Publications by authors named "Atsuko Saito-Ito"

We investigated intraerythrocytic parasites in 21 Japanese wild boars, , captured in Wakayama Prefecture on the mainland from 2008 to 2009 and in 31 Japanese wild boars from 2011 to 2013 in Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island, Japan. We detected small subunit ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) gene (SSUrDNA) fragments of a species in 17 boars from Wakayama and 18 boars from Kochi. The nearly full SSUrDNA sequence (1669 bps) of this species was determined.

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The taxonomy of ruminant Trypanosoma theileri and its relatives (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) is controversial, with recent phylogenetic studies segregating T. theileri in cattle and other ruminants worldwide into two major genetic lineages (the TthI and TthII clades) based on genetic markers. In the present study, T.

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Article Synopsis
  • Trypanosoma lewisi is a globally distributed trypanosome species associated mainly with rodents, belonging to a subgenus called Herpetosoma, which includes around 50 similar species, necessitating molecular genetic analysis for accurate identification.
  • A study collected blood samples from multiple rodent species across several countries in Asia, finding T. lewisi and similar trypanosomes in several murid rodents, while non-T. lewisi-like trypanosomes were identified in two soricids (shrew-like mammals).
  • Genetic sequencing revealed identical ribosomal RNA and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene sequences among most samples, except for those from one rodent in mainland China
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Babesiosis has attracted attention as a zoonotic disease. The disease is caused in immunocompetent individuals almost solely by Babesia microti, a rodent babesia. Most cases of human babesiosis by B.

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Babesia microti, a rodent babesia, is known as a pathogen of zoonosis, human babesiosis, is composed of several genotypes of small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSUrDNA) and different genotypes have been suggested to have different infectivity and pathogenicity to humans. We established a real-time PCR assay using SYBR Green I, which allows specific detection and absolute quantification for each SSUrDNA-type-B. microti of four SSUrDNA-types found in Japanese rodents even in mixed infection.

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We have developed a real-time PCR assay that can rapidly and differentially detect and quantify four genotypes of small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSUrDNA) of Babesia microti (Kobe-, Otsu-, Nagano- and US-types). In this assay, four genotype-specific pairs of primers targeted on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1 or 2 sequences were used and amplicons by each pair of primers were quantitatively detected by fluorescent SYBR Green I. The four genotype-specific pairs of primers displayed the high specificity for homologous genotype DNA.

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A combination of chloroquine (CQ) and primaquine (PQ) had been used as the first-line treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Rangamati, Bangladesh until the end of 2004. Doctors or medical staffs had felt that CQ plus PQ had become less effective against uncomplicated falciparum malaria patients, but that it was more effective against the minority-indigenous patients than the Bengali patients. The efficacy of CQ plus PQ and the mutation status of the CQ resistance transporter (pfcrt) gene of infecting P.

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Here, we identified a novel secreted antigen designated as Babesia microti secreted antigen 1 (BmSA1) by immunoscreening a B. microti cDNA expression library using the sera from hamsters immunized with plasma, putatively containing secreted antigens, from B. microti-infected hamsters.

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Of 247 rodents comprising 5 genera and 7 species collected at 17 sites throughout Japan from 2003 to 2005, Babesia microti was detected microscopically and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 36 rodents comprising 2 genera and 3 species from 12 sites. Based on the analysis of small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSUrDNA) sequences, the Kobe-type, the etiological type of the first Japanese case of human infection was found in Apodemus speciosus and Apodemus argenteus in Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of the Japanese mainland, while the U.S.

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Babesia microti protozoa were detected by light and electron microscopy in the salivary glands of field-collected Ixodes ovatus ticks; 6 of 85 adult ticks were demonstrated to be positive for B. microti DNA by polymerase chain reaction assays. In the salivary glands of unfed ticks, B.

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Babesia microti-like parasites were detected for the first time in Ixodes ovatus in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, where two reported types of B. microti-like parasites were recognized in many rodents. Of 80 adult I.

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A new type of rodent babesia, which resembled Babesia microti but was phylogenetically placed closest, with the highest level of statistical support, to Babesia canis, a canine babesia, was identified in Thai Bandicota indica in Thai provinces to which malaria is endemic. Close watch should be kept on human babesiosis in Thailand.

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