The filarial nematode Dirofilaria repens is currently considered to be one of the most extensively spreading human and animal parasites in Europe. In Ukraine, reporting cases of dirofilariasis has been mandatory since 1975, and the disease was included in the national surveillance system for notifiable diseases. Up until December 31st 2012, a total of 1533 cases have been registered, with 1465 cases occurring within the previous 16 years. Most of the cases of dirofilariasis were registered in 6 regions: Kyiv, and the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Chernihiv oblasts. In the years 1997-2002 the highest incidence rate was noted in the Kherson oblast in the south of the country (9.79 per 100 000 people), and the lowest in western Ukraine (0.07-1.68 per 100 000 people). D. repens infections were registered in all oblasts. Parasitic lesions were most often located in the head, the subconjunctival tissue and around the eyes. D. repens lesions were also found in the limbs, torso, male sexual organs, and female mammary glands. Dirofilariasis was diagnosed in persons aged from 11 months to 90 years old, most often among people between 21-40 years of age. Most patients had only one parasitic skin lesion; the majority of isolated nematodes were female. The results of our analysis point to a constant increase in D. repens dirofilariasis incidence in humans in Ukraine. Despite educational efforts, infections have become more frequent and the territory in which the disease occurs has enlarged to encompass the whole of Ukraine. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian sanitary-epidemiological services managed to achieve some measure of success, e.g. by creating a registration system for D. repens infections and establishing proper diagnostics for the disease.
Sparganosis is a relatively neglected food- and waterborne disease caused by species of the tapeworm genus Spirometra the global distribution of which has not been sufficiently recognised. Known mainly as a zoonosis of East Asia, its species are native to all inhabited continents including Europe. Spirometra has been reported from numerous wildlife species from 17 European countries and a critical review confirmed 17 autochthonous and 8 imported human clinical cases. We present the first molecular evidence of the coincident presence of two species in Europe and review the current distribution to raise awareness of the parasite in this region. Spirometra erinaceieuropaei is restricted to Europe and S. mansoni represents a lineage distributed mainly across Asia and Oceania that reaches Europe. The parasite is common in Eastern Europe and its distribution has potential to expand along with its invasive or migrating mammal hosts, spreading the risks of human infection.
Hymenolepis diminuta is an important model species in studies of therapeutics, biochemical processes, immune responses and other aspects of cestodiasis. The parasite produces numerous excretory-secretory (E-S) proteins and a glycocalyx covering its body. Our study focused on the mass spectrometry analysis of the E-S material with an objective to determine if E-S contains any new proteins, in particular those that can be identified as: antigens, vaccine candidates and drug targets. These proteins might engage directly in host-parasite interactions. Adult parasites collected from experimentally infected rats were cultured in vitro for 5 and 18h. Immunoblotting was used to verify which E-S protein bands separated in SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) react with specific antibodies from sera of infected rats. We identified thirty-nine proteins by LC-MS/MS (liquid chromatography mass spectrometry). Results indicated the presence of proteins that have never been identified in cestode E-S material. Immunoblotting showed the immunogenicity of E-S products of H. diminuta, most probably associated with the presence of proteins known as antigens in other flatworm species. Among identified proteins are those engaged in immunomodulatory processes (eg. HSP), in response to oxidative stress (peroxidasin) or metabolism (eg. GAPDH). The predominant functions are associated with metabolism and catalytic activity. This is the first study identifying E-S-proteins in adult tapeworms, thus providing information for better understanding host-parasite interrelationships, and may point out potential targets for vaccines or drug discovery studies, as among the proteins observed in our study are those known to be antigens.
Dirofilaria repens is a parasite of animals and humans, transferred by mosquitoes. The assessment of the presence of D. repens-infected vertebrate hosts in the investigated area can be performed by xenomonitoring—detection of the parasite in blood-feeding arthropods. Our study aimed to evaluate PCR xenomonitoring of mosquitoes as a tool for dirofilariosis surveillance in Poland. We were also interested whether inter-study comparisons at the international level would be possible. Mosquitoes were collected in a single locality in Mazowsze province in Poland, in which between 12 and 20% of dogs were infected with D. repens and autochthonous human dirofilariosis was confirmed. All captured female mosquitoes were divided into pools; alternatively, single mosquitoes were analyzed; DNA was isolated and subjected to PCR and real-time PCR for detection of D. repens. The estimations of infection rates of mosquitoes with D. repens, based on PCR results, varied from 0 to 1.57% even between assays for detection of distinct fragments of the same marker—cytochrome oxidase subunit one gene. Polymorphisms of the DNA sequence within binding sites of the primers used in D. repens xenomonitoring assays, applied in European studies, were identified. Non-specific amplification of Setaria tundra (Nematoda: Onchocercidae) DNA occurred. Surveillance of dirofilariosis by PCR mosquito xenomonitoring is possible; however, the efficiency of the approach on territories where the prevalence of the disease among definitive hosts is lower than 12% remains unknown. Furthermore, mosquito infection rate estimations can be PCR assay dependent, which makes inter-study comparisons difficult. The results obtained in independent European xenomonitoring studies were contradictory. International collaboration would be required to establish a standardized set of assays for sensitive and specific xenomonitoring-based dirofilariosis surveillance.
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