Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-04-03DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.006
Eleni Gentekaki, Supaluk Popruk, Pauline D Scanlan, Christen Rune Stensvold
{"title":"Navigating Blastocystis research - challenges in the next-generation sequencing era.","authors":"Eleni Gentekaki, Supaluk Popruk, Pauline D Scanlan, Christen Rune Stensvold","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Blastocystis research has grown rapidly with molecular tools, especially next-generation sequencing, increasing subtype discovery but raising methodological and taxonomic challenges. We assess subtype designation criteria, caution against lowering divergence thresholds without biological evidence, and propose minimum standards requiring near full-length small subunit ribosomal RNA data and replication to ensure nomenclatural stability and epidemiological comparability.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"322-326"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147618820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-04-14DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.003
Eric Y Helm, Tighe Christopher, Alejandra Lopez Espinoza, Natalie Santillano, Elia D Tait Wojno
{"title":"Environmental factors that regulate host-helminth interactions.","authors":"Eric Y Helm, Tighe Christopher, Alejandra Lopez Espinoza, Natalie Santillano, Elia D Tait Wojno","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) infect over a billion people worldwide. Individual outcomes vary, ranging from subclinical, mild infections to recurrent or severe disease. Emerging evidence reveals that susceptibility to STH infection reflects a multilayered integration of past and present environmental factors. At mucosal surfaces, STHs activate type 2 immune, epithelial, and neuronal circuits, while microbial- and diet-derived signals promote homeostasis. Environmental signals tune the transcriptional programs that control these events, shaping interleukin-13-driven effector functions required for worm expulsion. Concurrently, infection and inflammation history imprint immune and epithelial compartments, leading to durable epigenetic remodeling and altering responsiveness to STHs upon reexposure. Understanding how environmental factors impact host-helminth interactions offers new opportunities to predict susceptibility and design interventions that enhance anti-helminth immunity.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"377-389"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147691940","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-04-08DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.011
Derick N M Osakunor, Sergi Alonso, Sandra Jumbe, Poppy H L Lamberton
{"title":"Unravelling the true biopsychosocial impact of schistosomiasis.","authors":"Derick N M Osakunor, Sergi Alonso, Sandra Jumbe, Poppy H L Lamberton","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.011","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Schistosomiasis remains a debilitating parasitic disease, with over 200 million people infected globally. Heavy, chronic infections cause severe morbidity and over 12 000 deaths a year. As diagnostics improve, we have a greater understanding of more accurate prevalences. However, how infections, including light-intensity infections, affect individuals' health and quality of life remains to be fully understood, particularly as specific markers of morbidity, disease progression, and resolution are lacking. We explore evidence about the true broader physical, psychological, economic, social, and environmental impacts of schistosomiasis, identifying critical gaps in understanding the interplay between infection, morbidity, and wellbeing, and propose innovative approaches to better capture true long-term disease impacts. We argue for more holistic frameworks to inform disease monitoring, intervention evaluation, and policy development.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"408-425"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147646070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-04-07DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.005
Noha Attallah, Harsh Srivastava, Jane M Carlton, Youssef Idaghdour
{"title":"Integrative proteomics to illuminate host-parasite interactions in malaria.","authors":"Noha Attallah, Harsh Srivastava, Jane M Carlton, Youssef Idaghdour","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Genomic studies have transformed malaria research but provide only indirect proxies for the functional processes that govern infection progression and clinical outcomes. We argue that proteomics should be a core component of malaria systems biology. By quantifying protein abundance, post-translational modifications, interaction networks, localization, and turnover in both host and parasite, proteomics can help identify mechanisms of cytoadhesion, endothelial dysfunction, immune modulation, tissue-specific pathology, and variability in therapeutic response-processes less amenable to interrogation at the nucleic acid level. Advances in high-throughput and high-resolution proteomic technologies, as well as emerging single-cell and spatial proteomics combined with artificial intelligence-driven pipelines, now enable comprehensive, sensitive, quantitative, system-wide profiling. We outline how these approaches can dissect host-parasite crosstalk and accelerate discovery in malaria research.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"337-349"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147634495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-04-06DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.002
M Saleh Yunus, Marylyn Martina Addo, Minka Breloer, Wiebke Hartmann
{"title":"The forgotten variable in vaccine immunology: helminth infection.","authors":"M Saleh Yunus, Marylyn Martina Addo, Minka Breloer, Wiebke Hartmann","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Vaccination is the most effective prophylactic measure against infectious diseases. Vaccine immunogenicity, however, is often reduced in rural and low-income regions where helminth infections are endemic. Helminths exert strong immunomodulatory effects and can alter host immune responses to unrelated antigens, including vaccines. This review summarizes evidence from human and mouse studies assessing how helminth infections and deworming (DW) influence vaccine responses, highlighting limitations, such as reinfection, incomplete DW, and misdiagnosis in clinical settings. Murine models enable mechanistic analyses and challenge infections. These studies revealed long-lasting impaired vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy in previously helminth-infected mice that may not be fully reversed by DW. Finally, controlled human infection models combined with systems approaches are required to improve vaccine regimens in low-income countries.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"390-407"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147628706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in parasitologyPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-04-06DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.012
Christopher Markosian, Ricardo J Giordano, Renata Pasqualini, Wadih Arap
{"title":"An emerging family of immunogenic epitopes in Chagas disease.","authors":"Christopher Markosian, Ricardo J Giordano, Renata Pasqualini, Wadih Arap","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Kortbawi et al. identified trans-sialidase 23 (TS23) via phage display as an immunodominant B-cell epitope of Trypanosoma cruzi trans-sialidases, broadly detected serologically in Chagas-endemic regions. Independent mapping confirmed this antigenic landscape. TS23, FLY, and TS9 may define an emerging family of immunogenic epitopes with implications for tissue tropism and translational applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"313-315"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147628774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sensing in motion: the active tick.","authors":"Carola Städele","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.017","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The sensory biology of ticks has received comparatively little attention, despite their major importance as disease vectors. Recent findings challenge the view of ticks as passive followers of host cues and instead reveal that they actively shape how sensory information is acquired. By adjusting posture, foreleg position, and questing height, ticks regulate stimulus exposure and generate feedback that modulates ongoing behavior. This perspective highlights host-seeking as a dynamic process shaped by environmental context and internal state rather than by cue presence alone. Here, we synthesize emerging evidence from behavior, physiology, and sensory energetics to introduce an active-sensing perspective on tick biology and outline how feedback-driven sensory control influences host encounters, habitat use, and vector competence.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147730022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}