The Cat Infected with
            <i>Brugia Pahangi</i>
            as a Model of Human Filariasis

Denham, D. A.; Fletcher, Catherine

doi:10.1002/9780470513446.ch15

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Another possibility that could explain the low counts of male worms is that the males in the patients providing the specimens were anatomically separate from the females. This has been observed in some experimental brugian models and may explain why at least half of infected experimental animals do not become microfilaraemic (Denham and Fletcher, 1987). All six children in the present study whose lymphnode specimens contained only living male W. bancrofti were amicrofilaraemic (unpubl.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Sex ratio ofWuchereria bancroftiin surgical specimens from an endemic area of Brazil

Figuerêdo-Silva

Norões

Addiss

et al. 2008

Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology

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The sex ratio of adult Wuchereria bancrofti from 172 histologically diagnosed cases of lymphatic filariasis, all from an endemic area of Recife, in north-eastern Brazil, was investigated. Of 172 tissue specimens examined, 74 (43%) were lymph nodes and 98 (57%) lymphatic-vessel segments. The morphology of the worms was generally disrupted, in some cases to the point where the worms were almost completely absorbed by the granulomatous inflammatory response. Parasite gender was clearly determined in only 110 (64%) specimens, 61 (55.5 %) of which were lymph nodes and 49 (44.5%) lymphatic vessels. Eighty-seven (79.1%) of these tissue specimens contained only female worms, 17 (14.5%) both males and females, and six only males, giving an overall female:male 'specimen' ratio of 4.5:1. Of the 63 tissue specimens in which dead or degenerating worms were noted, 60 (92.2%) contained only females. All the female worms detected were gravid, regardless of whether male worms were present in the specimen. The implications of these findings for parasite dynamics, the pathogenesis of bancroftian filariasis and the interpretation of ultrasound images of living adult worms are discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Sex ratio ofWuchereria bancroftiin surgical specimens from an endemic area of Brazil

Figuerêdo-Silva

Norões

Addiss

et al. 2008

Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology

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“…This has made it extremely difficult to obtain material from these organisms. In contrast, B. malayi can be successfully cultured in a variety of surrogate animal hosts (Denham and Fletcher, 1987; Mak et al, 1990; Nelson et al, 1991; Weil et al, 1992). Accordingly, B. malayi has become the model organism of choice for the study of the filarial parasites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In vivo transfection of developmentally competent Brugia malayi infective larvae

Liu

Tzertzinis

et al. 2011

International Journal for Parasitology

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Transient transfection of isolated Brugia malayi embryos by biolistics has proven to be useful in defining promoter structure and function in this parasite. However, isolated transfected embryos are developmentally incompetent. A method of producing developmentally competent transfected parasites is therefore needed. We report that L3 parasites can be chemically transfected in situ in the peritoneal cavity of a gerbil with a construct consisting of a secreted luciferase reporter gene containing a promoter, the 3' untranslated region and first intron derived from the B. malayi 70kDa heat shock protein gene. The in situ chemically transfected parasites are developmentally competent, producing adult parasites with an efficiency similar to that obtained from implanted untreated L3s. Cultured adult parasites and progeny microfilariae (mf) derived from L3s transfected with this construct secreted luciferase into the culture medium. When the transfected mf were fed to mosquitoes and the resulting L3s collected, the L3s also secreted luciferase into the culture medium. Progeny mf from transgenic adult parasites contained transgenic DNA, and the transgenic mRNA produced in these parasites was found to be correctly cis-and trans-spliced. In situ chemical transformation thus results in developmentally competent transfected B. malayi in which the transgenic sequences remain transcriptionally active in all life cycle stages and are present in the subsequent generation.

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“…Nonetheless, there remains a crucial immunological challenge in the use of genetic manipulations, which has prevented the use of these animals to clearly define the functionality of protective immunity in experimental filariasis. Elsewhere, the effects of antibodies produced against the third stage larvae (L3) as well as antigens associated larval moulting , antibodies to microfilariae sheath , effector cells such as eosinophils and basophils , cytokines such IL‐5, IL‐4, TNF‐ α and nitric oxide appear to impair larval development and facilitate microfilariae clearance have been documented. These studies among others demonstrate that cytokines, antibodies and specific population of immune cells are used extensively to understand the protective immunity in filariasis nonetheless, a clear consensus remains to be established.…”

Section: Protective Immunity: Insight From Animal Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%