Frequency of intestinal parasitic infection among children in Hadhramout governorate (Yemen).

Six hundred children from urban and rural regions of Hadhramout governorate were examined targeted for the detection of intestinal parasites during the year 2009. The main infective parasites prevailed in children were Gardia lamblia (19.17%), Entamoeba histolytica (16.83%), Ascaris lumbricoides (15.83%), Trichuris trichiura (2.33%), Hymenolepis nana (2.33%), Taenia saginata (1.50%) and Schistosoma mansoni (0.67%). Besides, infections were accompanied by different symptoms as diarrhea (43.5%), abdominal pain (23.3%), abdominal distention (17.3%), constipation (9.1%), nausea and vomiting (8.02%) and fever (5.1%). The parasitosis reflected the hygienic problems and their influence on public health of Hadhramout.

Ecdysteroid-like compounds in human urine: they can occur in the absence of any parasitic infection.

Ecdysteroids (compounds related to 20-hydroxyecdysone, the insect molting hormone) can appear in the blood and urine of man, as a result of an infection with helminths. It has been assumed that the products are released by parasites. However, we found that the phenomenon is not restricted to helminthiases, but is widely spread among patients suffering from various diseases or injuries: twenty percent of hospital in-patients had urine highly positive in our test. This was due to the appearance of immunoreactive compounds not found in healthy people. Among them, one was remarkable for being largely predominant in some patients. These findings indicate that the origin and significance of ecdysteroids in man should be reconsidered. Since they appear only in association with severe pathological conditions, they could be of potential interest as a clinical marker.

Ecdysteroids in urine of African patients infected with helminths.

The insect molting hormone and related compounds (ecdysteroids) have been found in patients infected with helminths. To investigate this phenomenon, we quantified and analyzed the urinary ecdysteroids in Malian subjects suffering from various helminthiases, as well as in Europeans. Very high titers (up to 100 nM) were found in some patients, whereas healthy persons had a basic level of 4 nM only. The high RIA activity was mainly due to two compounds. One of them was remarkable for being present in all the positive samples; it comigrated with the 20-hydroxyecdysone standard, both in HPLC and in TLC. The origin and the physiological significance of these compounds are questionable, since there was no clear relationship between their levels and the severity of the diseases. Numerous patients who were heavily infected had normal titers. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that high concentrations of ecdysteroid-like compounds in human urine indicate a pathological condition.

Ecdysteroid-like compounds in the serum and urine of African patients infected with Loa loa and Mansonella perstans microfilariae.

Ecdysteroids are compounds related to 20-hydroxyecdysone, the insect moulting hormone. Surprisingly, they have been found in serum and urine of patients infected with helminths. In these cases, the substances are assumed to be produced by the parasites and, therefore, might be used as a marker of parasitic infection. Thus, we need to know exactly which species, at which developmental stage, can release ecdysteroids in such large quantities that they could be detected in the biological fluids of the host. Large-scale investigations must, accordingly, be devoted to the major species of helminths. In the present study, we examined 100 African patients with Loa loa and/or Mansonella perstans microfilaraemia. About 70 of them had high levels of ecdysteroid-like materials in serum or urine. In contrast, uninfected patients and European controls had much lower concentrations. However, the ecdysteroid titres did not reflect the concentration of microfilariae actually present in the blood, and some heavily infected patients were even negative. Nevertheless, the most important point was that high ecdysteroid levels in man were always associated with a pathological condition. The precise significance of the phenomenon should be determined.