• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.201-204
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• 1994

Echinostomiasis is an endemic intestinal trematodiasis of humans in Korea We observed a human case of Echinostomn honense infection who had ulcerations on the duodenal mucosa. A 55-year old man living in Hamyang-gun, Kyongnam, complained of epigastric pain with hematemesis In April 1994. Endoscopy revealed lesions of early gastric cancer and duodenal ulcerations. A penetrating parasite into the duodenal mucosa was picked out, and identified as E. honense. As the patient was treated 10 praziquantel 10 mg/kg single dose,3 more E. hofene and 7 Metogonimw worms were recovered. This case demonstrates that echinostomiasis causes gross ulcerations in the duodenum.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.129-135
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• 2004

We compared the DNA sequences of the genus Metagonimus: M. yokogawai, M. takahashii, and M. miyatai. We obtained 288 D1 ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) fragments from the adult worms by PCR, that were cloned and sequenced. Phylogenetic relationships inferred from the nucleotide sequences of the 28S D1 rDNA and mtCOI gene. M. takahashii and M. yokogawai are placed in the same clade supported by DNA sequence and phylogenie tree analysis in 28S D1 rDNA and mtCOI gene region. The above findings tell us that M. takahashii is closer to M. yokogawai than to M. miyatai genetically. This phylogenetic data also support the nomination of M. miyatai as a separate species.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.44 no.2 s.138
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• pp.163-166
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• 2006

The present study observed the resistance to reinfection with Clonorchis sinensis in various experimental animals including mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, and dogs, as well as rats and hamsters. The resistance rates to reinfection in rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, and dogs were 79.7%, 58.0%, -12.6%, 54.8%, 62.6%, and 6.0%, respectively. Worms recovered from reinfected rats and mice were immature, and significantly smaller than those from the primarily infected (P < 0.01), whereas those from other animals were fully matured to adults. These findings indicate that the protective response against reinfection with C. sinensis is prominent in rats and mice, and that they may be a good animal model to investigate the mechanism of resistance to reinfection with C. sinensis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.119-125
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• 2008

Lymphatic filariasis, transmitted by mosquitoes is the commonest cause of lymphedema in endemic countries. Among 120 million infected people in 83 countries, up to 16 million have lymphedema. Microfilariae ingested by mosquitoes grow into infective larvae. These larvae entering humans after infected mosquito bites grow in the lymphatics to adult worms that cause damage to lymphatics resulting in dilatation of lymph vessels. This earliest pathology is demonstrated in adults as well as in children, by ultrasonography, lymphoscintigraphy and histopathology studies. Once established, this damage was thought to be irreversible. This lymphatic damage predisposes to bacterial infection that causes recurrent acute attacks of dermato-lymphangio-adenitis in the affected limbs. Bacteria, mainly streptococci gain entry into the lymphatics through 'entry lesions' in skin, like interdigital fungal infections, injuries, eczema or similar causes that disrupt integrity of skin. Attacks of dermato-lymphangio-adenitis aggravates lymphatic damage causing lymphedema, which gets worse with repeated acute attacks. Elephantiasis is a late manifestation of lymphatic filariasis, which apart from limbs may involve genitalia or breasts. Lymphedema management includes use of antifilarial drugs in early stages, treatment and prevention of acute attacks through 'limb-hygiene', antibiotics and antifungals where indicated, and physical measures to reduce the swelling. In selected cases surgery is helpful.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.99-106
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• 2013

In 2005, we reported the infection status of 438 stray cats with various species of intestinal helminths, including nematodes (4 species), trematodes (23 species), and cestodes (5 species) in the Republic of Korea. However, morphologic details of each helminth species have not been provided. In the present study, we intended to describe morphologic details of 13 trematode species which were either new fauna of cats (10 species) or new fauna of not only cats but also all animal hosts (3 species). The worms were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin under a cover slip pressure, stained with Semichon's acetocarmine, and then observed using a light microscope equipped with a micrometer. The 13 subjected species included members of the Heterophyidae (Stellantchasmus falcatus, Stictodora fuscata, Stictodora lari, Centrocestus armatus, Procerovum varium, and Cryptocotyle concava), Echinostomatidae (Echinostoma hortense, Echinostoma revolutum, Echinochasmus japonicus, and Stephanoprora sp.), Diplostomidae (Neodiplostomum seoulense), Plagiorchiidae (Plagiorchis muris), and Dicrocoeliidae (Eurytrema pancreaticum). By the present study, Cryptocotyle sp. and Neodiplostomum sp. recored in our previous study were identified as C. concava and N. seoulense, respectively. Three species, P. varium, C. concava, and Stephanoprora sp., are new trematode fauna in Korea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.679-684
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• 2016

Clonorchiasis, caused by direct contact with Clonorchis sinensis worms and their excretory-secretory products (ESPs), is associated with chronic inflammation, malignant changes in bile ducts, and even cholangiocarcinogenesis. Our previous report revealed that intracellular free radicals enzymatically generated by C. sinensis ESPs cause NF-${\kappa}B$-mediated inflammation in human cholangiocarcinoma cells (HuCCT1). Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine the role of upstream Toll-like receptors (TLRs) on the initial host innate immune responses to infection. We found that treatment of HuCCT1 cells with native ESPs induced changes in TLR mRNA levels in a time-dependent manner, concomitant with the generation of free radicals. ESP-mediated free radical generation was markedly attenuated by preincubation of the cells with TLR1-4-neutralizing antibodies, indicating that at least TLR1 through 4 participate in stimulation of the host innate immune responses. These findings indicate that free radicals triggered by ESPs are critically involved in TLR signal transduction. Continuous signaling by this pathway may function in initiating C. sinensis infection-associated inflammation cascades, a detrimental event leading to progression to more severe hepatobiliary diseases.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.273-279
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• 2021

Branchinotogluma segonzaci (Miura and Desbruyères, 1995) occurs in hydrothermal vent fields of the southwestern Pacific Ocean. We morphologically compared B. segonzaci from the North Fiji Basin with the original description from the Lau Basin and a subsequent study of specimens from the Manus Basin. The main characteristics of all B. segonzaci populations were similar having 21 segments, 10 pairs of elytra, cylindrical-shaped anterior lobes, and ventral papillae on segment 12 and ventral lamellae on segments 13-17 in males. However, the specimens from the North Fiji Basin had rounded to sub-renifrom elytra rather than oval in the original description. Additionally, we newly obtained 11 cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) DNA barcodes from the North Fiji Basin and Tonga Arc populations and compared them with known COI DNA barcodes of Branchinotogluma species. Thirteen sequences of B. segonzaci showed 0.0-1.07% intraspecific variation and formed two clades in the COI neighbor-joining tree, whereas the interspecific variation among Branchinotogluma species was 8.19-22.4%. The results of this study contribute to biogeographic studies of B. segonzaci and the evolution of polynoid scale worms in chemosynthesis-based ecosystems.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.96-101
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• 2019

Methanol extract of Helianthus tuberosus L. (Compositae) flower was investigated to research the anti-oxidative activity by using a Caenorhabditis elegans model system. Ethyl acetate soluble fraction of the methanol extract showed the most potent DPPH radical scavenging activity. The ethyl acetate fraction was measured on its activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and oxidative stress tolerance with reactive oxygen species (ROS) level in C. elegans. Furthermore, in order to verify if regulation of stress-response gene is responsible for the increased stress tolerance of C. elegans which treated by the ethyl acetate fraction, we checked SOD-3 expression using a transgenic strain. Consequently, the ethyl acetate fraction of H. tuberosus flower increased the catalase and SOD activities in a dose-dependent manner in C. elegans, reduced ROS accumulation dose-dependently. Besides, the ethyl acetate fraction-treated CF1553 worms showed higher SOD-3::GFP intensity than the control group.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.309-312
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• 2019

Spargana were collected from human and frogs in Liaoning and Hubei Provinces, China. PCR amplification and direct sequencing of A cox1 fragment was PCR-amplified from genomic DNA extracted from 7 specimens (5 from humans and 2 from frogs). The cox1 fragment (390 bp) showed 97-100% similarity to the reference sequence of S. erinaceieuropaei and 88-89% to the reference sequence of S. decipiens. There were 1-12 bases different between these worms, but no obvious genetic variation (0-3.3%) to the references. There was little difference of cox1 gene between sparganum samples of humans and frogs (1-3%). This study is the first report on S. erinaceieuropaei spargana from humans in Liaoning and Hubei Provinces.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.411-416
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• 2019

To analyze the clinical and endoscopic features of colonic anisakiasis. A retrospective chart review of 20 patients with colonic anisakiasis, who were diagnosed by colonoscopy at 8 hospitals between January 2002 and December 2011, was performed. Patients' mean age was $53.6{\pm}10.74years$. Seventy percent patients were men. Acute abdominal pain was a common symptom that mostly developed within 48 hr after the ingestion of raw fish, and which lasted for 1-28 days. Sixty percent patients had ingested raw fish before the diagnosis of colonic anisakiasis and 40% patients were incidentally found to have colonic anisakiasis during the screening colonoscopies. Leukocytosis and eosinophilia were each found in 20% of the patients. In all patients who underwent colonoscopy, the worms were removed with biopsy forceps, except in 1 case, and a definite diagnosis of anisakiasis was made. In some cases of colonic anisakiasis, colonoscopy may be helpful in the diagnosis and treatment to avoid surgical intervention.