Single-sex schistosomiasis: a mini review

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by dioecious blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma and second to malaria as a parasitic disease with significant socio-economic impacts. Mating is essential for maturation of male and female schistosomes and for females to lay of eggs, which are responsible for the pathogenesis and propagation of the life cycle beyond the mammalian host. Single-sex schistosomes, which do not produce viable eggs without mating, have been overlooked given the symptomatic paucity of the single-sex schistosomiasis and limited diagnostic toolkit. Besides, single-sex schistosomes are less sensitive to praziquantel. Therefore, these issues should be considered to achieve the elimination of this infection disease. The aim of this review is to summarize current progress in research of single-sex schistosomes and host-parasite interactions.

Sja-let-7 suppresses the development of liver fibrosis via Schistosoma japonicum extracellular vesicles

“…In addition, a transwell system with adult mated male worms in the upper wells confirmed the presence of Sj-miRNAs from MM-derived EVs in HSCs [18]. Although the function of these Sj-miRNAs in activation of HSCs remains unclear, the results of this study provide evidence that single-sex or bisexual infected male and female schistosome worms have different effects on liver fibrosis [28][29][30].…”