla, Ancylodiscoididae), a parasite of the European catfish Silurus glanis Linnaeus, 1758 (Siluriformes, Siluridae) cultured in a commercial fish farm in Hungary. In addition, notes on the early development of sclerotized anchors are also provided. The main morphological difference of T. vistulensis compared to other congeneric species is associated with the male copulatory organ, which exhibits 5-7 loops in the middle of the penis length and a long open V-shaped sclerotized accessory piece, dividing terminally into two parts, securing the terminal part of the penis tube. The present study provides for the first time molecular characterization data based on the 2694 bp long nucleotide sequence of rDNA (ITS1, 5.8S, ITS2, and flanked with partial 18S and partial 28S) submitted in GenBank with the accession number OR916383. A phylogenetic tree based on ITS1 sequences supports a well-defined clade including T. vistulensis, forming a sister group with T. siluri, a species-specific monopisthocotylan parasite to S. glanis. The morphological characterization of T. vistulensis, especially for the male copulatory organ, together with the molecular data in the present study, extends knowledge about this monopisthocotylan species and provides new information for future phylogeny studies.
Topics: Animals; Phylogeny; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Male; Catfishes; Fish Diseases; Trematoda; DNA, Ribosomal
PubMed: 38704408
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61032-3 -
PloS One 2024Dicrocoelium lancet flukes cause significant production loss in ruminant livestock. Although co-infection with multiple Dicrocoelium species within a host is common,...
Dicrocoelium lancet flukes cause significant production loss in ruminant livestock. Although co-infection with multiple Dicrocoelium species within a host is common, techniques for studying the composition of these complex parasite communities are lacking. The pathogenicity, epidemiology, and therapeutic susceptibility of different helminth species vary, and little is known about the interactions that take place between co-infecting species and their hosts. Here, we describe the first applicationof metabarcoding deep amplicon sequencing method to studythe Dicrocoelium species in sheep and goats. First, rDNA ITS-2 sequences of four Dicrocoelium species (Dicrocoelium dendriticum, Dicrocoelium hospes, Dicrocoelium orientalis, and Dicrocoelium chinensis) were extracted from the NCBI public database. Phylogenetic analysis revealed separate clades of Dicrocoelium species; hence, molecular differentiation between each species is possible in co-infections. Second, 202 flukes belonging to seventeen host populations (morphologically verified as belonging to the Dicrocoelium genus) were evaluated to determine the deep amplicon sequencing read threshold of an individual fluke for each of the four species. The accuracy of the method in proportional quantification of samples collected from single hosts was further assessed. Overall, 198 (98.01%) flukes were confirmed as D. dendriticum and 1.98% produced no reads. The comparison of genetic distances between rDNA ITS-2 revealed 86% to 98% identity between the Dicrocoelium species. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated a distinct clustering of species, apart from D. orientalis and D. chinensis, which sit very close to each other in a single large clade whereas D. hospes and D. dendriticum are separated into their own clade. In conclusion each sample was identified as D. dendriticum based on the proportion of MiSeq reads and validated the presence of this group of parasites in the Gilgit Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces of Pakistan. The metabarcoding deep amplicon sequencing technology and bioinformatics pathway have several potential applications, including species interactions during co-infections, identifying the host and geographical distribution of Dicrocoelium in livestock, drug therapy response evaluation and understanding of the emergence and spread of drug resistance.
Topics: Animals; Dicrocoelium; Sheep; Goats; Dicrocoeliasis; Pakistan; Phylogeny; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Sheep Diseases; Goat Diseases; DNA, Helminth; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; Ruminants; Coinfection
PubMed: 38683822
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302455