Search results for " Helmi"
showing 10 items of 105 documents
Analysis of cytokine and specific antibody profiles in hydatid patients with primary infection and relapse of disease
1998
We studied in vitro cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with primary and recurrent hydatid disease when cells were incubated with mitogen (PHA) and antigen from hydatid cyst fluid (HCFAg); levels of specific IgE, IgG4 and eosinophil counts were also measured in sera. When specifically stimulated, PBMC from patients produced higher levels of IL-2 (P < 0.02), IFN-γ (P < 0.0028) and IL-5 (P < 0.01) than those from uninfected donors, whereas IL-10 levels were comparable. Notably, IL-5 was also produced in higher levels (P < 0.01) by PBMC from patients when incubated with PHA. The IL-5:IFN-γ ratio was significantly greater (P < 0.02) when measured in re…
Molecular mechanisms of hookworm disease: stealth, virulence, and vaccines.
2012
Hookworms produce a vast repertoire of structurally and functionally diverse molecules that mediate their long-term survival and pathogenesis within a human host. Many of these molecules are secreted by the parasite, after which they interact with critical components of host biology, including processes that are key to host survival. The most important of these interactions is the hookworm's interruption of nutrient acquisition by the host through its ingestion and digestion of host blood. This results in iron deficiency and eventually the microcytic hypochromic anemia or iron deficiency anemia that is the clinical hallmark of hookworm infection. Other molecular mechanisms of hookworm infec…
Protective immunity against Echinostoma caproni in rats is induced by Syphacia muris infection.
2012
Syphacia muris (Nematoda: Oxyuridae) is a ubiquitous nematode that commonly infects rats in the laboratory and can interfere with the development of unrelated biological assays. In this context, we analysed the effect of a patent S. muris infection in Wistar rats on a superimposed infection with the intestinal trematode, Echinostoma caproni (Trematoda: Echinostomatidae). The results indicate that in the rats, infection with S. muris induces an immunity against a subsequent infection with E. caproni, although each parasite occupies different niches in the host. Echinostoma caproni worm recovery was significantly decreased in the rats primarily infected with S. muris and, at 3 and 4 weeks pos…
Schistosomes in the north: a unique finding from a prosobranch snail using molecular tools.
2009
article i nfo Samples of schistosome cercariae from three different snail species (Lymnaea stagnalis, Radix auricularia and Valvata (Tropidina) macrostoma) collected from lakes in Central Finland were analyzed using molecular techniques. Based on sequences of ITS region of rDNA, the parasite isolates from L. stagnalis and R. auricularia belong to Trichobilharzia szidati and T. franki, respectively. This confirms a wide distribution of these two species in Europe. On the other hand, the isolates from V. macrostoma represent a unique finding — they belong to yet unknown schistosome species falling into the bird schistosome clade. Therefore, identification of natural final hosts and morphologi…
Aplicación del binomio Apodemus sylvaticus /helminto como bioindicador de la regeneración del Parc Natural de la Serra Calderona (Comunitat Valencian…
2015
El estudio del binomio Apodemus sylvaticus/helminto ha sido propuesto como un bioindicador del proceso de regeneración postincendio en ecosistemas mediterráneos. El presente trabajo, enmarcado en un proyecto multidisciplinar que lleva por título “Procesos de Recuperación de Ecosistemas Perturbados por el Fuego a través del modelo Helmintos/Micromamíferos” y que fue iniciado por el grupo Parasites & Fire, del Departamento de Parasitología de la Universidad de Farmacia de la Universidad de Valencia, ofrece nuevos resultados que avalan su validación en el Parc Natural de la Serra Calderona (Comunitat Valenciana, España), la cual sufrió un devastador incendio forestal en 1992. Durante 21 años (…
A PCR-RFLP assay for the distinction between Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica.
2002
Fascioliasis is of well-known veterinary importance and an increasing human health problem, with reported cases in the five continents. The causative agents, Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica, present geographical distributions, which overlap in many regions of Africa and Asia, and in which the differentiation of both species is usually difficult because of the many variations in their morphological characteristics. Moreover, in humans, liver fluke classification cannot be achieved by clinical, pathological, coprological or immunological methods. The differential diagnosis between F. hepatica and F. gigantica infection is very important because of their different transmission and epi…
Anaemia in advanced chronic fasciolosis
2008
Abstract The association between fasciolosis-induced anaemia and related factors has been quantified in a rodent model. Haematological parameters were analysed in Wistar rats at 20 and 60 weeks post-infection (p.i.). Pigment stones and bile specimens were collected. Serum IgG1, IgG2a and IgE were determined in rat serum samples. Cytokine levels have been correlated with haematological parameters. The screening for gastrointestinal bleeding was carried out. Bacteriological bile cultures revealed viable bacteria in 53.8% of specimens at 60 weeks p.i. The results show that the type of anaemia in fasciolosis might be considered a biomarker of the chronicity period of the disease, changing from …
First steps to restructuring the problematic genus Lasiotocus Looss, 1907 (Digenea: Monorchiidae) with the proposal of four new genera
2020
Lasiotocus Looss, 1907 is the largest genus within the Monorchiidae Odhner, 1911, with 52 species currently considered valid. Species belonging to this genus exhibit wide morphological variation and it is likely that many of them belong in other genera; however, testing the validity of the group has been hampered by a lack of molecular sequence data, especially for the type-species. Here, we report the first DNA sequences for Lasiotocus mulli (Stossich, 1883) Odhner, 1911, the type-species of the genus, and only the sixth Lasiotocus species to be sequenced. Sequences were generated for three ribosomal DNA markers, the ITS2, 18S and 28S regions, and for one mitochondrial DNA marker, the cox1…
Larval morphology, genetic divergence, and contrasting levels of host manipulation between forms of Pomphorhynchus laevis (Acanthocephala)
2004
Studies on parasite species with a wide geographic and ecological range may be confounded by still equivocal taxonomic identification. Here, we investigated genetic polymorphism and behavioural changes induced in a common intermediate host, in two different forms of Pomphorhynchus laevis based on the morphology of the larval infective stage (cystacanth). A 'smooth type' (S) and a 'wrinkled type' (W) of cystacanth were distinguished based on their surface and shape. We analysed sequence divergence at both nuclear (ribosomal gene 18S rDNA, and ribosomal internal transcribed spacers, ITS1/ITS2) and mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1) genes of P. laevis cystacanths and adults at vari…
A genome-wide view of Caenorhabditis elegans base-substitution mutation processes
2009
Knowledge of mutation processes is central to understanding virtually all evolutionary phenomena and the underlying nature of genetic disorders and cancers. However, the limitations of standard molecular mutation detection methods have historically precluded a genome-wide understanding of mutation rates and spectra in the nuclear genomes of multicellular organisms. We applied two high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies to identify and characterize hundreds of spontaneously arising base-substitution mutations in 10 Caenorhabditis elegans mutation-accumulation (MA)-line nuclear genomes. C. elegans mutation rate estimates were similar to previous calculations based on smaller numbers of m…