口腔疾病与口腔原虫感染关系的分析

目的：了解银川地区口腔原虫感染情况，进一步探讨口腔原虫感染与口腔疾病的关系。方法：取口腔病灶或齿垢，用生理盐水直接涂片，光镜下检查口腔原虫滋养体。结果：口腔原虫总感染率为34．62％，（其中齿龈阿米巴感染率为32．21％，口腔滴虫感染率为5．05％）。14岁以下、14岁－、25－50岁、50岁以上各年龄组口腔原虫的检出率分别为17．65％、25．87％、26．12％和62．86％。结论：口腔原虫感染与口腔疾病及年龄有显著相关性。     

Evaluating the hazard of dodecyl alkyl sulphate to natural ecosystems using indigenous protistan communities

The effect of the surfactant dodecyl alkyl sulphate (C12AS) on the structure and function of lotic protistan assemblages was examined using the Experimental Stream Facility (ESF) operated by the Procter and Gamble Company. Population- and community-level responses to C12AS were monitored on introduced substrates placed in the channels 28 days prior to dosing (mature communities) as well as those placed in the channels on day 0 of dosing (immature communities), to allow for a broad assessment of the effect of the chemical on processes contributing both to community development and maintenance. C12AS appeared to elicit a subsidy response from the native protistan assemblage which may have resulted from both positive and negative responses at trophic levels above and below the assemblage. Protistan responses to the surfactant tended to occur more rapidly and be more sensitive than those documented for invertebrates and fish. C12AS elicited a modest response (i.e. a 20% change) from several reliable parameters including community respiration (reduced dissolved oxygen at 289 g per L), protozoan species richness (increased at 63 g per L) and protozoan community composition (increased dissimilarity at 1254 g per L). Responses to C12AS exceeded expected exposures in the real world by a factor of six or greater thereby indicating that the hazard of exposure to C12AS to stream communities is low. The results of this study support the use of mesocosms as decisive tools for evaluating the hazard posed by consumer product chemicals to natural communities and ecosystems     

机会致病原虫动物模型在实验教学中的应用

目的探讨机会性致病原虫在实验教学中的应用效果。方法选择卡氏肺孢子虫为机会致病原虫的代表虫种,Wistar大鼠为实验动物。实验课中给实验动物口服免疫抑制剂,学生按时观察实验动物的生理状态变化,并称体重后记录。至第3周取卡氏肺孢子虫肺组织匀浆,经右胸注入部分对照组和实验组大鼠体内。第6周解剖大鼠观察肺部病理变化,并取肺组织制片检查病原体。结果实验组大鼠口服免疫抑制剂醋酸地塞米松,5周后一般状态较差,有明显的脱毛,咳喘等现象;体重由原来的160～180g下降至120～140g;肺组织印片查到卡氏肺孢子虫。对照组大鼠在实验过程中体重逐渐增加,由原来的160～180g增至190～210g;一般情况良好,肺印片镜检未发现卡氏肺孢子虫。学生在实验报告中记录了观察和检查结果,对机会性致病原虫的致病特点有深刻认识。结论有效的实验操作是保证教学质量和培养创造性思维的关键。     

Review of Parasitic Zoonoses in Egypt

This review presents a comprehensive picture of the zoonotic parasitic diseases in Egypt, with particular reference to their relative prevalence among humans, animal reservoirs of infection, and sources of human infection. A review of the available literature indicates that many parasitic zoonoses are endemic in Egypt. Intestinal infections of parasitic zoonoses are widespread and are the leading cause of diarrhea, particularly among children and residents of rural areas. Some parasitic zoonoses are confined to specific geographic areas in Egypt, such as cutaneous leishmaniasis and zoonotic babesiosis in the Sinai. Other areas have a past history of a certain parasitic zoonoses, such as visceral leishmaniasis in the El-Agamy area in Alexandria. As a result of the implementation of control programs, a marked decrease in the prevalence of other zoonoses, such as schistosomiasis and fascioliasis has been observed. Animal reservoirs of parasitic zoonoses have been identified in Egypt, especially in rodents, stray dogs and cats, as well as vectors, typically mosquitoes and ticks, which constitute potential risks for disease transmission. Prevention and control programs against sources and reservoirs of zoonoses should be planned by public health and veterinary officers based on reliable information from systematic surveillance.     

福建省人体肠道原虫病调查分析

目的 了解福建省人体肠道原虫病流行现状。方法 按全国统一调查方案,以分层整群随机抽样方法,抽取15个调查县(市、区),每个县(市、区)调查5个点,每个调查点调查人数不少于250人。每份标本采用卢戈氏碘液涂片法与生理盐水直接涂片法检查肠道原虫包囊或滋养体。结果 共调查15县(市、区)75个点(村)10 652人,阳性者222人,各种肠道原虫总感染率为2.08%。检出6种肠道原虫,即人芽囊原虫、微小内蜒阿米巴、结肠内阿米巴、哈门氏内阿米巴、波列基内阿米巴及蓝氏贾第鞭毛虫,其感染率分别为0.79%、0.58%、0.41%、0.18%、0.09%与0.02%。男性感染率为0.84%,女性为1.25%,女性高于男性(χ²=8.8126,P<0.05)。感染者最大年龄86岁,最小3岁,以高年龄组(56岁以上)为主,占38.3%。感染者分布于多种职业,其中农民占77.9%,其次为学生占14.4%。调查地区感染率以平潭为最高7.04%,其次为漳浦4.62%与周宁3.92%。浙闽山地丘陵生态功能区感染率为1.52%(83/5469),滇桂粤中部闽南山地丘陵生态功能区为2.68%(139/5183),两者差异具有统计学意义(χ²=17.674,P<0.01)。结论 本次调查的人群原虫总感染率大幅降低,感染虫种明显减少,并以人芽囊原虫为常见的肠道原虫,应列为今后防制重点。     

Management of protozoa-related diarrhea in HIV infection

Protozoa infections are an important cause of chronic diarrhea in patients infected with HIV. The introduction of highly active antiretroviral treatment to the management of HIV in the mid1990s has led to a dramatic reduction in the incidence of these opportunistic infections in Europe and America. In contrast, in the developing world where such treatments are not readily affordable, protozoa-related diarrhea remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in HIV-infected individuals. In this review, the optimum investigations required to diagnose these pathogens in HIV-related diarrhea, as well as current treatment options, will be discussed.     

几种肠道原虫主要表面蛋白的研究进展

在溶组织内阿米巴、隐孢子虫和蓝氏贾第鞭毛虫的致病过程中,一些表面蛋白发挥着重要的作用,介导了原虫与宿主细胞的粘附以及侵入宿主细胞的过程,本文综述了其主要表面蛋白的研究进展以及在诊断和治疗中的应用。     

From the Cover: Trypanosomal TAC40 constitutes a novel subclass of mitochondrial β-barrel proteins specialized in mitochondrial genome inheritance

Mitochondria cannot form de novo but require mechanisms allowing their inheritance to daughter cells. In contrast to most other eukaryotes Trypanosoma brucei has a single mitochondrion whose single-unit genome is physically connected to the flagellum. Here we identify a β-barrel mitochondrial outer membrane protein, termed tripartite attachment complex 40 (TAC40), that localizes to this connection. TAC40 is essential for mitochondrial DNA inheritance and belongs to the mitochondrial porin protein family. However, it is not specifically related to any of the three subclasses of mitochondrial porins represented by the metabolite transporter voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC), the protein translocator of the outer membrane 40 (TOM40), or the fungi-specific MDM10, a component of the endoplasmic reticulum–mitochondria encounter structure (ERMES). MDM10 and TAC40 mediate cellular architecture and participate in transmembrane complexes that are essential for mitochondrial DNA inheritance. In yeast MDM10, in the context of the ERMES, is postulated to connect the mitochondrial genomes to actin filaments, whereas in trypanosomes TAC40 mediates the linkage of the mitochondrial DNA to the basal body of the flagellum. However, TAC40 does not colocalize with trypanosomal orthologs of ERMES components and, unlike MDM10, it regulates neither mitochondrial morphology nor the assembly of the protein translocase. TAC40 therefore defines a novel subclass of mitochondrial porins that is distinct from VDAC, TOM40, and MDM10. However, whereas the architecture of the TAC40-containing complex in trypanosomes and the MDM10-containing ERMES in yeast is very different, both are organized around a β-barrel protein of the mitochondrial porin family that mediates a DNA–cytoskeleton linkage that is essential for mitochondrial DNA inheritance.Mitochondria are a hallmark of all eukaroytic cells. They derive from an endosymbiontic event between a free-living bacterium and a presumably prokaryotic host cell. More than 1.5 billion years of evolution resulted in a great diversification of mitochondria. As a consequence, the shape and number of organelles per cell as well as size, content, copy number, and organization of their genomes vary greatly between different taxons (1). However, all eukaryotes must be able to faithfully transmit mitochondria to their offspring (2, 3).Unlike most other eukaryotes, the parasitic protozoa Trypanosoma brucei has a single mitochondrion throughout its life and its cell cycle. Due to the single-unit nature of the mitochondrion, its duplication must be coordinated with the duplication of the nucleus (4). The mitochondrial genome of T. brucei, termed kinetoplast DNA (kDNA), is essential for growth of both the procyclic insect stage and the bloodstream form of the parasite (5). It consists of a disk-shaped single-unit kDNA network that localizes to a distinct region within the mitochondrial matrix (6). The kDNA is physically connected with the cytosolic basal body, the organizing center of the eukaryotic flagellum, via a high-order transmembrane structure termed tripartite attachment complex (TAC) (7) of which only few components have been identified (8–10). Replication of the kDNA network occurs at a defined stage of the cell cycle shortly before the onset of the nuclear S phase. After replication, the kDNA networks need to be correctly positioned so that during cell and mitochondrial division each daughter cell receives a single organelle with a single kDNA network. This process requires an intact TAC and is mediated by the movement of the basal body: one kDNA network remains connected to the basal body of the old flagellum whereas the other one segregates with the basal body of the new flagellum (7, 11).Unlike trypanosomes, Saccharomyces cerevisiae propagates by budding and contains highly dynamic mitochondria that constantly divide and fuse (12, 13). Mitochondrial inheritance in budding yeast therefore requires a mechanism to move mitochondria and their genomes from the mother cell into the growing bud. The protein-associated mitochondrial genomes of S. cerevisiae, termed nucleoids, localize to dozens of globular foci that are distributed all over the organelles. Most actively replicating nucleoids are associated with a protein complex that includes the outer membrane (OM) protein MDM10 as a central unit, as well as the proteins MDM12, MDM34, and MMM1 (14–16). The protein complex forms the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)–mitochondria encounter structure (ERMES) tethering the ER to the mitochondrion (17). The ERMES has also been suggested to connect to cytosolic actin fibers that mediate the movement of mitochondria to the bud of dividing yeast cells (14, 18, 19). Besides its role in mitochondrial inheritance, the ERMES has been implicated in maintenance of mitochondrial morphology and in phospholipid and calcium exchange as well as in the assembly of the protein translocase of the mitochondrial OM (TOM) (20, 21). Some of the proposed ERMES functions are controversial and there is evidence that some of them might be due to secondary effects caused by the drastically altered mitochondrial morphology (22).The central ERMES subunit, the β-barrel protein MDM10 belongs to the mitochondrial porin superfamily, which comprises the three members voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC), Tom40, and MDM10. Whereas VDAC and Tom40 have so far been found in all eukaryotes, including T. brucei (23, 24), MDM10 is specific to the fungal clade.In this study we identify a mitochondrial OM protein of T. brucei as a novel component of the TAC. We show that the protein defines a novel subclass of the mitochondrial porin superfamily that is specialized in mitochondrial DNA inheritance.     

Impact of transition from microscopy to molecular screening for detection of intestinal protozoa in Dutch patients

Detection of intestinal protozoa by PCR methods has been described as being sensitive and specific, and as improving the diagnostic yield. Here we present the outcome of the transition from microscopy to molecular screening for detection of a select group of intestinal protozoa in faeces in our laboratory. Introduction of molecular screening for intestinal protozoa resulted in higher sensitivity, reduced hands-on-time, reduced time-to-results, leading to improved diagnostic efficiency.     

顶复门原虫棒状体蛋白ROP18的研究进展

顶复门原虫是一类专性的细胞内寄生原虫,包括刚地弓形虫、隐孢子虫、疟原虫、巴贝斯虫和球虫等,是人和动物的重要病原。这类原虫具有相似的亚细胞结构并能分泌与入侵相关的保守蛋白,尤其是在入侵宿主细胞阶段分泌的棒状体蛋白(rhoptry proteins, ROPs)被认为是保护寄生虫入侵和繁殖的关键分子。其中ROP18是具有丝氨酸-苏氨酸激酶活性的ROP2家族蛋白成员之一,在刚地弓形虫入侵宿主细胞阶段发挥重要作用,是纳虫空泡(PV)形成时宿主细胞免疫的抑制因子。随着基因组学和蛋白质组学技术的不断发展,其相关研究也越来越深入。本文以目前研究最多的刚地弓形虫ROP18为主,对其发现历史、结构、分泌及定位、对宿主的毒力机制及应用现状做一综述。