Diabetes Mellitus and Pylephlebitic Abscess of the Liver Resulting from Schistosoma Mansoni Infestation 1

Diabetes mellitus is one of the commonest causes of neuropathy. Diabetic neuropathy is a heterogeneous group of neuropathic disorders to which patients with diabetes mellitus are susceptible; more than one kind of neuropathy can frequently occur in the same individual. Abnormalities are also known to occur in nearly every anatomic subdivision of the eye in diabetic patients. Oculomotor palsy appears to be common in diabetes mellitus for their occurrence in isolation to suggest diabetes. Nerves to the external ocular muscles are most commonly affected, particularly the oculomotor or third cranial nerve. The third nerve palsy of diabetes is characteristic, being of sudden onset, accompanied by orbital and retro-orbital pain, often associated with complete involvement of the external ocular muscles innervated by the nerve. While the human and experimental animal literature is replete with studies on the peripheral nerves in diabetes mellitus, there is but a paucity of reported studies dealing with the oculomotor nerves and their associated extraocular muscles (EOMs).

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Ultrastructural analysis of “Sensory” surface nerve endings and “putative” neurotransmitter sites in Schistosoma mansoni Miracidia

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100156791 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

pp. 962-963

Author(s):

Betty Ruth Jones ◽

Steve Chi-Tang Pan

Keyword(s):

Nervous System ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Schistosoma Mansoni ◽

Snail Host ◽

Complex Life Cycle ◽

Rational Approach ◽

Effective Control ◽

The Social ◽

Social And Economic Development ◽

Basic Biology

INTRODUCTION: Schistosomiasis has been described as “one of the most devastating diseases of mankind, second only to malaria in its deleterious effects on the social and economic development of populations in many warm areas of the world.” The disease is worldwide and is probably spreading faster and becoming more intense than the overall research efforts designed to provide the basis for countering it. Moreover, there are indications that the development of water resources and the demands for increasing cultivation and food in developing countries may prevent adequate control of the disease and thus the number of infections are increasing.Our knowledge of the basic biology of the parasites causing the disease is far from adequate. Such knowledge is essential if we are to develop a rational approach to the effective control of human schistosomiasis. The miracidium is the first infective stage in the complex life cycle of schistosomes. The future of the entire life cycle depends on the capacity and ability of this organism to locate and enter a suitable snail host for further development, Little is known about the nervous system of the miracidium of Schistosoma mansoni and of other trematodes. Studies indicate that miracidia contain a well developed and complex nervous system that may aid the larvae in locating and entering a susceptible snail host (Wilson, 1970; Brooker, 1972; Chernin, 1974; Pan, 1980; Mehlhorn, 1988; and Jones, 1987-1988).

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