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Topic Review
Host Immune Responses to Trypanosomes
The mammalian host’s innate and adaptive immune systems are both key to successfully resisting or controlling trypanosomosis. When trypanosomes are inoculated into the mammalian hosts by a blood-feeding insect such as a tsetse fly, the first contact between the trypanosome and host occurs in the skin. Here, a chancre often develops at the dermal inoculation site. Intense innate immune reactions, cellular reactions, and edema formation accompany these chancres. Thereafter, parasites start to circulate through the blood or lymph, invading lymphatic tissues and various organs. There, the trypanosomes again encounter various innate immune components before being confronted with the adaptive immune system. Once entered into the circulation stage of infection, trypanosomes are going to encounter responses from macrophages and B cells, as well as the T helper compartment that links these two.
  • 60
  • 07 Mar 2024
Topic Review
The Digestive Vacuole of the Malaria Parasite
The malaria parasite resides within erythrocytes during one stage of its life cycle. During this intraerythrocytic period, the parasite ingests the erythrocyte cytoplasm and digests approximately two-thirds of the host cell hemoglobin. This digestion occurs within a lysosome-like organelle called the digestive vacuole. Several proteases are localized to the digestive vacuole and these proteases sequentially breakdown hemoglobin into small peptides, dipeptides, and amino acids. The peptides are exported into the host cytoplasm via the chloroquine-resistance transporter and an amino acid transporter that has also been identified on the digestive vacuole membrane. The environment of the digestive vacuole also provides appropriate conditions for the biocrystallization of toxic heme into non-toxic hemozoin by a poorly understood process. Hemozoin formation is an attribute of Plasmodium and Haemoproteus and is not exhibited by other intraerythrocytic protozoan parasites. The efficient degradation of hemoglobin and detoxification of heme likely plays a major role in the high level of replication exhibited by malaria parasites within erythrocytes. Unique features of the digestive vacuole and the critical importance of nutrient acquisition provide therapeutic targets for the treatment of malaria.
  • 240
  • 29 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Blastocystis in Gut Microbiome
Blastocystis is the most common gastrointestinal protist found in humans and animals. Although the clinical significance of Blastocystis remains unclear, the organism is increasingly being viewed as a commensal member of the gut microbiome. 
  • 142
  • 29 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Sarcocystis Infecting Old World and South American camelids
Sarcocystis spp. are coccidian protozoans belonging to the Apicomplexa phylum. As with other members of this phylum, they are obligate intracellular parasites with complex cellular machinery for the invasion of host cells. Sarcocystis spp. display dixenous life cycles, involving a predator and a prey as definitive and intermediate hosts, respectively. Specifically, these parasites develop sarcocysts in the tissues of their intermediate hosts, ranging in size from microscopic to visible to the naked eye, depending on the species. When definitive hosts consume sarcocysts, infective forms are produced in the digestive system and discharged into the environment via feces.
  • 71
  • 27 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Major Gastrointestinal Nematode Infections in Small Ruminants
Gastrointestinal parasitic nematode (GIN) infections are the cause of severe losses to farmers in countries where small ruminants such as sheep and goat are the mainstay of livestock holdings. There is a need to develop effective and easy-to-administer anti-parasite vaccines in areas where anthelmintic resistance is rapidly rising due to the inefficient use of drugs currently available.
  • 63
  • 31 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Transient Transfection of Schistosomes
The neglected tropical disease schistosomiasis is a worm infection that is caused by parasitic blood flukes. The disease is found in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the New World. Worldwide, 240 million people are infected, and 700 million people are at risk. Schistosomiasis is a debilitating, chronic disease, and the mortality is estimated at 200,000 deaths per year. Schistosomiasis control relies on the drug praziquantel, but it does not prevent reinfection after treatment. The development of new vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic methods and the investigation of the biological basis of infectivity are, therefore, of critical importance. The development of transgenesis systems, as have been used for other pathogens, has been hampered by the complexity of the parasite and its life cycle.
  • 209
  • 26 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Proteomics Applications in Toxoplasma gondii
Toxoplasma gondii, a protozoan parasite with the ability to infect various warm-blooded vertebrates, including humans, is the causative agent of toxoplasmosis. This infection poses significant risks, leading to severe complications in immunocompromised individuals and potentially affecting the fetus through congenital transmission. A comprehensive understanding of the intricate molecular interactions between T. gondii and its host is pivotal for the development of effective therapeutic strategies. 
  • 119
  • 05 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Toxoplasma gondii in Marine Life of Italian Coasts
Coastal areas of Italy experience high anthropogenic pressure, with a population density estimated to be 360 people per km2. This is correlated with the production of sewage or surface runoff of water contaminated with Toxoplasma gondii oocysts and other pathogens that can in turn enter the food chain and become a public health concern.
  • 75
  • 25 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Perception of Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases Worldwide
In humans, an obvious reduction of the impact of ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) could be managed by informing the population on the risks associated with ticks and TBD, involving frequent public news media and advertisements, as currently carried out in northern countries of Europe, which are measuring their impact and adaptation. Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control provide online free access to information about TBD, gaps are obvious in both the transmitted information and the ability of citizens to understand the information. The same applies to ticks feeding on pets, that have an extraordinarily high contact with humans.
  • 292
  • 27 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Flea Families
With around 10 new species described annually, extant flea fauna comprises an estimated 249 genera, 2215 species, and 714 subspecies globally, mostly mammal parasites, but 5% of species are on birds.
  • 192
  • 25 Oct 2023
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