• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제44권3호
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• pp.177-185
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• 2006

Soil-transmitted helminths (STH), namely Ascaris, Trichuris and hookworms (Ancylostoma and Necator), present a global health problem to about a half of the earth's population. In the Republic of Korea, STH were highly prevalent and were considered a high priority target for national control. To promote the control, a non-governmental organization named Korea Association for Parasite Eradication (currently Korea Association of Health Promotion) was founded in 1964, and mass fecal examination followed by selective mass chemotherapy with anthelmintics was performed twice a year from 1969 to 1995 targeting whole nationwide schoolchildren. Meanwhile, decreasing patterns of national STH infections have been monitored by 7 times' quinquennial national surveys targeting general population. In 1971, the overall intestinal helminth egg positive rate was 84.3% (Ascaris 58.2%, Trichuris 65.4%, and hookworms 10.7%), which became 63.2% in 1976, 41.1% in 1981, 12.9% in 1986, 3.8% in 1992, 2.4% in 1997, and 4.3% (Ascaris 0.03%, Trichuris 0.02%, and hookworms 0%) in 2004. During the control period, national economy rapidly developed, and living standards including environment, sanitation, and agricultural technology greatly improved, which undoubtedly boosted the STH control effects. Our experience indicates that social driving force to establish an eligible national control system to conduct repeated mass chemotherapy, together with improvement of environment and sanitation, is important for initiating and achieving STH control in a developing community.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제46권1호
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• pp.45-48
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• 2008

To evaluate the usefulness of the Korean Isolate-1 (KI-1) antigen for serodiagnosis of toxoplasmosis, antigen profiles of KI-1 tachyzoites were analyzed in comparison with RH tachyzoites by SOS-PAGE and immunoblotting. ELISA was performed on latex agglutination (LA)-positive and negative serum samples using KI-1 and RH antigens. Immunoblotting of the KI-1 antigen showed multiple antigen bands with molecular sizes of 22-105 kDa. Among them, 1 and 6 common bands were noted against a KI-1-infected and a RH-infected human serum, respectively, which represented differences in antigenic profiles between KI-1 and RH tachyzoites. However, all 9 LA-positive human sera were found positive by ELISA, and all 12 LA-negative sera were negative by ELISA; the correlation between the ELISA titers and LA titers was high (r = 0.749). Our results suggest that tachyzoites of KI-1 may be useful for serodiagnosis of human toxoplasmosis.

• 농촌의학ㆍ지역보건
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.67-73
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• 1984

Albendazole, a new broad spectrum anthelmintic drug, was evaluated for anthelmintic effects in 74 patients with single or mixed infections of Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura. Enterobius vermicularis, Metagonimus yokogawai, Clonorchis sinensis and Taenia spp. Albendazole was administered as a single dose of 400 mg. The cure rate for A. lumbricoides and E. vermicularis was 91.4% and 98.1% respectively at day 30 post-treatment: for T. trichiura it was 51.1% and for M. yakogawai and C. sinensis it was 33.3% and 13.3% respectively. The egg reduction rate at day 30 was 98.5% in A. lumbricoides, 76.5% for T. trichiura : 60.0% for M. yokogawai and 59.6% for C. sinensis However it was not cured in all 5 cases of taeniasis at three months follow-up examination. On the other hand, the various dosages of albendazole were given to the patients infected with C. sinensis and Taenia spp. respectively. The follow-up examinations were carried out at 30 days after treatment in clonorchiasis and at 3 months after treatment in taeniasis. In the results, the recommended dosage of albendazole for clonorchiasis is $3{\times}400mg$ for 3 consecutive days and for taeniasis $2{\times}400mg$ for 3 consecutive days. There were no side effects with the above dosages except only a mild abdominal pain and dizziness in a few patients. Albendazole appears to be more effective than the other available broad spectrum anthelmintic drugs.

• 대한바이러스학회지
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.125-130
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• 2000

Infection with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is of considerable clinical relevance after placental transmission and in immunosuppressed patients such as transplant recipients or patients with AIDS. The rapid detection method of HCMV has been required to overcome the time-consuming methods such as classical plaque assay or other immunological methods. This study was performed to establish the in situ ELISA, in which human lung fibroblasts infected with HCMV were fixed and used directly as antigen in 96 well culture plate. Expressed HCMV antigens were detected with HCMV-specific monoclonal antibodies. This method could detect HCMV dose-dependently upto $3{\times}10^2\;pfu/ml$. Antiviral activity of ganciclovir could be assayed within the known range of effective dose. This result showed that HCMV could be quantitated by in situ ELISA. The chemical, which was selected on the basis of component analysis in natural product, was tested to have the anti-HCMV activity by in situ ELISA, and three among five samples were found to have anti-HCMV activity with the dose-dependent manner. Conclusively in situ ELISA could be useful method for quantitation of HCMV and screening antiviral activity of samples to HCMV.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제37권4호
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• pp.243-248
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• 1999

The present study analyzed serum IgG subclass antibody reaction to major antigenic bands of Clonorchis sinensis to investigate improvement of its serodiagnosis. Of the four subclass antibodies, IgG1 and IgG2 antibodies were produced but not specific, IgG3 antibody was least produced, and IgG4 antibody was prominent and specific. The serum IgG antibody reaction to any of 43-50, 34-37, 26-28, and 8 kDa bands was found in 65.5％ of 168 egg positive cases while IgG4 antibody reaction was found in 22.0％ of them. The positive rates of IgG and IgG4 antibodies were directly correlated with the intensity of infection. All of the sera from heavily infected cases over EPG 5,000 showed positive reaction for specific IgG and IgG4 antibodies. The specific serum IgG4 antibody disappeared within 6 months after treatment. The bands of 35 kDa and 67 kDa cross-reacted with IgG antibodies but not with IgG4 antibodies in sera of other trematode infections. The present findings suggest that serum IgG4 antibody reaction to 8 kDa band is specific but not sensitive. Any method to increase its sensitivity is required for improved serodiagnosis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제41권2호
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• pp.81-87
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• 2003

The effects of anti-allergic drugs on intestinal mastocytosis and the expulsion of Neodiplostomum seoulense were observed in Sprague-Dawley rats, after oral infection with 500 metacercariae. The drugs used were hydroxyzine (a histamine receptor H$_1$ blocker), cimetidine (a H$_2$ blocker), cyclosporin-A (a helper T-cell suppressant), and prednisolone (a T- and B-cell suppressant). Infected, but untreated controls, and uninfected controls, were prepared. Worm recovery rate and intestinal mastocytosis were measured on weeks 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 post-infection. Compared with the infected controls, worm expulsion was significantly (P < 0.05) delayed in hydroxyzine- and cimetidine-treated rats, despite mastocytosis being equally marked in the duodenum of all three groups. In the cyclosporin-A- and prednisolone-treated groups, mastocytosis was suppressed, but worm expulsion was only slightly delayed, without statistical significance. Our results suggest that binding of histamine to its receptors on intestinal smooth muscles is more important in terms of the expulsion of N. seoulense from rats than the levels of histamine alone, or mastocytosis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제52권1호
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• pp.41-46
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• 2014

The mature domain of a cysteine protease of Spirometra erinacei plerocercoid larva (i.e., sparganum) was expressed in Escherichia coli, and its value as an antigen for the serodiagnosis of sparganosis was investigated. The recombinant protein (rSepCp-1) has the molecular weight of 23.4 kDa, and strongly reacted with the sparganum positive human or mice sera but not with negative sera by immunoblotting. ELISA with rSepCp-1 protein or sparganum crude antigen (SeC) was evaluated for the serodiagnosis of sparganosis using patient's sera. The sensitivity and specificity of ELISA using rSepCp-1 protein were 95.0% (19/20) and 99.1% (111/112), respectively. In contrast, the sensitivity and specificity of ELISA with SeC were 100% (20/20) and 96.4% (108/112), respectively. Moreover, in experimentally infected mice, the sensitivity and specificity of both ELISA assays were 100% for the detection of anti-sparganum IgG. It is suggested that the rSepCp-1 protein-based ELISA could provide a highly sensitive and specific assay for the diagnosis of sparganosis.

• 농촌의학ㆍ지역보건
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.46-55
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• 1992

A systematic study was conducted to identify and isolate a serologically pertinent antigen with high specific activity and low cross reactivity from P.westermani antigen. Differential centrifugation of the homogenate yield three particulate and one soluble fractions ; the $480{\times}G$ pellet(Pw1), the $7650{\times}G$ pellet(Pw2) treated with n-butanol(Pw3), and $100000{\times}G$ supernatnat(Pw4). Comparison of antigenicity of these antigens, based upon differential centrifugation, to that of saline extract of P. westermani worm(SEP) was performed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblot techniques. The results obtained were as follows : 1) The ratio of absorbance value of ELISA against paragonimiasis positive pool sera to that of negative sera was highest when using Pw3 as antigen and that was lowest using Pwl. 2) Silver stained and SDS-PAGE of each antigen showed 34 and 13Kd band as common antigen band, but Pw2 didn't show clear band. 3) By immunoblot 55 and 34Kd bands using SEP and Pw4 showed strong positive reaction without cross reaction with sera from other helmenthic infections. Using Pw3, 10Kd band was observed as specific band. In conclusion, Pw3($100000{\times}G$ pellet urea soluble, treated with n-butanol) and Pw4($100000{\times}G$ supernatant) were usable for ELISA and immunoblot technique.

• 농촌의학ㆍ지역보건
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.61-67
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• 1981

This survey was undertaken to evaluate the status of clonorchiasis in Chang-gok Myun, Hong-Seong Gun adjacent to Yedang reservoir from Sept., 1980 to Oct., 1981. A total of 550 subjects (male 318, and female 232) were examined by cellophane-thick smear technique and formalin-ether method. In order to identify the intensity of the Clonorchis sinensis infection, Stoll's egg dilution counting method was also applied to the C. sinensis positive cases. The following results were obtained in this survey; 1. In the examination of 550 subjects, Clonorchis sinensis eggs were found in 167 cases (30.4%). Male subjects showed 43.4% positive rates and female represented 12.5%. 2. The highest prevalence rate of Clonorchis sinensis was found in 40~49 year group in male (64.2%) and 30~39 year group in female (22.0%), although 14.3%~16.7% positive rates were found in young aged group. 3. Mean E.P.G. of Clonorchis sinensis infected cases were 6,148, showing 7,533 in male and 5,193 in female. 4. The degree of intensity of Clonorchis sinensis infection by E.P.G. count was distributed as 30.4% in light infection (1~999), 45.7% in moderate infection (1,000~29,999) and 5.8% in very heavy infection (over 30,000) in male. Female showed 48.3% in light, 37.9% in moderate, 10.3%. in heavy and 3.5% in very heavy infection. 5. Other helminthic infection rate was 15.6% in Ascaris lumbricoides infection, 15.1% in Trichuris trichiura infection and 4.4% of male subjects showed eggs of Taenia species.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제38권3호
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• pp.159-166
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• 2000

The present study intended to verify activities of cysteine proteinase of Pneumocystis carinii from rats and to purify the enzyme. In order to exclude the contamination of host-derived enzymes, concentrates of P. carinii was primarily treated with a mixture of proteinase inhibitors before Iysis of P carinii. A 68-kDa cysteine proteinase was finally purified from the crude extract of P. carinii by 4 sequential chromatographic methods. The enzyme showed an optimal activity at pH 5.5 in 0.1 M sodium acetate, and its activity was specifically inhibited by L-trans-epoxy-succinylleucylamido (4-guanidino) butane (E-64) and iodoacetic acid, suggesting that the enzyme is a cysteine proteinase. The 68-kDa proteinase weakly digested rnacrornolecules such as collagen, hemoglobin and fibronectin. The present study demonstrated the activity of cysteine proteinase at the 68-kDa band of P. carinii, and purified and characterized the molecule.