Search

Pigs act as the intermediate hosts of the zoonotic tapeworms Taenia solium and Taenia asiatica, as well as of the non-zoonotic Taenia hydatigena. In Vietnam, human taeniasis and cysticercosis have been reported throughout the country; however, data on porcine cysticercosis are scarce. Our study aimed to estimate the prevalence of Taenia spp. in slaughtered pigs in two districts in Phu Tho, a mountainous province in northern Vietnam from where neurocysticercosis patients commonly originate. The carcasses of 399 pigs from 51 small-scale abattoirs were checked for cysticerci, while tongue, liver, masseter muscles, diaphragm and heart were sliced and examined. Retrieved cysticerci underwent polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequencing for species confirmation. Blood was also collected to detect antibodies by lentil lectin-purified glycoprotein enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot (LLGP-EITB) and recombinant T24H antigen (rT24H)-EITB and circulating antigens by B158/B60 Ag-ELISA. In two pigs, T. asiatica cysticerci were found, confirming the presence of the parasite in pigs in Vietnam at a low prevalence (0.5%; 95% exact confidence interval (CI): 0–1.19%). Cysticerci of T. solium were found in none of the pigs, although one serum sample was positive for antibodies in both LLGP-EITB and rT24H-EITB. Furthermore, a high prevalence of T. hydatigena cysticercosis was observed (18.0%; 95% Wilson score CI: 14.6–22.1%). In more than half of the T. hydatigena-positive pigs, circulating antigens were detected by Ag-ELISA, confirming that this test cannot be used to diagnose T. solium cysticercosis in this region. Finally, Spirometra erinaceieuropaei was found in one pig liver. It is the first record of this zoonotic cestode species in pigs in Vietnam. Overall, the findings confirmed the complex epidemiology of Taenia spp. in pigs in Vietnam.

Two varieties (Maki and Walana) of field peas were hammer- and disc-milled to various particle size distributions. Water hydration characteristics were significantly (p

Summary Fasciolosis has emerged as an important zoonotic disease in many parts of the world. In recent years, an increasing number of human cases were reported in Vietnam. In this study, the 27-kDa component protein from the excretory/secretory production of adult Fasciola gigantica, purified by high performance liquid chromatography, was assessed in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect antibodies against Fasciola spp. for diagnosis of human fasciolosis. The ELISA showed a high sensitivity (100%) and specificity (97.67%) when tested on patients with fasciolosis, other parasitic infections, cholangiocarcinoma and on healthy controls. The assay was applied for diagnosis on 143 patients in the Viet Duc-Hanoi hospital who presented with clinical signs of liver disease and lesions in their livers as shown by imaging techniques. Antibodies were found in 37 (25.9%) of these patients, of whom only 3 shed Fasciola eggs in their stools (2.1%). The excellent response to triclabendazole treatment of 37 sero-positive patients confirmed the diagnosis of fasciolosis. This study demonstrated the diagnostic potential for human fasciolosis of the 27-kDa antigen ELISA. Fasciolosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of hepatic disease in Vietnam.

Purpose Paneth cells are important regulators of host-microbe interactions at mucosal surfaces, playing a key role in innate immunity by secreting antimicrobial peptides into the small intestinal lumen. Some pathogenic bacteria have developed virulence mechanisms that have allowed them to inhibit expression and/or function of these antimicrobial peptides. Helicobacter hepaticus , a mammalian pathogen, localizes to the cecum and intestinal crypts. H. hepaticus possesses a cytolethal distending toxin (CDT), which modulates the host immune system and is essential for long-term intestinal colonization. Therefore, we set about determining whether H. hepaticus might down-regulate the expression of Paneth cell antimicrobials as one of its virulence mechanisms during infection, thereby facilitating H. hepaticus colonization. Methods Samples of distal small intestine obtained 2 weeks after bacterial inoculation were analyzed from three groups of mice: uninfected wild-type C57BL/6 mice, mice infected with H. hepaticus , and mice infected with an isogenic H. hepaticus CDT mutant. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed using external standards to determine the absolute values of mRNA levels of 21 target genes, which included mouse Paneth cell antimicrobial peptides, other Paneth cell products, cytokines, and other intestinal antimicrobials. The data were analyzed using Student9s t -test. Results In mice infected with H. hepaticus , the cytokines KC (a human interleukin-8 equivalent) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) showed significant increases in expression when compared with levels in uninfected mice, consistent with mucosal inflammation in the infected samples. Other genes showed no changes in expression levels when comparing uninfected wild-type mice to mice infected with H. hepaticus . Little or no effect was seen on the expression of any tested genes with infection of the isogenic H. hepaticus CDT mutant. Conclusion Our data do not support the hypothesis that H. hepaticus infection down-regulates expression of Paneth cell products. There is evidence that H. hepaticus infection stimulates changes in the host defense response, specifically, increasing expression of the cytokines KC and TNF-α. The mechanism(s) by which H. hepaticus evades the innate immune defense mechanisms of Paneth cells remains a topic for further study.