湛江市遂溪县曲水村人体寄生虫分布与危害调查

目的了解广东省湛江市遂溪县洋青镇曲水村人体寄生虫病流行与危害情况。方法采用生理盐水直接涂片法、饱和盐水浮聚法、改良加藤厚涂片法和试管滤纸钩蚴培养法检查人体寄生虫感染情况。采用询问登记、填写调查表方式,了解寄生虫病的危害情况。解剖检查褐家鼠、福寿螺广州管圆线虫感染情况。结果检出钩虫、蛔虫、鞭虫、蛲虫和粗脚粉螨5种寄生虫,总感染率为10.75%。钩虫感染率为6.07%,蛔虫和鞭虫均为1.87%,蛲虫和粗脚粉螨均为0.47%。感染率男性高于女性,与职业和年龄分布无关。感染度多以轻度为主。钩虫感染者钩蚴性皮炎发生率为69.23%,虫种为美洲钩虫。鼠类、褐云玛瑙螺和福寿螺广州管圆线虫感染率分别为16.66%,13.04%和10.00%。结论遂溪县曲水村分布虫种主要为线虫,以钩虫为主;为广州管圆线虫病的自然疫源地。     

The effects of toxoplasma infection on rodent behavior are dependent on dose of the stimulus

Parasite Toxoplasma gondii blocks the innate aversion of rats for cat urine, putatively increasing the likelihood of a cat predating a rat. This is thought to reflect an adaptive behavioral manipulation, because toxoplasma can reproduce only in cat intestines. While it will be adaptive for the parasite to cause an absolute behavioral change, fitness costs associated with the manipulation itself suggest that the change is optimized and not maximized. We investigate these conflicting suggestions in the present report. Furthermore, exposure to cat odor causes long-lasting acquisition of learnt fear in the rodents. If toxoplasma manipulates emotional valence of cat odor rather than just sensory response, infection should affect learning driven by the aversive properties of the odor. As a second aim of the present study, we investigate this assertion. We demonstrate that behavioral changes in rodents induced by toxoplasma infection do not represent absolute all-or-none effects. Rather, these effects follow a non-monotonous function dependent on strength of stimulus, roughly resembling an inverted-U curve. Furthermore, infection affects conditioning to cat odor in a manner dependent upon strength of unconditioned stimulus employed. Non-monotonous relationship between behavioral manipulation and strength of cat odor agrees with the suggestion that a dynamic balance exists between benefit obtained and costs incurred by the parasite during the manipulation. This report also demonstrates that toxoplasma affects emotional valence of the cat odor as indicated by altered learned fear induced by cat odor.     

CT diagnosis of intestinal ascariasis

The clinical symptoms and appearance by computed tomography of intestinal ascariasis are described in a patient with unsuspected Ascaris lumbricoides infestation.     

Molecular Detection of Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense in Humans,China

The cause of diphyllobothriosis in 5 persons in Harbin and Shanghai, China, during 2008–2011, initially attributed to the tapeworm Diphyllobothrium latum, was confirmed as D. nihonkaiense by using molecular analysis of expelled proglottids. The use of morphologic characteristics alone to identify this organism was inadequate and led to misidentification of the species.     

Few colonies of the host Bombus terrestris disproportionately affect the genetic diversity of its parasite,Crithidia bombi

Sex and recombination have long been considered as necessary means for hosts to keep up with and resist to their faster reproducing parasites. On the other hand, comparatively little attention has been paid to potential benefits of recombination for the parasites. Using as model organisms the bumblebee Bombus terrestris and its genetically highly variable trypanosomatid parasite Crithidia bombi we analysed the infection dynamics as well as the relative frequency of parasite recombinants over time, in colonies that were either immune-challenged with heat-killed bacteria or sham-inoculated. In addition, we used infective cells from a given colony to infect workers from other, untreated colonies, to investigate whether recombinant parasite strains may have a competitive advantage over the parental strains to infect the surrounding host population. We show that in our experimental setup the host immune status does not influence the proportion of recombinant parasite cells in the infection. Neither do recombinant parasite strains have an advantage over the parental ones at infecting workers unrelated to the host colony the infection originally came from. However, we found that the prevalence of recombinants was highly variable among colonies, with one particular colony producing significantly more recombinant strains than others. As the successful infection of daughter queens – the only individuals surviving the winter to the next year – is proportional to the number of circulating parasite strains in the colony, we suggest that such “super-producing” colonies may be responsible for most of the infections happening in the next year.     

Interactions between macrophages and helminths

Macrophages, the major population of tissue-resident mononuclear phagocytes, contribute significantly to the immune response during helminth infection. Alternatively activated macrophages (AAM) are induced early in the anti-helminth response following tissue insult and parasite recognition, amplifying the early type 2 immune cascade initiated by epithelial cells and ILC2s, and subsequently driving parasite expulsion. AAM also contribute to functional alterations in tissues infiltrated with helminth larvae, mediating both tissue repair and inflammation. Their activation is amplified and occurs more rapidly following reinfection, where they can play a dual role in trapping tissue migratory larvae and preventing or resolving the associated inflammation and damage. In this review, we will address both the known and emerging roles of tissue macrophages during helminth infection, in addition to considering both outstanding research questions and new therapeutic strategies.     

Whole parasite vaccines for the asexual blood stages of Plasmodium

After many decades of research, an effective vaccine for malaria is still not available. Most research efforts have focused on identifying a key target antigen and then using powerful adjuvants to generate specific antibodies that can block parasites from entering host cells (hepatocytes, red blood cells). However, the inability to generate sufficiently potent antibody responses has led to significant disappointment with current vaccine programs. An additional challenge for sub-unit vaccines is that key vaccine antigens are highly polymorphic. These challenges have spurred radically different approaches to malaria vaccine development. Many of these involve the use of “whole parasites”—either extracted from mosquitoes or cultured. With these, every parasite molecule for that particular strain is included in the vaccine. This strategy is showing great promise following several clinical trials with irradiated sporozoites. However, a whole-parasite approach to a blood stage vaccine has not advanced as quickly. This article outlines the history, the different approaches that are being taken and the challenges associated with whole parasite blood stage vaccines and discusses recent exciting developments as these vaccines now move into the clinic.     

Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor Isolated from a Parasite Inhibited Th2 Cytokine Production in PBMCs of Atopic Asthma Patients

Background. In a previous study, we demonstrated that the human macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF)-like protein (As-MIF) isolated from helminths could inhibit allergic airway inflammation via the recruitment of CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ T cells. Objective. To evaluate the clinical importance of As-MIF as an antiasthma drug, we evaluated immune responses after recombinant As-MIF (rAs-MIF) treatment in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures. Methods. PBMC was isolated from 10 patients with atopic asthma, 8 patients with nonatopic asthma, and 12 nonatopic healthy subjects, and various concentrations of rAs-MIF were transferred into the PBMC culture medium. After 3 days, we measured the levels of T helper 2 and T helper 1 cytokines via ELISA. Results. In atopic asthma, IL-4 and IL-5 production was significantly reduced in the PBMC cultures after rAs-MIF treatment. These inhibitory effects were not observed in the nonatopic asthma group. By way of contrast, IL-10 production in the PMBC cultures was significantly increased after rAs-MIF treatment in all experimental groups. Conclusion. The results of this study are similar to those previously reported in a mouse study, suggesting that As-MIF might be a candidate for the specific treatment of asthma.