[Establishment of an animal model of Sparganum mansoni infection and study on therapeutic methods â Establishment of an animal model of Sparganum mansoni infection in mice and changes of serum specific antibody levels post-infection].

OBJECTIVE: To establish an animal model of Sparganum mansoni (plerocercoid larva of S. mansoni) infection in mice and observe the changes of blood routine examinations and serum anti-sparganum antibody levels after the infection. METHODS: The spargana tapeworms were collected from frogs, and 25 Kunming mice were orally infected with the Sparganum tapeworms (3 tapeworms/mouse). Two days before the infection and 2, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 days and 49 days after the infection, the peripheral blood samples of mice were collected for the blood routine examinations and the detections of anti-S. mansoni IgG antibody with ELISA. Forty-nine days after the infection, all the mice were sacrificed to find out the Sparganum tapeworms in the bodies of mice. RESULTS: The count of the total white blood cells was significantly elevated on the second day of the mice infected with Sparganum. The serum anti-Sparganum antibody was detected on the 14th day of the infection in some mice, and on the 21st day of the infection, the serum anti-Sparganum antibody was detected in all the mice. After the mice were sacrificed, the Sparganum tapeworms were found out in many tissues and organs, and especially in the subcutaneous tissues and muscle. CONCLUSIONS: The establishment of animal model of Sparganum infection is successful in mice with the oral method, and white blood cells and serum specific IgG antibody detection can be used as auxiliary diagnosis methods of S. mansoni infection.

[Clinical analysis of 17 cases of paragonimiasis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of paragonimiasis, so as to improve the prevention and treatment of it. METHODS: The clinical data of paragonimiasis patients were collected and retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: Totally 17 patients were diagnosed as paragonimiasis and the main clinical features of 11 patients were cough, chest pain and fever, and the pleural effusion was found in 13 cases. Peripheral blood eosinophil percentages of all patients were significantly increased, and the detections of antibody IgG againstParagonimus parasite of ELISA method were positive in all patients. All the patients were cured after praziquantel treatment and no recurrence found in the follow-up visit. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical features of paragonimiasis patients are diverse, and pleural effusion is quite common in imaging examinations. The eosinophil percentages and antibody detections have important values for the diagnosis of paragonimiasis. Praziquantel is an effective medicine in the treatment.

[Investigation on current status of Toxoplasma gondii infection among pregnant women and exploration of risk factors in some areas of Lhasa City, Tibet].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the current status of Toxoplasma gondii (TOX) infection among pregnant women and to explore the risk factors in some areas of Lhasa City, Tibet. METHODS: From 2015 to 2016, 3 districts (counties) of Lhasa City were chosen as the investigation sites, and 200 pregnant women in each district (county) were selected as the investigation objectives. Meanwhile, 450 pregnant women from Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Wuxi cities in Jiangsu Province were chosen as the control. Then the blood samples of the pregnant women both in Lhasa and Jiangsu were detected by ELISA for TOX antibodies IgG, IgM, and the detection results were analyzed and compared. In addition, the individual information of the pregnant women in Lhasa City was surveyed by questionnaires, and the related risk factors of TOX infection were analyzed. RESULTS: Among 600 pregnant women investigated in Lhasa City, there were 99 pregnant women with positive TOX antibodies, and the positive rate was 16.50%, which was significantly higher than that (5.11%) of the pregnant women in Jiangsu Province (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference among the 3 districts (counties) of Lhasa City in the positive rates of pregnant women (P > 0.05). The positive rates of the women who preferred raw meat or had the intimate contact with animal were high. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with Jiangsu Province, the infection rate of TOX among pregnant women in Lhasa City is high. Therefore, the comprehensive measures including health education, early examination and treatment should be taken actively, so as to prevent and control TOX infection in this area.

[Evaluation of Wondfo Rapid Diagnostic Kit for detecting Plasmodium ovale and analysis of influencing factors].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the Wondfo Rapid Diagnostic Kit (Pf-LDH/Pan -pLDH) for detecting Plasmodium ovale and analyze the influence of parasitaemia, concentration and polymorphism of pLDH on the performances. METHODS: A total of 100 blood samples from P. ovale patients confirmed by PCR were detected with the Wondfo Rapid Diagnostic Kit according to the manufacturers'instructions. The parasitaemia was determined by the microscopic examination. The concentration of pLDH was measured by ELISA tests. The LDH gene of P. ovale was amplified by PCR and sequenced. The influence of these three factors on the positive rate was analyzed. RESULTS: The overall positive rate of Wondfo Rapid Diagnostic Kit was 70.0% (70/100). The positive rate was 27.3% for the samples with parasitaemia ≤ 500 parasites/µl and reached 75.0%-75.4% when parasitaemia > 500 parasites/µl. The positive rate was 6.7% for samples with a low pLDH concentration (A values ≤ 0.100) and reached 95.1%-100% at a high pLDH concentration (A values > 0.100). The results of sequence analysis indicated that all the samples could be divided into 2 types, P. o. curtisi and P. o. wallikeri. The gene homology of LDH between 2 types was 97%. There were 24 single nucleotide polymorphism (s) (SNPs) between 2 types, while only 3 SNPs were non-synonymous mutations. The homology of LDH amino acid sequences between 2 types was 99%; only 3 amino acids were different. The positive rates for P. o. curtisi and P. o. wallikeri were 73.1% (38/52) and 66.7% (32/48) respectively; there was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The Wondfo Rapid Diagnostic Kit (Pf-LDH/Pan-pLDH) performs better than most of the similar products for the detection of P. ovale, and the positive rates are closely related to the parasitaemia and concentration of pLDH, while no related to the polymorphism of pLDH gene.

[Hookworm infection post-rectal cancer surgery: one case report].

A patient with hookworm infection post-rectal cancer surgery was detected. After the helminthic and iron-supplement treatment, the patient' s condition improved.