Population structure and transmission dynamics of Plasmodium vivax in the Republic of Korea based on microsatellite DNA analysis.

Background: In order to control malaria, it is important to understand the genetic structure of the parasites in each endemic area. Plasmodium vivax is widely distributed in the tropical to temperate regions of Asia and South America, but effective strategies for its elimination have yet to be designed. In South Korea, for example, indigenous vivax malaria was eliminated by the late 1970s, but re-emerged from 1993.

Combination of two urinary biomarkers predicts acute kidney injury after adult cardiac surgery.

Background: Urinary L-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) has not been evaluated for adult post-cardiac surgery acute kidney injury (AKI) to date. This study was undertaken to evaluate a biomarker panel consisting of urinary L-FABP and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), a more established urinary marker of kidney injury, for AKI diagnosis in adult post-cardiac surgery patients.

Methods: This study prospectively evaluated 77 adult patients who underwent cardiac surgery at 2 general hospitals.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura with severe hypertension in a patient with systemic sclerosis sine scleroderma and polymyositis.

We present the first documented case of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) with severe hypertension complicated by polymyositis and systemic sclerosis sine scleroderma. TTP developed in the progressive phase of visceral fibrosis in the absence of skin thickening. ADAMTS13 activity was not useful for the diagnosis of TTP.

Elongation of phenoxide C-O bonds due to formation of multifold hydrogen bonds: statistical, experimental, and theoretical studies.

Statistical studies using the Cambridge Structural Database have revealed that there are several elongated phenoxide C-O bonds. They are characterized by the formation of 3-fold (or occasionally 2-fold) hydrogen bonds to the phenoxide oxygen atoms, and their mean bond length extends up to 1.320 Å, which is quite different from the theoretically predicted carbon-oxygen bond length of C(6)H(5)O(-) (1.

Geographical origin of Plasmodium vivax in the Republic of Korea: haplotype network analysis based on the parasite's mitochondrial genome.

Background: The Republic of Korea (South Korea) is one of the countries where vivax malaria had been successfully eradicated by the late 1970s. However, re-emergence of vivax malaria in South Korea was reported in 1993. Several epidemiological studies and some genetic studies using antigenic molecules of Plasmodium vivax in the country have been reported, but the evolutionary history of P.

Association of molecular markers in Plasmodium falciparum crt and mdr1 with in vitro chloroquine resistance: a Philippine study.

Specific mutations in the pfcrt and pfmdr1 genes have been reported to be associated with chloroquine-resistant falciparum malaria parasites worldwide. These genetic markers are considered to be useful tools for the elucidation of several aspects of the epidemiology of drug resistant malaria. In this study, Plasmodium falciparum isolates from three distinct areas of the Philippines were analyzed for drug-resistance-associated genetic mutations, and their association with the in vitro chloroquine (CQ) response.

Genetic diversity and population structure of Plasmodium falciparum in the Philippines.

Background: In the Philippines, malaria morbidity and mortality have decreased since the 1990s by effective malaria control. Several epidemiological surveys have been performed in the country, but the characteristics of the Plasmodium falciparum populations are not yet fully understood. In this study, the genetic structure of P.

Plasmodium vivax PCR genotyping of the first malaria case imported from South Korea into Japan.

Although indigenous malaria was successfully eradicated in Japan in 1959, malaria remains one of the most important health concerns in the control of imported infectious diseases. However, in South Korea, the re-emergence of indigenous vivax malaria was reported in 1993 in the Demilitarized Zone (the border region with North Korea), from where a vivax malaria case was imported into Japan in 2002. In this study, we conducted genotyping of the circumsporozoite protein gene, the apical membrane antigen-1 gene, and the merozoite surface protein-1 gene of Plasmodium vivax in one patient, and estimated the geographical origin of the parasites.

Differences in genetic population structures of Plasmodium falciparum isolates from patients along Thai-Myanmar border with severe or uncomplicated malaria.

Background: There have been many reports on the population genetic structures of Plasmodium falciparum from different endemic regions, but few studies have examined the characteristics of isolates from patients with different clinical outcomes. The population genetic structures of P. falciparum isolates from patients with either severe or uncomplicated malaria were examined.

The first intermediate host of Paragonimus westermani in Sri Lanka.

Freshwater snails (family Paludomidae, genus Paludomus) were collected from streams in Hedeniya and Peradeniya (the campus of Peradeniya University), Kandy district, Central Province, Sri Lanka, and found to harbor rediae and cercariae of a Paragonimus sp. These larvae were identified as Paragonimus westermani by using ITS2 DNA sequences. The infection rates of P.

Genetic evidence for Plasmodium falciparum resistance to chloroquine and pyrimethamine in Indochina and the Western Pacific between 1984 and 1998.

Plasmodium falciparum resistance to chloroquine and pyrimethamine is widely distributed in malaria-endemic areas. The origin and geographic spread of this drug resistance have been inferred mainly from records of clinical resistance (treatment failure). Identification of the Plasmodium falciparum chloroqunie resistance transporter (pfcrt) gene and the dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) gene as target genes of chloroquine and pyrimethamine, respectively, has made it possible to trace the history of genetic resistance to these two drugs.

Phylogenetic relationship of Plasmodium falciparum populations in the Philippines.

Malaria is one of the major infectious diseases in the Philippines. It is being targeted for control through sustained early diagnosis, treatment and mosquito control. It is in this light that understanding the genetic background of the parasite population is important not only for basic biology of the organism but also for epidemiology and control of the disease.

Ancient divergence of Paragonimus westermani in Sri Lanka.

Adult flukes of Paragonimus species were obtained from lungs of experimental animals infected with metacercariae found in field-collected freshwater crabs in Sri Lanka. Morphological studies of adult worms under a scanning electron microscope as well as a ordinary microscope were performed in the present study. All of morphological features observed clearly indicated that this species is P.

Molecular phylogeny of Trypanosoma cruzi from Central America (Guatemala) and a comparison with South American strains.

Molecular phylogenetic analysis was carried out for 21 strains of Trypanosoma cruzi, nine of which were obtained from Guatemala and 12 from South America. Phylogenetic trees were constructed using the nucleotide sequences of two nuclear gene regions, dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase (DHFR-TS) and trypanothione reductase (TR), and contiguous portions of two mitochondrial genes, cytochrome oxidase subunit II (COII) and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 1 (ND1). Possible genetic exchange between the rather divergent lineages of T.

Analyses of cytochrome b mutations in Plasmodium falciparum isolates in Thai-Myanmar border.

Background: The combination of atovaquone and proguanil (Malarone) has been established as a drug of choice to prevent and treat multi-drug resistant Plasmodium (P.) falciparum malaria in travelers. However, several cases of resistance against Malarone have been reported in some parts of Africa, and many of the cases are believed to be associated with mutations at the codon 268 of cytochrome b gene in mitochondria of P.

Identification of Trypanosoma cruzi sublineages by the simple method of single-stranded conformation DNA polymorphism (SSCP).

Fifty-eight stocks of Trypanosoma cruzi from Latin America were genetically characterized using the methods of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the single-stranded conformation DNA polymorphism (SSCP) with four genes, mini-exon, 24Salpha rRNA, 18Sr RNA, cruzipain, and a RAPD fragment DNA region, P7-P8. All the isolates examined were assigned to T. cruzi I or subgroups of T.

Down-regulation of tight junction mRNAs in human endothelial cells co-cultured with Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes.

To understand the mechanism of sequestration in the microvasculature of patients with falciparum malaria, we examined the patterns of expression of mRNAs for adhesion molecules (ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and E-selectin) and tight junction molecules (occludin, vinculin, and ZO-1) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) co-cultured with Plasmodium falciparum-parasitized red blood cells (PRBCs) in vitro. The PRBCs were collected from patients with uncomplicated, severe, or cerebral malaria (CM). Patterns of mRNA expression in HUVECs co-cultured with PRBCs were examined by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Molecular phylogenetic relationships among seven Japanese species of Cercopithifilaria.

DNA sequences from a portion of the mitochondrial COI gene were used to clarify phylogenetic relationships among Japanese species in the genus Cercopithifilaria. Sequences were determined from seven Japanese species, five (C. shohoi, C.

Paragonimus skrjabini Chen, 1959 (Digenea: Paragonimidae) and related species in eastern Asia: a combined molecular and morphological approach to identification and taxonomy.

A molecular and morphometric investigation is reported on the species complex of mammalian lungflukes of which Paragonimus skrjabini Chen, 1959 and P. miyazakii Kamo, Nishida, Hatsushika & Tomimura, 1961 are the best-known examples. This species complex (here called the P.

Molecular taxonomic position of the elephant schistosome, Bivitellobilharzia nairi, newly discovered in Sri Lanka.

Bivitellobilharzia nairi (Mudaliar and Ramanujachar, 1945) Dutt and Srivastava, 1955 was first recorded in India. A number of adult worm specimens of this schistosome species were recovered from a domestic elephant, which died in 1999 in Sri Lanka. This is the first report of this schistosome from Sri Lanka.

The origin of the triploid in Paragonimus westermani on the basis of variable regions in the mitochondrial DNA.

Triploid, parthenogenetic forms of the lungfluke, Paragonimus westermani, occur in Japan, Korea and China. The origin(s) of triploidy has been debated over the years. Sequences of two regions in the mitochondrial DNA, i.

Identities of two Paragonimus species from Sri Lanka inferred from molecular sequences.

Metacercariae of Paragonimus spp. were obtained from field-collected freshwater crabs in Sri Lanka. Genomic DNA was extracted from single metacercariae.

A molecular phylogeographic study based on DNA sequences from individual metacercariae of Paragonimus mexicanus from Guatemala and Ecuador.

A molecular phylogeographic study of Paragonimus mexicanus collected from Guatemala and Ecuador was performed. Genomic DNA was extracted from individual metacercariae, and two gene regions (partial mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) and the second internal transcribed spacer of the nuclear ribosomal gene repeat (ITS2)) were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Sequences segregated in a phylogenetic tree according to their geographic origins.

Affinities between Asian non-human Schistosoma species, the S. indicum group, and the African human schistosomes.

Schistosoma species have traditionally been arranged in groups based on egg morphology, geographical origins, and the genus or family of snail intermediate host. One of these groups is the 'S. indicum group' comprising species from Asia that use pulmonate snails as intermediate hosts.