Folia Parasitologica - Latest articles

Tetraspanins from the liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrini stimulate cholangiocyte migration and inflammatory cytokine production

Apisit Ruangsuwast, Michael J. Smout, Paul J. Brindley, Alex Loukas, Thewarach Laha, Sujittra Chaiyadet

Folia Parasitologica 70:017 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.017  

The liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrini (Poirier, 1886) (Digenea) secretes extracellular vesicles (EVs) bearing CD63-like tetraspanins on their surface. Fluke EVs are actively internalised by host cholangiocytes in the bile ducts, where they drive pathology and promote neoplasia through induction of cellular proliferation and secretion of inflammatory cytokines. We investigated the effects of tetraspanins of the CD63 superfamily by co-culturing recombinant forms of the large extracellular loop (LEL) of O. viverrini tetraspanin-2 (rLEL-Ov-TSP-2) and tetraspanin-3 (rLEL-Ov-TSP-3) with non-cancerous human bile duct (H69)...

European ground squirrels Spermophilus citellus (Linnaeus) do not share identical Cryptosporidium spp. with North American ground squirrels

Jana Ježková, Nikola Holubová, Jana Kvičerová, Jan Matějů, Bohumil Sak, Martin Kváč

Folia Parasitologica 70:016 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.016  

Cryptosporidium Tyzzer, 1910 is one of the most common protistan parasites of vertebrates. The results of this study provide the first data on Cryptosporidium diversity in the European ground squirrel Spermophilus citellus (Linnaeus). A total of 128 faecal samples of European ground squirrels from 39 localities in the Czech Republic were analysed for the presence of Cryptosporidium spp. by microscopy and PCR/sequence analysis of small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU) and the actin gene. While the microscopical examination did not reveal the presence of any Cryptosporidium oocysts, eight samples from six localities were...

Molecular characterisation of three species of Coitocaecum (Digenea: Opecoelidae) infecting Clinus superciliosus (Clinidae) in South Africa, with description of Coitocaecum brayi sp. n.

Anja Vermaak, Nico J. Smit, Olena Kudlai

Folia Parasitologica 70:015 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.015  

The genus Coitocaecum Nicoll, 1915 is part of the most speciose digenean family, the Opecoelidae Ozaki, 1925, which is found globally in both freshwater and marine fishes. Fifteen opecoelid species have been reported from marine fishes in South Africa, yet only one species of Coitocaecum has been described from this region: Coitocaecum capense Bray, 1987. During an explorative study of the digeneans of the endemic, intertidal fish Clinus superciliosus (Linnaeus) from the Saldanha Bay area, Cape Town harbour, Hermanus, the Tsitsikamma section of the Garden Route National Park and Chintsa East in South Africa, a total...

Genetic characterisation of four Lamproglena spp. (Copepoda, Lernaeidae) from Africa and the first mitochondrial data

Quinton M. Dos Santos, Nehemiah M. Rindoria, Annemariè Avenant-Oldewage

Folia Parasitologica 70:014 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.014  

Females of species of Lamproglena von Nordmann, 1832 are parasitic on the gills of teleost fishes and the 38 nominal species are based on mainly morphological data. Only four of these species have been genetically characterised and no mitochondrial data are available for the genus. The present study aimed to provide representative ribosomal DNA (rDNA) data for two additional species of Lamproglena from Africa: Lamproglena clariae Fryer, 1956 and Lamproglena hoi Dippenaar, Luus-Powell et Roux, 2001, alongside mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) for these and two other African species, Lamproglena hemprichii...

ERRATUM: Prevalence and molecular subtyping of Blastocystis sp. in rabbits in Henan, Central China

Changwei Su, Xuefang Mei, Xia Feng, Fuqiang Zhang, Pei Wang, Bo He, Fuyang Xu, Zishan Yang, Xiaowei Tian, Zhenchao Zhang, Xiangrui Li, Shuai Wang

Folia Parasitologica 70:013 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.013  

Diversity analysis of the endosymbiotic bacterial community in field-collected Haemaphysalis ticks on the tropical Hainan Island, China

Yajun Lu, Siqi Yang, Qiuyu Zhao, Chuanfei Yuan, Qianfeng Xia

Folia Parasitologica 70:012 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.012  

Ticks are important vectors of various pathogens that cause infectious diseases in humans. Endosymbiotic bacteria have been explored as targets for tick and tick-borne disease control. However, the tick bacterial community on Hainan Island, which is the largest tropical island in China and has an environment favourable to ticks, has not yet been studied. In this study, we surveyed the bacterial community of ticks collected from grass in one village in Haikou. A total of 20 ticks were morphologically and molecularly identified as Haemaphysalis spp. The tick bacterial 16S rRNA hypervariable region amplicon libraries were sequenced on an Illumina...

Seals, fish, humans and parasites in the Baltic: ecology, evolution and history

Kurt Buchmann

Folia Parasitologica 70:011 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.011  

Evolutionary and ecological processes affecting the interactions between hosts and parasites in the aquatic environment are at display in the Baltic Sea, a young and ecologically unstable marine ecosystem, where fluctuating abiotic and biotic factors affect the parasitofauna in fish. The dynamic infections of Baltic cod, a subpopulation of the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua Linnaeus), with third stage anisakid nematode larvae of Pseudoterranova decipiens (Krabbe, 1878) and Contracaecum osculatum (Rudolphi, 1802) have increased following a significant increase of the Baltic grey seal Halichoerus grypus (Fabricius) population...

Parasite communities of the golden snapper Lutjanus inermis (Perciformes: Lutjanidae): inter-annual variations during strange climatic events

Juan Violante-González, Princessa J. Villalba-Vasquez, Scott Monks, Carlos Valencia-Cayetano, Nataly G. Santos-Bustos, Shirley S. Salas-Villalobos, Dolores I. Carpio-Hernández, Francisco Valente-Alarcón

Folia Parasitologica 70:010 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.010  

Strange oceanographic events such as El Niño and La Niña may have indirect effects on the local transmission processes of intestinal parasites due to the reduction or increase in populations of potential intermediate or definitive hosts. A total of 713 individuals of Lutjanus inermis (Peters) were collected over an 8-year period (October 2015 to July 2022) from Acapulco Bay, Mexico. Parasite communities in L. inermis were quantified and analysed to determine if they experienced interannual variations in species composition and structure as a result of local biotic and abiotic factors influenced by oceanographic events, such...

A global survey of tapeworms (Cestoda: Proteocephalidae) of 'true' frogs (Amphibia: Ranidae), including a tabulated list of all proteocephalids parasitising amphibians

Tomáš Scholz, Alain de Chambrier, Olena Kudlai, Vasyl V. Tkach, Chris T. McAllister

Folia Parasitologica 70:009 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.009  

Proteocephalid tapeworms of frogs of the family Ranidae ('true' frogs) are reviewed with emphasis on their species diversity, host specificity and geographical distribution. New molecular data (nuclear lsrDNA and mitochondrial COI sequences) are presented for tapeworms of four species of ranid frogs in North America, including the poorly known Ophiotaenia saphena Osler, 1931 of Rana clamitans Latreille and R. catesbeiana (Shaw), which is redescribed using new material from Arkansas, USA. Tapeworms of R. sphenocephala (Cope) and R. pipiens Schreber, the latter previously identified as O. saphena,...

First report of Spirometra (Eucestoda; Diphyllobothriidae) naturally occurring in a fish host

Renzo Vettorazzi, Walter Norbis, Sergio R. Martorelli, Graciela García, Néstor Ríos

Folia Parasitologica 70:008 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.008  

Spirometra Faust, Campbell et Kellogg, 1929 is a genus of cestodes belonging to the family Diphyllobothriidae. To date, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals are known second intermediate hosts of these parasites; humans can also be infected (the zoonotic disease is known as sparganosis or spirometrosis). Although the number of phylogenetic studies on Spirometra spp. has increased worldwide in recent years, there are few in South America. Specifically in Uruguay, molecular studies have shown that tapeworms of S. decipiens (Diesing, 1850) complexes 1 and 2 are present in this country. In this study, we characterised the larvae of Spirometra...

Detection, identification and genotyping of Borrelia spp. in ticks of Coastal-Karst and Littoral-Inner Carniola regions in Slovenia

Jana Šušnjar, Tjaša Cerar Kišek, Katja Strašek Smrdel, Eva Ružić-Sabljić, Katja Adam, Vladimir Ivović

Folia Parasitologica 70:007 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.007  

The density and spread of tick vector species have increased throughout Europe in the last 30 years, leading to an increase of Lyme borreliosis cases, including in Slovenia. The aim of this study was to isolate Borrelia strains and determine the prevalence of B. burgdorferi sensu lato and B. miyamotoi in adults of Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus) collected in 2019 in the two regions of the country (Coastal-Karst and Littoral-Inner Carniola) by cultivation and PCR. We isolated B. burgdorferi s.l. by culture method in 28/559 (5%) ticks from both regions. Culture-negative samples (531/559, i.e., 95%) were additionally tested...

Andryoides gen. n. and morphological key features in cestodes of the family Anoplocephalidae sensu stricto (Cyclophyllidea) in mammals

Voitto Haukisalmi

Folia Parasitologica 70:006 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.006  

As presently defined, the tapeworm genus Andrya Railliet, 1895 (Cyclophyllidea: Anoplocephalidae sensu stricto) includes the type species A. rhopalocephala (Riehm, 1881) in hares of the genus Lepus Linnaeus (Leporidae) in western Eurasia and four species in cricetid (Neotominae, Sigmodontinae) and octodontid rodents in North and South America. The host range of Andrya is puzzling, because it is the only genus of anoplocephalid (s. s.) cestodes parasitising both rodents and lagomorphs. The present morphological analysis shows that the American species of Andrya share multiple consistent features, in which...

Evidence of transplacental transmission of equine piroplasms Theileria equi and Babesia caballi in an Italian breed mare

Leticia E. Bartolomé del Pino, Aranzazu Meana, Maurizio Zini, Antonella Cersini

Folia Parasitologica 70:005 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.005  

Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a vector borne disease caused by apicomplexans protists Babesia caballi (Nuttal et Strickland, 1910) and Theileria equi (Laveran, 1901). Carrier mares may transmit the infection transplacental resulting in neonatal piroplasmosis or abortions. This event has been described for T. equi by several authors over the world, but no evidence for B. caballi has been reported in Europe. In this study, vertical transmission for both parasites in an Italian breed mare has been confirmed using molecular and microscopic tools. Transplacental transmission is an underestimated problem mainly in endemic areas...

A large-scale study on the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in humans in Iran

Reza Kalantari, Mahsa Esmaeilifallah, Rasool Jafari, Hossein Mirhendi Esfahani, Hossein Yousofi Darani

Folia Parasitologica 70:004 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.004  

It is estimated that nearly one-third of the world's human population is infected with Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908). Human infection is commonly asymptomatic, multifaceted, and can manifest in severe pathological forms in congenital toxoplasmosis and immunocompromised individuals. This study attempted to recognise the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in Iranian residents referred to medical laboratories for toxoplasmosis tests throughout the country. This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from 2015 to 2019 on individuals referred to diagnostic laboratories in 26 provinces, and these laboratories sent...

Secretion of extracellular vesicles during ontogeny of the tapeworm Schistocephalus solidus

Hynek Mazanec, Nikol Bušková, Zdenko Gardian, Roman Kuchta

Folia Parasitologica 70:003 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.003  

We provide the first ultrastructural evidence of the secretion of extracellular vesicles (EVs) across all parasitic stages of the tapeworm Schistocephalus solidus (Müller, 1776) (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidea) using a laboratory life cycle model. We confirmed the presence of EV-like bodies in all stages examined, including the hexacanth, procercoids in the copepod, Macrocyclops albidus (Jurine, 1820), plerocercoids from the body cavity of the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, and adults cultivated in artificial medium. In addition, we provide description of novel tegumental structures potentially involved...

Additional data on Spinitectus petterae (Nematoda: Rhabditida) from Clarias gariepinus (Siluriformes: Clariidae) in the Vaal River system: conserved morphology or high intraspecific genetic variability?

Lucinda Austin, Quinton Marco Dos Santos, Annemariè Avenant-Oldewage

Folia Parasitologica 70:002 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.002  

Two species of Spinitectus Fourment, 1884 have been recorded from southern Africa, namely Spinitectus polli Campana-Rouget, 1961 and Spinitectus petterae Boomker, 1993, both from the Limpopo River system. Spinitectus petterae was described from North African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell), whereas S. polli infects squeakers, Synodontis spp. During parasitological surveys in the Vaal River system (Orange River catchment), Spinitectus specimens were collected from C. gariepinus. These systems are adjacent but not connected. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the specimens collected...

Calicophoron daubneyi (Dinnik, 1962) (Digenea) in beef and dairy cattle in the Czech Republic: prevalence and drug efficacy

Anna Baštýřová Brutovská, Pavlína Vogalová, Michael Rost, Bohumil Sak, Martin Kváč

Folia Parasitologica 70:001 (2023) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2023.001  

A total of 1,724 beef and 2,941 dairy cattle older than one year from 66 beef and 67 dairy farms in the Czech Republic were examined for the presence of rumen and liver fluke eggs in 2019-2022. Out of 227 positive animals, all were positive for paramphistome and five for fasciolid eggs. Molecular analysis of the ITS2 rDNA revealed the presence of Calicophoron daubneyi (Dinnik, 1962) and Fasciola hepatica Linnaeus, 1758. Faecal egg count (FEC) showed low infection intensity (12 EPG) in animals infected with F. hepatica and high variability in C. daubneyi infections (2-589 EPG). Efficacy of oxyclozanide, albendazole, ivermectin,...