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Familial clustering of Taenia solium cysticercosis in the rural pigs of Mexico: hints of genetic determinants in innate and acquired resistance to infection.

In two rural villages of the state of Puebla, Mexico, where Taenia solium pig cysticercosis is highly endemic, 120 pairs of young out-bred piglets were used to assay what proved to be an effective synthetic peptide vaccine against naturally acquired cysticercosis. Because the piglets used were all sired by one of three distinct studs in many different out-bred sows, the prevalence and intensity of infection, as well as degree of protection conferred by the vaccine, could be related to each of the three stud families (A-C). The highest prevalence was found in the C family (25%), whilst the prevalence of B and A families were 21.6 and 4.4%, respectively. Familial clustering of cases was even more conspicuous in vaccinated pigs than in not-vaccinated ones: seven of the nine cysticercosis cases that occurred in the vaccinated group belonged to the C family (7/26) and two to the B family (2/23), whilst the vaccine rendered the A family totally resistant (0/71). Parasite numbers were also higher in the C family in both nai;ve and vaccinated pigs. Familial clustering of cases and of large parasite numbers in naive and vaccinated pigs hint to the relevance of their genetic background in their innate and acquired resistance to cysticercosis.

Animal Husbandry↗

Magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of subretinal cysticercosis.

PURPOSE: To report a case of ocular cysticercosis and associated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. DESIGN: Interventional case report. METHODS: A 56-year-old woman from Ecuador presented with decreased vision and an exudative retinal detachment in the left eye. Subretinal cysticercosis was suspected. RESULTS: In the left eye, a subretinal cyst evident on fundus examination was investigated with B-scan ultrasonography. Ultrasonography showed a cystic structure, and MRI of the orbit confirmed the suspicion for cysticercosis. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain also revealed a small parenchymal lesion in the left occipital lobe of the brain. CONCLUSIONS: Magnetic resonance imaging is a useful adjunct to B-scan ultrasonography in the diagnosis of ocular cysticercosis. Magnetic resonance imaging is superior to computed tomography in the demonstration of cystic structures in the eye and central nervous system. This finding has important therapeutic implications, as any viable cysticercus in the eye or cerebral parenchyma can be treated surgically or medically, respectively.

Cysticercosis↗

Taenia crassiceps cysticercosis in mice does not increase the carcinogenic effect of methyl-nitrosourea.

An association between brain cysticercosis and malignant neoplasms in humans has recently been reported. To explore the possibility of a potentiating effect of cysticercosis on carcinogenesis mice infected with Taenia crassiceps cysticerci were exposed to the carcinogenic substance methyl-nitrosourea; 35% of them developed lymphoma, in contrast with 50% of control non-infected animals exposed to MNU. In this experimental model of cysticercosis we did not find a potentiating effect of peritoneal cysticercosis on the carcinogenicity of MNU.

Animals↗

Cerebral cysticercosis: diagnostic value of subcutaneous nodules. Report of two cases.

In North America cysticercosis is a rare disease and may cause serious diagnostic difficulties. We report two patients with cysticercosis with neurologic involvement and subcutaneous nodules. In both cases the nodules were small and few in number. Histologic examination showed the diagnostic scolex of the parasite only after subserial sections of the biopsy specimen. The presence of subcutaneous nodules in patients who have lived in endemic areas should raise the possibility of cysticercosis, particularly if neurologic signs or symptoms are present. We stress the importance of careful histologic examination of subcutaneous nodules when cysticercosis is suspected.

Adult↗

Epidemiological survey of swine cysticercosis in two rural communities of West-Cameroon.

To determine the prevalence of porcine cysticercosis, a survey was carried out in 27 villages belonging to two rural communities of West-Cameroon (Bafou and Bamendou). Between January and August, 2000, a total of 707 pigs were examined serologically and by tongue inspection. Serum samples were examined for circulating parasite antigen using a monoclonal antibody-based sandwich enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay (Ag-ELISA) and for antibodies against cysticerci (Ab-ELISA). Seventy eight samples (11.0%) were found positive in the Ag-ELISA and 154 (21.8%) in the Ab-ELISA, while by tongue inspection on the same animals cysticerci were detected in 43 pigs (6.1%). Gibbs sampling using results of these three tests indicated that the estimated prevalence of porcine cysticercosis was 10.9%. Analysis of the Ag-ELISA results demonstrated that adult pigs showed a significantly higher seroprevalence (15%) than young ones (8.4%). There was no statistical difference in cysticercosis prevalence in pigs raised in households with or without a latrine. Animals that were reported to be usually confined were significantly less infected (9.9%) than free-roaming pigs (16.2%). Infection rates were significantly higher in pigs that had access to human faeces (13.8%) than those which did not have access (9.1%). This study has identified some community behavioural and environmental practices that should be modified to prevent continuous transmission of porcine cysticercosis.

Animal Husbandry↗

The prevalence of porcine cysticercosis in Eastern and Southern provinces of Zambia.

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and importance of porcine cysticercosis in rural areas of Zambia. The study involved an abattoir survey of 1316 pigs at a slaughter slab in Lusaka and two field surveys in villages in Southern and Eastern provinces. Lingual examination of live pigs and visual inspection of their carcass as well as blood sampling for measuring circulating parasite antigen by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Ag-ELISA) were used as parameters to measure infection. In the field surveys, a questionnaire was administered to every household whose pigs were examined to obtain information on pig husbandry practices and to study risk factors for the infection. Out of the 1316 pigs examined at the slaughter slab, 143 (10.9%) and 271 (20.6%) were positive by lingual examination and meat inspection, respectively. Most of the pigs were very heavily infected with predominantly live cysts. The field surveys revealed that eight (8.2%) out of 98 pigs from Southern province and eight (5.2%) out of 151 pigs from Eastern province were positive for cysticercosis by tongue palpation. Using the Ag-ELISA 20 (20.8%) and 14 (9.3%) pigs were positive in Southern and Eastern provinces, respectively. The questionnaire survey revealed poor pig husbandry practices, absence of meat inspection and control, poor knowledge of the disease and poor sanitation in the surveyed villages. The prevalence of pig cysticercosis found in this study ranks among the highest in the southern African region, in Africa and in the world. The current study suggests the presence of human tapeworm carriers and a high risk of human cysticercosis in the surveyed areas as well as in urban centres where pigs from rural areas are increasingly sold, slaughtered and consumed.

Abattoirs↗

Application of an immunoassay to determine risk factors associated with porcine cysticercosis in rural areas of Yucatan, Mexico.

A Western blot assay for identification of 26 kDa and/or 8 kDa antigens in a crude saline extract (CSE) of Taenia solium metacestodes, previously developed for human cysticercosis, was evaluated for use with pigs. The test population used for assay standardisation consisted of 45 cysticercotic pigs (5 pigs positive by necropsy and 40 selected by tongue palpation and LL-Gp immunoblot but not confirmed by necropsy), 48 pigs with heterologous infections and 40 negative controls from endemic and non-endemic areas. The test detected 93% of the cysticercotic group and was 100% specific. In a field study this antigen preparation was compared by immunoblot with antibody recognition for Gp13-50 antigens in a lentil-lectin semi-purified glycoprotein extract of T. solium (LL-Gp). The seroprevalence to CSE antigen was slightly lower (26/75) when compared to LL-Gp (29/75) and this represented a non-significant difference. The CSE Western blot assay was used to assess seroprevalence of T. solium cysticercosis in pig populations in the state of Yucatan, Mexico. A total of 1099 pigs sampled at random from 25 villages revealed a seroprevalence of 23% (253/1099). Seroprevalence in intensively reared, farmed pigs was 2% (7/228). In comparison with farmed pigs, the seroprevalence was 33% (172/513) in free-roaming backyard pigs (OR=13.86, CI=4.0747.22, p<10(-6)) and 25% (74/98) in semi-confined backyard pigs (OR=14.03, CI=5.60-35.16, p<10(-6)). There was no significant difference in seroprevalence by sex (p=0.23). Seroprevalence decreased with age (chi(2)-test for linear trend=7.803, p<0.006). Results of this study demonstrate that the CSE Western blot can be applied for reliable immunodiagnosis of T. solium cysticercosis in pigs. Furthermore, variation in pig husbandry in Yucatan indicated significantly higher exposure to cysticercosis in free-roaming backyard pigs compared to intensively reared animals from the same area.

Age Factors↗

Clinical manifestations and sequential computed tomography scans of cerebral cysticercosis in childhood.

Cerebral cysticercosis was studied in 131 children. The patients were divided into two groups, confirmed and probable cysticercosis. The clinical picture may be divided into two stages: initial stage of acute invasion and chronic encephalitic stage. Symptoms in the initial stage are headache, vomiting, fever, myalgia, abdominal pain, seizures and psychotic reactions. In the initial stage only cerebral edema can be seen in the computed tomography (CT) scan. In the chronic stage, variability of symptomatology is great, and it is in this phase that cysticerci can be seen in the CT scan. Only 66 out of the 131 patients studied had CT performed. The computed tomographic sequence of parenchymatous brain cysticercosis is described. A feature not previously reported was the presence of transient arterial hypertension due to cerebral cysticercosis found in four cases.

Adolescent↗

Risk factors for human cysticercosis morbidity: a population-based case-control study.

A population-based case-control study to determine social and behavioural risk factors for Taenia solium cysticercosis in humans was carried out in a rural area. Shandong province, China. Forty-eight cases with cysticercosis were ascertained through a prevalence survey conducted among 7281 persons in 1993. For each case, four controls residing in the same village and matched for age and sex were randomly selected. Information regarding demographic, social and behavioural factors was collected during house visits through interviews and direct observation. Risk factors strongly associated with human cysticercosis included poor personal hygiene, being unable to recognize cysticerci-containing meat, poor pig-raising practices and a history of passing tapeworm proglottides. The results indicate that health education in combination with chemotherapy for taeniasis is required for the control of cysticercosis in humans.

Adolescent↗

[Enlargement of an extraocular eye muscle: a symptom of cysticercosis].

BACKGROUND: Cysticercosis is one of the two infections caused by Taenia solium. It is endemic in areas with poor hygienic standards. In western countries the patients history of previous living or travelling in endemic areas is important. Neurocysticercosis is a manifestation with single or multiple ocular, orbital or cerebral lesions. PATIENT: Two patients presented with severe headache and pain in the ocular region. Both patients were diagnosed to have a cystic lesion in an extraocular muscle. RESULTS: Both patients had a manifestation of cysticercosis. Additionally patient no. 1 had a myositis of this muscle, patient no. 2 had a posterior scleritis. CONCLUSION: Without evidence of an eosinophilia and stool ova and cysts and without a positive ELISA-test for cysticercosis the pathognomonic appearance of the thickened muscle, the cyst and the scolex inside should lead to the diagnosis cysticercosis.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗

Porcine cysticercosis in village pigs of North-West Cameroon.

A study was carried out in two villages and one marketplace of the Batibo sub-division in North-West Cameroon to determine the prevalence of porcine cysticercosis. The results showed that 4.44% of 383 pigs were positive at tongue examination whereas ELISA detected circulating antigens in 27.7% of 271 pig sera. A questionnaire survey in 140 pig-raising households indicated that 59.3% of them lacked latrines while in 75.7% of the households members defecated directly into pigpens. The seroprevalence of porcine cysticercosis was significantly higher in households without latrines than in those with latrines. Similarly, significantly more seropositive pigs were present in households that defecated in the pig pens (35.5%) than in those that did not (14.4%). Although 91.4% of pig raising households did know of pig cysticercosis, only 28.6% were aware of the link with human taeniasis and only 10.7% were aware of human cysticercosis.

Animal Husbandry↗

Extraneural cysticercosis presenting as a tumor in a seronegative patient.

A case of cysticercosis involving only the sternocleidomastoid muscle of an otherwise-healthy pregnant woman is presented. An enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot assay for cysticercosis was nonreactive. The clinical features of extraneural cysticercosis are reviewed with special attention to musculocutaneous involvement. The results of serological tests for such patients may not be positive and histopathology remains the only reliable method for confirming the diagnosis of cysticercosis.

Adult↗

An enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot assay and glycoprotein antigens for diagnosing human cysticercosis (Taenia solium).

An enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot (EITB) assay was developed for immunodiagnosing human cysticercosis. The assay uses lentil-lectin, affinity-purified glycoprotein antigens. A battery of 532 serum and 46 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples (148 cases of parasitologically confirmed cysticercosis, 54 healthy controls, and 18 types of heterologous infections [376 cases]) were used to ascertain the assay's efficacy. All but three of the samples from cases of confirmed cysticercosis were positive; none of the samples from healthy controls or heterologous infections reacted to any of the diagnostic bands. Thus, the assay is 98% sensitive and 100% specific. We identified seven major glycoprotein bands that are commonly recognized by virtually all serum and/or CSF samples from patients with confirmed cysticercosis. There was no significant difference in test performance when CSF was compared with serum. The EITB assay is highly reproducible and simple to perform, and the reagents (including the antigens blotted onto strips) are very stable.

Animals↗

Taenia solium taeniasis and cysticercosis in three communities in north Vietnam.

OBJECTIVES: (1) To investigate the response to a serum antigen-detecting ELISA for cysticercosis and a stool coproantigen test for taeniasis in two rural communities (mountainous and coastal areas) and one group of (peri-)urban factory workers; and (2) to examine clinical features of human cysticercosis in northern Vietnam. METHODS: Villagers and factory workers and their families were informed and invited to participate in the study. Blood and faecal samples were collected from the participants and a simple questionnaire on taeniasis/cysticercosis completed. Serum was examined for the presence of circulating cysticercus antigen by a monoclonal-based sandwich ELISA. Ag-ELISA positive persons underwent a clinical examination and a computed tomography (CT) scan. Stool samples were examined microscopically for the presence of Taenia eggs and for copro-antigens. Tapeworms were identified following therapeutic expulsion using morphology and PCR-RFLP. RESULTS: Circulating cysticercus antigens, suggesting active infection, were detected in 5.3% (16/303), 0.6% (1/175) and 0.0% (0/229) of the sampled individuals from the mountainous, coastal and urban regions, respectively. Clinical examination and CT scan of the cysticercus antigen positive persons showed that active cysticercosis did not cause severe disease in most cases. Taenia copro-antigens were found in 0.3% (1/297), 1.8% (3/166) and 0.0% (0/228) of the stool samples from the mountainous, coastal and urban communities, respectively. Three tapeworms were expelled after treatment: two Taenia solium and one Taenia saginata. CONCLUSION: This survey points to a focal distribution of taeniasis/cysticercosis and suggests that human cysticercosis is rather acquired due to close contact with a T. solium carrier and self-infection, than through infection from the environment.

Adolescent↗

Increased resistance to Taenia crassiceps murine cysticercosis in Qa-2 transgenic mice.

We previously reported important differences in resistance to Taenia crassiceps murine cysticercosis between BALB/c substrains. It was suggested that resistance might correlate with expression of the nonclassic class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Qa-2 antigen; BALB/cAnN is Qa-2 negative and highly susceptible to T. crassiceps, whereas BALB/cJ expresses Qa-2 and is highly resistant. In this study, we investigated the role of Qa-2 in mediating resistance to cysticercosis by linkage analysis and infection of Qa-2 transgenic mice. In BALB/cAnN x (C57BL/6J x BALB/cAnN)F1 and BALB/cAnN x (BALB/cJ x BALB/cAnN)F1 backcrosses, the expression of Qa-2 antigen correlated with resistance to cysticercosis. Significantly fewer parasites were recovered from infected Qa-2 transgenic male and female mice than from nontransgenic mice of similar genetic background. These results clearly demonstrate that the Qa-2 MHC antigen is involved in resistance to T. crassiceps cysticercosis.

Animals↗

Two epitopes shared by Taenia crassiceps and Taenia solium confer protection against murine T. crassiceps cysticercosis along with a prominent T1 response.

Taenia crassiceps recombinant antigens KETc1 and KETc12 have been shown to induce high level of protection against experimental murine T. crassiceps cysticercosis, an experimental model successfully used to test candidate antigens for use in vaccination against porcine Taenia solium cysticercosis. Based on the deduced amino acid sequence, KETc1 and KETc12 were chemically synthesized in linear form. Immunization with KETc1 induced 66.7 to 100% protection against murine cysticercosis, and immunization with KETc12 induced 52.7 to 88.1% protection. The elicited immune response indicated that both peptides contain at least one B-cell epitope (as demonstrated by their ability to induce specific antibodies) and one T-cell epitope that strongly stimulated the proliferation of T cells primed with either the free peptide or total cysticercal T. crassiceps antigens. The high percentage of spleen cells expressing inflammatory cytokines points to the likelihood of a T1 response being involved in protection. The protective capacity of the peptides and their presence in all developmental stages of T. solium point to these two epitopes as strong candidates for inclusion in a polyepitopic synthetic vaccine against T. solium pig cysticercosis.

Animals↗

Taenia solium: the complex interactions, of biological, social, geographical and commercial factors, involved in the transmission dynamics of pig cysticercosis in highly endemic areas.

If a programme for the control of pig cysticercosis is to be effective it has to be based on good data on the local epidemiology of Taenia solium. In 2002-2003, in a cross-sectional study of pig cysticercosis in the Mexican state of Morelos, 1747 pigs that had been born and reared in rural areas of the state were checked for T. solium infection by tongue inspection. The prevalence of cysticercosis in the pigs was found to vary from 0% to 30% according to the municipality from which the pigs came. Although prevalence appeared to be unaffected by the socio-economic status of the municipality, it was relatively high in areas that lacked latrines, and in pigs that were castrated, pregnant and/or of the native (rather than an imported) breed. The results of questionnaire-based interviews with pig owners revealed that most (64.5%) of the rural pigs, whether infected or not, are slaughtered and consumed within the locality where they were reared. The other pigs are sold at low prices to organised traffickers who take the uninspected pigs to neighbouring urban areas for sale. The observed complexity in the factors affecting the transmission of T. solium to the pigs of Morelos state calls for an intervention strategy of matching complexity, initially targeted at those villages with the highest prevalences of pig cysticercosis. The road transport of pigs needs to be better regulated, and the vaccination and genetic improvement of the rural pigs, and delaying the castration of the boars, should all be considered.

Age Distribution↗

[Compulsory notification of cysticercosis in Ribeiräo Preto-SP, Brazil].

Cysticercosis is a severe public health problem in several regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Epidemiologic studies based on the frequency of cases observed in specialized neurology, neurosurgery and computed tomography services, at autopsy and in seroepidemiologic studies do not permit the determination of the true prevalence of the disease in the population. The objective of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of cysticercosis by compulsory notification. The coefficient of prevalence was 54 cases/100,000 inhabitants in the municipality of Ribeirão Preto. The results also indicated that cysticercosis is not under control in our region since 21% of cases presented the active form of the disease. Compulsory notification proved to be a valuable resource for the epidemiologic study of cysticercosis, also permitting the mapping of more affected areas for a better direction of prevention strategies.

Adolescent↗