No abstract

The parasitology research community has been fostered in recent months to investigate the influence of parasite co-infection on COVID-19 outcomes. Following this call, we share here our approach to analyze the effect of the trematode Fasciola hepatica as a modulator of SARS-CoV-2 infection and of COVID-19 pathology.

The reference diagnostic method of human abdominal Cystic Echinococcosis (CE) is imaging, particularly ultrasound, supported by serology when imaging is inconclusive. However, current diagnostic tools are neither optimal nor widely available. The availability of a test detecting circulating biomarkers would considerably improve CE diagnosis and cyst staging (active vs inactive), as well as treatments and follow-up of patients. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles involved in intercellular communication, including immune system responses, and are a recognized source of biomarkers. With the aim of identifying potential biomarkers, plasma pools from patients infected by active or inactive CE, as well as from control subjects, were processed to isolate exosomes for proteomic label-free quantitative analysis. Results were statistically processed and subjected to bioinformatics analysis to define distinct features associated with parasite viability. First, a few parasite proteins were identified that were specifically associated with either active or inactive CE, which represent potential biomarkers to be validated in further studies. Second, numerous identified proteins of human origin were common to active and inactive CE, confirming an overlap of several immune response pathways. However, a subset of human proteins specific to either active or inactive CE, and central in the respective protein-protein interaction networks, were identified. These include the Src family kinases Src and Lyn, and the immune-suppressive cytokine TGF-β in active CE, and Cdc42 in inactive CE. The Src and Lyn Kinases were PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES

Background The real burden of human cystic echinococcosis (CE) remains elusive, due to the peculiar characteristics of the disease and the heterogeneous and incomplete data recording of clinical cases. Furthermore, official notification systems do not collect pivotal clinical information, which would allow the comparison of different treatment outcomes, and thus circumvent the difficulty of implementing clinical trials for CE. The Italian Register of CE (RIEC) was launched in 2012 and expanded in 2014 into the European Register of CE (ERCE). The primary aim of the ERCE was to highlight the magnitude of CE underreporting, through the recording of cases that were not captured by official records. We present an overview of data collated in the ERCE and discuss its future, five years after its inception. Methods The ERCE database was explored on March 31st 2019; data concerning participating centres and registered cases were descriptively analysed. Results Forty-four centres from 15 countries (7 non-European) were affiliated to the ERCE. Thirty-four centres (77%) registered at least one patient; of these, 18 (53%) recorded at least one visit within the past 18 months. A total of 2097 patients were registered, 19.9% of whom were immigrants. Cyst characteristics were reported for at least one cyst at least in one visit in 1643 (78.3%) patients, and cyst staging was used by 27 centres. In total, 3386 cysts were recorded at first registration; mostly located in the liver (75.5%). Data concerning clinical management could be analysed for 920 “cyst stage-location-management” observations, showing great heterogeneity in the implementation of the stage-specific management approach recommended by the WHO. Conclusions The ERCE achieved its goal in showing that CE is a relevant but neglected public health problem in Europe and beyond, since a proportion of patients reaching medical attention are not captured by official notification systems. The ERCE may provide a valuable starting platform to complement hospital-derived data, to obtain a better picture of the epidemiology of clinical CE, and to collect clinical data for the issue of evidence-based recommendations. The ERCE will be expanded into the International Register of CE (IRCE) and restructured aiming to overcome its current criticalities and fulfil these aims.

SUMMARY We investigated the in vitro effect of total excretory/secretory and somatic antigens from Ascaris suum adults (ESA and SA) and larvae 3 (ESL3 and SL3), and of 10 purified protein fractions from ESA components on rat alveolar macrophage nitric oxide (NO) production. Our results showed that in vitro incubation of macrophages with SA and SL3 antigens of A. suum did not result in NO release from cells, whereas incubation with ESA or ESL3 antigens resulted in the stimulation of NO production by these cells, both in a specific (inhibited by L-NAME and L-canavanine) and dose-dependent manner. In addition, we could demonstrate that a purified ESA fraction consisting of three Coomassie-stained bands of approximately 37, 44 and 46 kDa is involved in the in vitro triggering of NO production by host cells. These three bands were subjected to MALDI-peptide mass fingerprint, showing similarities with phosphoglycerate kinase, elongation factor Tu and enolase molecules, respectively. Future studies will focus on the characterization of these parasite-derived molecules.