scholarly journals Hormones and Parasites, Their Role in Taenia solium and Taenia crassiceps Physiology and Development

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta C. Romano ◽  
Ricardo A. Valdez ◽  
Martin Patricio ◽  
Alejandra Aceves-Ramos ◽  
Alex I. Sánchez ◽  
...  

The host’s hormonal environment determines the susceptibility, the course, and severity of several parasite infections. In most cases the infection disturbs the host environment, and activates immune responses that end up affecting the endocrine system. In the other hand, a number of reports indicate that parasites have reproductive systems, and some others have shown that these organisms synthetize sex steroid hormones. We have shown that cysticerci, the larval stage of Taenia solium and Taenia crassiceps ORF and WFU, synthesize steroid hormones. This capacity was modified by drugs that act inhibiting the steroid synthesizing enzymes, or blocking the parasite’s hormone receptors. We have also shown that the cysticerci of T. crassiceps WFU and T. solium have the capacity to synthesize corticosteroids as deoxicorticosterone and corticosterone. We also reviewed the effects of insulin on these parasites, and the receptors found for this hormone. A deep knowledge of the parasite’s endocrine properties will contribute to understand their reproduction and the reciprocal interactions with the host. Likewise, may also help designing tools to combat the infection in clinical situations.

2009 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 1287-1294 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. O. Castellanos-Sánchez ◽  
E. Gómez-Conde ◽  
R. C. Rocha-Gracia ◽  
A. Pimentel ◽  
A. Aluja ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
pp. 105-111
Author(s):  
Nu Phuong Anh Ton ◽  
Thi Minh Chau Ngo

Introduction: Intestinalparasite infections still are very common in tropical country such as Vietnam. Therefore evaluation of the prevalence of them should be done. Materials and methods: A crosssectional descriptivestudy were carried out to use the wet mount direct examination, Kato and ELISA technique for evaluation the rate of intestinal parasite infections, interviewed them to reveal their life’s hygenic condition, knowledge and risk behaviour of intestinal parasite infections in 640 patients attending to the in Hue University of hospital. Result: The rate of soiltransmitted intestinal helminth were lower than the foodborne infection of cestode and trematode such as: Taenia solium/saginata 3.64%, Clonorchis sinensis 2.73%. The rate of positive antibody of rare intestinal parasite were Fasciola gigantica 40.68%, E. histolytica/dispar 43.75%, Toxocara canis 32.43%, Gnasthostoma spinigerum 37.5%, Taenia solium 51.43%, Strongyloidesstercoralis 16.67%. Most of people has hygenic life condition with hygenic water available. The popular knowledge of intestinal parasite diseases of transmission, pathology, prevention and treatment were concentrate on oiltransmittedintestinal helminth.There were high rate of platyhelminths infectious behaviourssuch as: eating raw water plant 75.6%, eating raw beef 80.6%, eating raw pork 72.2%, eating raw fish 11.8%, bare foot 34.2%. Conclusions: The result of our study showed that the higher rate of foodborne cestode and trematode than soiltransmittedhelminth correspond tothe hygenic life condition, the knowledge of the diseases and risk behavior of intestinal parasites infection. Key words: Helminth, cestode, trematode


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2533
Author(s):  
C.S.S. Ferreira ◽  
Miguel Oliveira ◽  
Maria Ana Santos ◽  
Mário Pacheco

Fish liver ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity is widely used as biomarker of exposure to chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). It is known that endocrine system plays a major role in fish stress mechanism. Despite the considerable scientific information about steroid hormone’s response, namely cortisol and 17ß-estradiol (E2), to stress situations, little is known about the influence of these hormones on enzymes involved on the biotransformation process. Thus, this study aimed to assess the in vitro effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) (0.1, 0.3, 0.9, and 2.7 µM) and of two steroid hormones (cortisol and 17ß-estradiol) in a physiologically relevant concentration (5.997 ng/mL), alone or in combination, on Anguilla anguilla liver microsomal EROD activity, previously induced by 4 mg/kg β-naphthoflavone intraperitoneal injection. Hepatic microsomes in vitro exposure to the tested B[a]P concentrations induced a dose response inhibition of EROD activity, whereas exposure to cortisol significantly induced the activity of this enzyme. The steroid hormones were able to decrease the inhibitory effects of B[a]P on microsomal EROD activity, thus revealing a protective effect of these hormones over enzyme activity inhibited by contaminants.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
P Dolati ◽  
M J Zamiri ◽  
A Akhlaghi ◽  
Z Jahromi

Abstract Study question Does quercetin (75 or 100 mg/kg BW/day) co-administration with lead acetate to male mice affects embryonic development in female mice? Summary answer The low-dose quercetin (75 mg/kg BW/day) ameliorated the adverse effects of lead acetate on mouse embryogenesis. What is known already Lead causes male infertility by impacting on endocrine system and spermatogenesis, and may exert undesirable effects on the offspring. The currently approved treatment for lead poisoning is the use of chelating agents, which form an insoluble complex with lead and shield it from biological targets; thus, reducing its toxicity. One of the main mechanisms of lead-induced toxicity is oxidative stress, and it has been reported that natural antioxidants can reduce the heavy metals toxicity. The aim of the present study was to examine the protective effects of quercetin on the toxicity induced by lead acetate on the embryogenesis in mice. Study design, size, duration Sexually mature (eight-week-old) NMRI male mice (n = 24) were randomly divided into four groups (n = 6 per group) receiving (i) distilled water (control group); (ii) lead acetate (150 mg/kg BW/day) dissolved in deionized water (LA); (iii) lead acetate (150 mg/kg BW/day) + quercetin (75 mg/kg BW/day) (LQ75); (IV) lead acetate (150 mg/kg BW/day) + quercetin (100 mg/kg BW/day) (LQ100). Treatments were applied daily as oral gavages for one cycle of the seminiferous epithelium (35 days). Participants/materials, setting, methods At the end of treatment administration, the males were joined with super-ovulated females, and the retrieved zygotes were cultured for evaluation of the embryo development (at 2-cell, 4-cell, 8-cell, and blastocyst stages), and blastocyst cell number using differential staining (propidium iodide and bisbenzimide). After incubation of capacitated sperm with oocytes, an ultraviolet light microscope was used following 3 min incubation with 25 µg⁄mL bisbenzamide solution for fertilization assessment. Main results and the role of chance Lead acetate (LA) treatment of male mice decreased the 2-cell stage compared with the control group (P > 0.05). There was no difference between control and LQ75, and between LA and LQ100. The other stages of embryonic development were not significantly affected by the treatment. Overall, early embryonic development in the control and LQ75 mice were better than LQ100 and LA mice. The number of cells in the trophectoderm and inner-cell mass were not affected by treatments. However, the total blastocyst cell number in the control was higher than in the other groups; there was no significant difference between LQ100, LQ75 and LA groups. Fertilization rate was not affected by the treatments (P < 0.05). Quercetin acts as a potent antioxidant at low doses, but at high doses exerts a pro-oxidant action. According to previous reports, higher concentrations of quercetin increased apoptosis and necrosis while decreasing the activities of the antioxidant enzymes. Also, it has been suggested that quercetin might disrupt the endocrine system and interfere with Sertoli cell function and sperm motility. Limitations, reasons for caution A limitation of this study is narrow dose selection; more studies are needed to determine the effective dose of quercetin in ameliorating the lead toxicity. There are also side effects of lead-quercetin chelates such as metal redistribution, essential metal loss, accumulation and persistency in intracellular sites, and peroxidation. Wider implications of the findings: Lead administration adversely impacted on the embryogenesis; on the other hand, paternal quercetin co-administration somewhat ameliorated the adverse effects of lead on mice embryogenesis. Trial registration number Not applicable


1925 ◽  
Vol s2-69 (276) ◽  
pp. 703-729
Author(s):  
W. N. F. WOODLAND

1. Those species of Proteocephalid Cestodes in which the testes are situated in the cortex may be described as of the Monticellia type. Of this type there are three conditions : (a) the Monticellia condition in which the testes, uterus, ovary, and vitellaria are all situated in the cortex; (b) the Rudolphiella condition in which the testes and vitellaria alone are in the cortex, the other organs being entirely or almost entirely in the medulla ; and (c) the Marsypocephalus condition in which the testes alone are in the cortex, all other organs being medullary. Fuhrmann's genus Goezeella is synonymous with Monticellia if we ignore the characters of the scolex as features of generic value. 2. The anatomy of two species of Marsypocephalus is described: Marsypocephalus rectangulus Wedl, 1862, and Marsypocephalus heterobranchus, n.sp., from Nile Siluroid fishes. 3. It is concluded that the cortical situation of the testes and other organs is a taxonomic feature of generic value only (as in Pseudophyllidea in the case of the vitellaria) and La Rue's new family of the Monticellidae, created to include Monticellia-like forms, is not accepted. Monticellia, Rudolphiella, and Marsypocephalus are thus regarded as new genera in the Proteocephalidae. 4. The facts that the ‘Corallobothrium’ type of scolex is found in all of the three genera Monticellia (as amended by me and including ‘Goezeella’ siluri, Fuhrmann), Rudolphiella, and Proteocephalus (as amended by me and including ‘Corallobothrium’ solidum, Fritsch), and that in the Caryophyllaeidae, Bothriocephalidae, and Cyclophyllidea (cf. e.g. Taenia solium and Taenia saginata) minor scolex characters are evidently only features of specific value, compel us to delete such genera as Corallobothrium, Choanoscolex, Acanthotaenia, and my own recent genus Gangesia and to regard them as synonyms of Proteocephalus (La Rue's genus ‘Ophiotaenia’, syn. ‘Crepidobothrium’, not being accepted). Fuhrmann's Goezeella siluri becomes Monticellia siluri, and Fritach's Corallobothrium solidum becomes Proteocephalus solidus. The genera of the Proteocephalidae are thus four in number: Proteocephalus , Monticellia, Rudolphiella , and Marsypocep, halus, and these are formally or informally redefined. The two species of Marsypocephalus are diagnosed. 5. The ‘Taenia malopteruri’ of Fritsch, 1886, is not of the Monticellia type, as suggested by La Rue. Its structure is of the usual Proteocephalid type, save that the scolex possesses a rostellum and a broad band of hooklets and is covered with spinelets. It is renamed Proteocephalus malopteruri. 6. A new species of Clestobothrium--Clestobothrium clarias, from Clarias anguillaris Günth-is described. It is of interest, not only as being the third (second ?) species known of the genus, but because it affords one more illustration of the fact that the characters of the scolex cannot be used for diagnoses of genera. For this reason also, Lönnberg's genus Ptychobothrium (1889) becomes synonymous with Diesing's genus Polyonchobothrium (1884).


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-110
Author(s):  
Peter T. Ellison

Abstract The nervous system and the endocrine system interact to integrate behavior and physiology. Hormones play an important role in this interaction, particularly steroid hormones. Other molecules, notably oxytocin, can serve both as hormones in the soma and neuromodulators in the central nervous system. Understanding the influence of the endocrine system on human behavior, both individual and social, has been a primary focus of behavioral endocrinology for many decades, though technical and methodological challenges have been formidable. The recent enthusiasm for enzyme-linked immunoassay kits for measuring steroid hormones in saliva has been found to be largely unsound, for example. Despite these difficulties, advances in many areas have been made and new areas, such as the endocrinology of paternal behavior and the role of oxytocin in social interactions, have emerged. Reproductive ecology provides a theoretical framework for integrating the diverse content of human behavioral ecology.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. e0008966
Author(s):  
Anja de Lange ◽  
Ulrich Fabien Prodjinotho ◽  
Hayley Tomes ◽  
Jana Hagen ◽  
Brittany-Amber Jacobs ◽  
...  

Larvae of the cestodes Taenia solium and Taenia crassiceps infect the central nervous system of humans. Taenia solium larvae in the brain cause neurocysticercosis, the leading cause of adult-acquired epilepsy worldwide. Relatively little is understood about how cestode-derived products modulate host neural and immune signalling. Acetylcholinesterases, a class of enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, are produced by a host of parasitic worms to aid their survival in the host. Acetylcholine is an important signalling molecule in both the human nervous and immune systems, with powerful modulatory effects on the excitability of cortical networks. Therefore, it is important to establish whether cestode derived acetylcholinesterases may alter host neuronal cholinergic signalling. Here we make use of multiple techniques to profile acetylcholinesterase activity in different extracts of both Taenia crassiceps and Taenia solium larvae. We find that the larvae of both species contain substantial acetylcholinesterase activity. However, acetylcholinesterase activity is lower in Taenia solium as compared to Taenia crassiceps larvae. Further, whilst we observed acetylcholinesterase activity in all fractions of Taenia crassiceps larvae, including on the membrane surface and in the excreted/secreted extracts, we could not identify acetylcholinesterases on the membrane surface or in the excreted/secreted extracts of Taenia solium larvae. Bioinformatic analysis revealed conservation of the functional protein domains in the Taenia solium acetylcholinesterases, when compared to the homologous human sequence. Finally, using whole-cell patch clamp recordings in rat hippocampal brain slice cultures, we demonstrate that Taenia larval derived acetylcholinesterases can break down acetylcholine at a concentration which induces changes in neuronal signalling. Together, these findings highlight the possibility that Taenia larval acetylcholinesterases can interfere with cholinergic signalling in the host, potentially contributing to pathogenesis in neurocysticercosis.


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