Hepatic parasite

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a cosmopolitan migratory, seasonal mysticete that frequents the Brazilian coast. Strands of specimens may occur during the migratory stay in the country. In 2021 and 2022, three live humpback whales stranded on the coast of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina states in southern Brazil. After euthanasia, specimens were necropsied, and organs were thoroughly examined for lesions. Grossly, in all three cases, the liver exhibited multifocal, irregular, firm, white areas on the hepatic capsule, which extended into the parenchyma...

BACKGROUND: Hydatid cyst of the liver induced by Echinococcus granulosus is a pervasive zoonotic disease in our region. Its incidence varies across age groups, contingent on community lifespans and hygiene standards. Therapeutic modalities include Puncture, Aspiration, Injection, Re-aspiration (PAIR), and surgery. Due the limited feasability of PAIR, we suggest that surgery represents the optimal treatment in all stages, especially in endemic regions, depending on patient-specific variables...

BACKGROUND Hepatic hydatid cyst disease, caused by the parasite Echinococcus granulosus, is endemic in certain rural areas of the world, but not in most of East Asia outside Mainland China. In Taiwan, only one autochthonous case has been reported over the past 40 years. We present the case of an urban 91-year-old female patient without international travel history for more than 40 years. CASE REPORT The 91-year-old woman who used a wheelchair came to the Emergency Department reporting melena for 2 days and 1 episode of coffee-grounds vomitus...

Hydatid disease is a zoonotic disease caused by the parasite Echinococcus granulosus . It is an endemic disease in many parts of the world. Although humans are incidental hosts of the parasite, the disease sometimes results in fatal consequences. The liver and lungs are the most common sites of infection in humans. We report the case of a 45-year-old female who presented with complaints of right hypochondriac pain, fever, and cough, initially suspected as a case of liver abscess but later diagnosed as a giant calcified hydatid cyst of the liver...

The term hepatolithiasis describes the presence of biliary stones within the intrahepatic bile ducts, above the hilar confluence of the hepatic ducts. The disease is more prevalent in Asia, mainly owing to socioeconomic and dietary factors, as well as the prevalence of biliary parasites. In the last century, owing to migration, its global incidence has increased. The main pathophysiological mechanisms involve cholangitis, bile infection and biliary strictures, creating a self-sustaining cycle that perpetuates the disease, frequently characterised by recurrent episodes of bacterial infection referred to as syndrome of "recurrent pyogenic cholangitis"...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Bangladesh is afflicted with periodic dengue outbreak every few years and one of the worst upsurges was recorded in 2019 during which there was an increasing trend of dengue with unusual symptoms which were not so common before. This study aims to describe the experience of three tertiary care centres of Dhaka regarding the clinical and laboratory, hospital outcome and management profile of the Expanded Dengue Syndrome (EDS) cases admitted from the 2019 outbreak...

BACKGROUND: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a widespread zoonosis caused by the infection with Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (E. granulosus s.l.). CE cysts mainly develop in the liver of intermediate hosts, characterized by the fibrotic tissue that separates host organ from parasite. However, precise mechanism underlying the formation of fibrotic tissue in CE remains unclear. METHODS: To investigate the potential impact of ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes on liver fibrosis formation in CE, two members of ubiquitin-conjugating (UBC) enzyme of Echinococcus granulosus (EgE2D2 and EgE2N) were recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli and analyzed for bioinformatics, immunogenicity, localization, and enzyme activity...

BACKGROUND Hepatic cystic echinococcosis (HCE) is a frequently overlooked parasitic liver disease, for which the commonly recommended treatment is radical resection. However, this approach is often associated with severe comorbidities such as HBV/HCV, cirrhosis, and hepatic carcinoma, among others. CASE REPORT In this report, we present a case successfully managed by ex vivo liver resection and autologous liver transplantation (ELRA). In the described case, ex vivo resection was not feasible due to recurrent lesions and infections invading the portal vein, which resulted in portal vein cavernous transformation...

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the infection of Echinococcus multilocularis ( E. multilocularis ) larvae. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) produces inhibitory signals and induces T cell exhaustion, thereby inhibiting the parasiticidal efficacy of the liver immune system. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how T-cell exhaustion contributes to AE and whether blocking CTLA-4 could reverse T cell exhaustion. Here we discovered that the expression of CTLA-4 was increased in the infiltrating margin around the lesion of the liver from AE patients by using western blot and immunohistochemistry assay...

Background and objective While hydatid disease is associated with a high prevalence only in certain endemic areas, it can be encountered in any geographical region. The characteristics of this parasitic disease, and its implications during development, such as the risk of seeding, and the complications caused by cyst rupture, means that its therapeutic management should adhere to strict principles and may sometimes require approaches specially tailed for this type of pathology. In this study, we aimed to provide a comparative analysis of conventional laparoscopic techniques vs...

Schistosomiasis is a fatal zoonotic parasitic disease that also threatens human health. The main pathological features of schistosomiasis are granulomatous inflammation and subsequent liver fibrosis, which is a complex, chronic, and progressive disease. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from schistosome eggs are broadly involved in host-parasite communication and act as important contributors to schistosome-induced liver fibrosis. However, it remains unclear whether substances secreted by the EVs of Schistosoma japonicum, a long-term parasitic "partner" in the hepatic portal vein of the host, also participate in liver fibrosis...

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by worm parasites of the genus Schistosoma . Upon infection, parasite eggs can lodge inside of host organs like the liver. This leads to granuloma formation, which is the main cause of the pathology of schistosomiasis. To better understand the different levels of host-pathogen interaction and pathology, our study focused on the characterization of glycosphingolipids (GSLs). For this purpose, GSLs in livers of infected and noninfected hamsters were studied by combining high-spatial-resolution atmospheric-pressure scanning microprobe matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (AP-SMALDI MSI) with nanoscale hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (nano-HILIC MS/MS)...

Cystic echinococcosis is a parasitic disease caused by Echinococcus granulosus . The transmission of the parasite to dogs occurs when organs of animals that harbor hydatid cysts are consumed. We present the case of a patient presented in the cardiology outpatient clinic with the signs and symptoms of predominant right-sided heart failure. Upon evaluation, a large hepatic septated cyst was revealed, which was compressing the right chambers of the heart, altering diastolic filling, and causing right-sided heart failure...

4,9-diaminoacridines with reported antiplasmodial activity were coupled to different trans-cinnamic acids, delivering a new series of conjugates inspired by the covalent bitherapy concept. The new compounds were more potent than primaquine against hepatic stages of Plasmodium berghei, although this was accompanied by cytotoxic effects on Huh-7 hepatocytes. Relevantly, the conjugates displayed nanomolar activities against blood stage P. falciparum parasites, with no evidence of hemolytic effects below 100 µM...

Increasing numbers of antimalarial compounds are being identified that converge mechanistically at inhibition of cytoplasmic translation, regardless of the molecular target or mechanism. A deeper understanding of how their effectiveness as liver stage translation inhibitors relates to their chemoprotective potential could prove useful. Here, we probed that relationship using the Plasmodium berghei -HepG2 liver stage infection model. After determining translation inhibition EC50 s for five compounds, we tested them at equivalent effective concentrations to compare the parasite response to, and recovery from, a brief period of translation inhibition in early schizogony, followed by parasites to 120 h post-infection to assess antiplasmodial effects of the treatment...

The protozoan parasite Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, undergoes an obligatory stage of intra-hepatic development before initiating a blood-stage infection. Productive invasion of hepatocytes involves the formation of a parasitophorous vacuole (PV) generated by the invagination of the host cell plasma membrane. Surrounded by the PV membrane (PVM), the parasite undergoes extensive replication. During intracellular development in the hepatocyte, the parasites provoke the Plasmodium-associated autophagy-related (PAAR) response...

Live-attenuated yellow fever vaccine (YF17D) was developed in the 1930s as the first ever empirically derived human vaccine. Ninety years later, it is still a benchmark for vaccines made today. YF17D triggers a particularly broad and polyfunctional response engaging multiple arms of innate, humoral and cellular immunity. This unique immunogenicity translates into an extraordinary vaccine efficacy and outstanding longevity of protection, possibly by single-dose immunization. More recently, progress in molecular virology and synthetic biology allowed engineering of YF17D as a powerful vector and promising platform for the development of novel recombinant live vaccines, including two licensed vaccines against Japanese encephalitis and dengue, even in paediatric use...

BACKGROUND: The spread of drug resistance is a significant issue, particularly in endemic countries with limited resources. The aim of this study was to evaluate antimalarial and antioxidant activity of B. micrantha in order to justify its use in traditional medicine. METHODS: Evaluation of the in vivo antimalarial activity of B. micrantha was carried out according to the model of the suppressive and curative test of Peters' over 4 days in infected Swiss albino mice...

BACKGROUND: To analysis of quasispecies (QS) changes and high-frequency mutations in the BCP/PreC/C region of patients at different phases of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and provides novel biomarkers for the diagnosis of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. METHODS: With the application of next-generation sequencing technology, we were able to sequence the HBV BCP/PreC/C regions in 40 patients, each at different phases of the HBV infection. The heterogeneity of QS and the frequency of mutations were calculated using MEGA 7 software...

In medicine, parasitic cysts or cysticerci (fluid-filled cysts, larval stage of tapeworms) are believed to be sterile (no bacteria), and therein, the treatment of cysticerci infestations of deep extra-intestinal tissues ( e . g ., brain) relies almost exclusively on the use of antiparasitic medications, and rarely antibiotics. To date, however, it is unclear why common post-treatment complications include abscessation. This study quantified the microbial composition of parasitic cyst contents in a higher-order rodent host, using multi-kingdom shotgun metagenomics, to improve our understanding of gut microbial translocation and adaptation strategies in wild environments...