Advances in ParasitologyPub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2024-03-08DOI: 10.1016/bs.apar.2024.02.002
Rafael Toledo, Paola Cociancic, Emma Fiallos, J Guillermo Esteban, Carla Muñoz-Antoli
{"title":"Immunology and pathology of echinostomes and other intestinal trematodes.","authors":"Rafael Toledo, Paola Cociancic, Emma Fiallos, J Guillermo Esteban, Carla Muñoz-Antoli","doi":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.02.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.02.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Intestinal trematodes constitute a major group of helminths that parasitize humans and animals with relevant morbidity and mortality. Despite the importance of the intestinal trematodes in medical and veterinary sciences, immunology and pathology of these helminth infections have been neglected for years. Apart from the work focused on the members of the family Echnistomatidae, there are only very isolated and sporadic studies on the representatives of other families of digeneans, which makes a compilation of all these studies necessary. In the present review, the most salient literature on the immunology and pathology of intestinal trematodes in their definitive hosts in examined. Emphasis will be placed on members of the echinostomatidae family, since it is the group in which the most work has been carried out. However, we also review the information on selected species of the families Brachylaimidae, Diplostomidae, Gymnophallidae, and Heterophyidae. For most of these families, coverage is considered under the following headings: (i) Background; (ii) Pathology of the infection; (iii) Immunology of the infection; and (iv) Human infections.</p>","PeriodicalId":50854,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Parasitology","volume":"124 ","pages":"1-55"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140960580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Advances in ParasitologyPub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2024-09-25DOI: 10.1016/bs.apar.2024.08.001
Gunjan Arora, Jiří Černý
{"title":"Plasmodium proteases and their role in development of Malaria vaccines.","authors":"Gunjan Arora, Jiří Černý","doi":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.08.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.08.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Malaria remains a major health hazard for humans, despite the availability of efficacious antimalarial drugs and other interventions. Given that the disease is often deadly for children under 5 years and pregnant women living in malaria-endemic areas, an efficacious vaccine to prevent transmission and clinical disease would be ideal. Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, uses proteases and protease inhibitors to control and process to invade host, modulate host immunity, and for pathogenesis. Plasmodium parasites rely on these proteases for their development and survival, including feeding their metabolic needs and invasion of both mosquito and human tissues, and have thus been explored as potential targets for prophylaxis. In this chapter, we have discussed the potential of proteases like ROM4, SUB2, SERA4, SERA5, and others as vaccine candidates. We have also discussed the role of some protease inhibitors of plasmodium and mosquito origin. Inhibition of plasmodium proteases can interrupt the parasite development at many different stages therefore understanding their function is key to developing new drugs and malaria vaccines.</p>","PeriodicalId":50854,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Parasitology","volume":"126 ","pages":"253-273"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142512449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Advances in ParasitologyPub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2024-06-26DOI: 10.1016/bs.apar.2024.06.001
Andy Hardy
{"title":"New directions for malaria vector control using geography and geospatial analysis.","authors":"Andy Hardy","doi":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.06.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.06.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As we strive towards the ambitious goal of malaria elimination, we must embrace integrated strategies and interventions. Like many diseases, malaria is heterogeneously distributed. This inherent spatial component means that geography and geospatial data is likely to have an important role in malaria control strategies. For instance, focussing interventions in areas where malaria risk is highest is likely to provide more cost-effective malaria control programmes. Equally, many malaria vector control strategies, particularly interventions like larval source management, would benefit from accurate maps of malaria vector habitats - sources of water that are used for malarial mosquito oviposition and larval development. In many landscapes, particularly in rural areas, the formation and persistence of these habitats is controlled by geographical factors, notably those related to hydrology. This is especially true for malaria vector species like Anopheles funestsus that show a preference for more permanent, often naturally occurring water sources like small rivers and spring-fed ponds. Previous work has embraced geographical concepts, techniques, and geospatial data for studying malaria risk and vector habitats. But there is much to be learnt if we are to fully exploit what the broader geographical discipline can offer in terms of operational malaria control, particularly in the face of a changing climate. This chapter outlines potential new directions related to several geographical concepts, data sources and analytical approaches, including terrain analysis, satellite imagery, drone technology and field-based observations. These directions are discussed within the context of designing new protocols and procedures that could be readily deployed within malaria control programmes, particularly those within sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on experiences in the Kilombero Valley and the Zanzibar Archipelago, United Republic of Tanzania.</p>","PeriodicalId":50854,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Parasitology","volume":"125 ","pages":"1-52"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141879820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Advances in ParasitologyPub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2024-02-18DOI: 10.1016/bs.apar.2023.12.001
Mary Lorraine S Mationg, Gail M Williams, Veronica L Tallo, Remigio M Olveda, Donald P McManus, Donald E Stewart, Darren J Gray
{"title":"A review of health education activities targeting schoolchildren for the control of soil-transmitted helminthiasis in Southeast Asia, with emphasis upon the Magic Glasses approach.","authors":"Mary Lorraine S Mationg, Gail M Williams, Veronica L Tallo, Remigio M Olveda, Donald P McManus, Donald E Stewart, Darren J Gray","doi":"10.1016/bs.apar.2023.12.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/bs.apar.2023.12.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Soil-transmitted helminths continue to be a serious problem causing disease and morbidity globally. Children, mostly school-aged, are more at risk of these infections. The main strategy for control remains to be the mass drug administration (MDA) of antihelminthic drugs. With the limitation of MDA to prevent re-infection, the need for additional approaches such as hygiene education and improvements in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure are required. Although the importance of health education as a crucial component of an integrated approaches to STH control is highlighted, this component has often been disregarded because the other more complex solutions have been the focus of most studies and programmes. We performed literature searches from four bibliographic databases - Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Library - to determine availability of studies on the impact of health education interventions targeting STH infections on schoolchildren in Southeast Asia. Our review found only three studies that evaluated health education interventions targeting children. The current lack of evidence in this area suggests the need for more studies assessing the impact of health education intervention for STH control. A successful health education programme for STH called \"The Magic Glasses\" has been developed targeting schoolchildren in China and the Philippines. This public health intervention displayed significant impact in terms of improving knowledge, attitude and practices, reducing prevalence of STH infections in schoolchildren and encouraging compliance to MDA. This article details the successes and benefits of the Magic Glasses programme as a promising control tool for STH in the Southeast Asian region.</p>","PeriodicalId":50854,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Parasitology","volume":"123 ","pages":"1-22"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140050887","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Advances in ParasitologyPub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2024-09-20DOI: 10.1016/bs.apar.2024.07.002
Martin Horn, Lucia Bieliková, Andrea Vostoupalová, Jakub Švéda, Michael Mareš
{"title":"An update on proteases and protease inhibitors from trematodes.","authors":"Martin Horn, Lucia Bieliková, Andrea Vostoupalová, Jakub Švéda, Michael Mareš","doi":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.07.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.07.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Trematodes, a class of parasitic flatworms, are responsible for a variety of devastating diseases in humans and animals, with schistosomiasis and fascioliasis being prominent examples. Trematode proteolytic systems involved in the host-parasite interaction have emerged as key contributors to the success of trematodes in establishing and maintaining infections. This review concentrates on diverse proteases and protease inhibitors employed by trematodes and provides an update on recent advances in their molecular-level characterization, with a focus on function, structure, and therapeutic target potential.</p>","PeriodicalId":50854,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Parasitology","volume":"126 ","pages":"97-176"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142512447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Advances in ParasitologyPub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2024-02-06DOI: 10.1016/bs.apar.2024.01.001
Dennis Imhof, Kai Pascal Alexander Hänggeli, Maria Cristina Ferreira De Sousa, Anitha Vigneswaran, Larissa Hofmann, Yosra Amdouni, Ghalia Boubaker, Joachim Müller, Andrew Hemphill
{"title":"Working towards the development of vaccines and chemotherapeutics against neosporosis-With all of its ups and downs-Looking ahead.","authors":"Dennis Imhof, Kai Pascal Alexander Hänggeli, Maria Cristina Ferreira De Sousa, Anitha Vigneswaran, Larissa Hofmann, Yosra Amdouni, Ghalia Boubaker, Joachim Müller, Andrew Hemphill","doi":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.01.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.01.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neospora caninum is an apicomplexan and obligatory intracellular parasite, which is the leading cause of reproductive failure in cattle and affects other farm and domestic animals, but also induces neuromuscular disease in dogs of all ages. In cattle, neosporosis is an important health problem, and has a considerable economic impact. To date there is no protective vaccine or chemotherapeutic treatment on the market. Immuno-prophylaxis has long been considered as the best control measure. Proteins involved in host cell interaction and invasion, as well as antigens mediating inflammatory responses have been the most frequently assessed vaccine targets. However, despite considerable efforts no effective vaccine has been introduced to the market to date. The development of effective compounds to limit the effects of vertical transmission of N. caninum tachyzoites has emerged as an alternative or addition to vaccination, provided suitable targets and safe and efficacious drugs can be identified. Additionally, the combination of both treatment strategies might be interesting to further increase protectivity against N. caninum infections and to decrease the duration of treatment and the risk of potential drug resistance. Well-established and standardized animal infection models are key factors for the evaluation of promising vaccine and compound candidates. The vast majority of experimental animal experiments concerning neosporosis have been performed in mice, although in recent years the numbers of experimental studies in cattle and sheep have increased. In this review, we discuss the recent findings concerning the progress in drug and vaccine development against N. caninum infections in mice and ruminants.</p>","PeriodicalId":50854,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Parasitology","volume":"124 ","pages":"91-154"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140960581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Advances in ParasitologyPub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2023-12-28DOI: 10.1016/bs.apar.2023.12.003
Piers D Mitchell
{"title":"Parasites in ancient Egypt and Nubia: Malaria, schistosomiasis and the pharaohs.","authors":"Piers D Mitchell","doi":"10.1016/bs.apar.2023.12.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/bs.apar.2023.12.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The civilizations of ancient Egypt and Nubia played a key role in the cultural development of Africa, the Near East, and the Mediterranean world. This study explores how their location along the River Nile, agricultural practices, the climate, endemic insects and aquatic snails impacted the type of parasites that were most successful in their populations. A meta-analysis approach finds that up to 65% of mummies were positive for schistosomiasis, 40% for headlice, 22% for falciparum malaria, and 10% for visceral leishmaniasis. Such a disease burden must have had major consequences upon the physical stamina and productivity of a large proportion of the workforce. In contrast, the virtual absence of evidence for whipworm and roundworm (so common in adjacent civilizations in the Near East and Europe) may have been a result of the yearly Nile floods fertilising the agricultural land, so that farmers did not have to fertilise their crops with human faeces.</p>","PeriodicalId":50854,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Parasitology","volume":"123 ","pages":"23-49"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140050956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Advances in ParasitologyPub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2024-07-08DOI: 10.1016/bs.apar.2024.05.003
Lukáš Konečný, Kristýna Peterková
{"title":"Unveiling the peptidases of parasites from the office chair - The endothelin-converting enzyme case study.","authors":"Lukáš Konečný, Kristýna Peterková","doi":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.05.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.05.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The emergence of high-throughput methodologies such as next-generation sequencing and proteomics has necessitated significant advancements in biological databases and bioinformatic tools, therefore reshaping the landscape of research into parasitic peptidases. In this review we outline the development of these resources along the -omics technologies and their transformative impact on the field. Apart from extensive summary of general and specific databases and tools, we provide a general pipeline on how to use these resources effectively to identify candidate peptidases from these large datasets and how to gain as much information about them as possible without leaving the office chair. This pipeline is then applied in an illustrative case study on the endothelin-converting enzyme 1 homologue from Schistosoma mansoni and attempts to highlight the contemporary capabilities of bioinformatics. The case study demonstrate how such approach can aid to hypothesize enzyme functions and interactions through computational analysis alone effectively and emphasizes how such virtual investigations can guide and optimize subsequent wet lab experiments therefore potentially saving precious time and resources. Finally, by showing what can be achieved without traditional wet laboratory methods, this review provides a compelling narrative on the use of bioinformatics to bridge the gap between big data and practical research applications, highlighting the key role of these technologies in furthering our understanding of parasitic diseases.</p>","PeriodicalId":50854,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Parasitology","volume":"126 ","pages":"1-52"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142512452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Advances in ParasitologyPub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2024-09-23DOI: 10.1016/bs.apar.2024.04.001
Lawrence J Liu, Anthony J O'Donoghue, Conor R Caffrey
{"title":"The proteasome as a drug target for treatment of parasitic diseases.","authors":"Lawrence J Liu, Anthony J O'Donoghue, Conor R Caffrey","doi":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.04.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.04.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The proteasome is a proteolytically active molecular machine comprising many different protein subunits. It is essential for growth and survival in eukaryotic cells and has long been considered a drug target. Here, we summarize the biology of the proteasome, the early research relating to the development of specific proteasome inhibitors (PIs) for treatment of various cancers, and their translation and eventual evolution as exciting therapies for parasitic diseases. We also highlight the development and adaptation of technologies that have allowed for a deep understanding of the idiosyncrasies of individual parasite proteasomes, as well as the preclinical and clinical advancement of PIs with remarkable therapeutic indices.</p>","PeriodicalId":50854,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Parasitology","volume":"126 ","pages":"53-96"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13128279/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142512451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Advances in ParasitologyPub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2024-03-23DOI: 10.1016/bs.apar.2024.02.001
Lars Hviid, Anja R Jensen, Kirk W Deitsch
{"title":"PfEMP1 and var genes - Still of key importance in Plasmodium falciparum malaria pathogenesis and immunity.","authors":"Lars Hviid, Anja R Jensen, Kirk W Deitsch","doi":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.02.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/bs.apar.2024.02.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The most severe form of malaria, caused by infection with Plasmodium falciparum parasites, continues to be an important cause of human suffering and poverty. The P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) family of clonally variant antigens, which mediates the adhesion of infected erythrocytes to the vascular endothelium in various tissues and organs, is a central component of the pathogenesis of the disease and a key target of the acquired immune response to malaria. Much new knowledge has accumulated since we published a systematic overview of the PfEMP1 family almost ten years ago. In this chapter, we therefore aim to summarize research progress since 2015 on the structure, function, regulation etc. of this key protein family of arguably the most important human parasite. Recent insights regarding PfEMP1-specific immune responses and PfEMP1-specific vaccination against malaria, as well as an outlook for the coming years are also covered.</p>","PeriodicalId":50854,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Parasitology","volume":"125 ","pages":"53-103"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12175084/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141879821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}