Publications by authors named "Katerina Pomajbikova"

Article Synopsis
  • Blastocystis is the most common intestinal protist globally, and identifying its subtypes is crucial for understanding its impact on human health and epidemiology.
  • A study comparing the sensitivity of conventional PCR (cPCR) and quantitative PCR (qPCR) in 288 stool samples showed that qPCR detected more positive cases due to higher fecal loads of Blastocystis.
  • Additionally, next-generation sequencing (NGS) demonstrated higher sensitivity for identifying mixed subtypes compared to traditional Sanger sequencing, making the combination of qPCR and NGS valuable for future research and public health monitoring.
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Article Synopsis
  • Protists, like the intestinal eukaryote being studied, coexist with gut bacteria and can have varying health impacts depending on factors like host health and genetics, with evidence suggesting they are mainly harmless in healthy individuals, particularly compared to those with inflammatory diseases.* -
  • Research involves using a rat model to analyze how colonizing with this protist affects gut health and microbiota during inflammation, specifically using an agent to induce colitis after short- and long-term colonization periods.* -
  • Findings indicate that while short-term colonization does not significantly impact gut inflammation, long-term colonization contributes to faster recovery from colitis, reducing inflammation markers and improving clinical scores in affected rats.*
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The eye nematode Thelazia callipaeda Railliet et Henry, 1910 (Spirurida: Thelaziidae) is a vector-borne zoonotic nematode infecting a range of wild and domestic carnivores as well as humans. It is considered to be a causative agent of emerging and neglected disease and currently invades central part of Europe. Nematodes were collected from the eye of a dog living in Prague, which never travelled outside the Czech Republic.

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African great apes are susceptible to infections with several species of Plasmodium, including the predecessor of Plasmodium falciparum. Little is known about the ecology of these pathogens in gorillas. A total of 131 gorilla fecal samples were collected from Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas to study the diversity and prevalence of Plasmodium species.

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Background: Infectious diseases represent the greatest threats to endangered species, and transmission from humans to wildlife under increased anthropogenic pressure has been always stated as a major risk of habituation.

Aims: To evaluate the impact of close contact with humans on the occurrence of potentially zoonotic protists in great apes, one hundred mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) from seven groups habituated either for tourism or for research in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda were screened for the presence of microsporidia, Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp.

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A number of Helicobacter species cause gastrointestinal or hepatic disease in humans, including H. pylori, gastric non-H. pylori helicobacters from animal origin and enterohepatic Helicobacter species.

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Previously, scientists sometimes resorted to infecting themselves or colleagues with parasites, usually to assess the pathogenicity and obtain insight into the life cycles of the parasites, host specificity, and epidemiology. However, with recent research addressing the possible beneficial impact of intestinal helminths on a range of immune-mediated diseases in humans, these studies offer valuable information, although many are now considered unethical owing to a lack of experimental oversight and informed consent. Here, we critically review cases in which humans were deliberately infected with parasites.

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Infections caused by the intestinal ciliate Neobalantidium coli are asymptomatic in most hosts. In humans and captive African great apes clinical infections occasionally occur, manifested mainly by dysentery; however, factors responsible for development of clinical balantidiasis have not been fully clarified. We studied the effect of dietary starch on the intensities of infection by N.

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Background: Infectious diseases pose one of the greatest threats to endangered species, and a risk of gastrointestinal parasite transmission from humans to wildlife has always been considered as a major concern of tourism. Increased anthropogenic impact on primate populations may result in general changes in communities of their parasites, and also in a direct exchange of parasites between humans and primates.

Aims: To evaluate the impact of close contact with humans on the occurrence of potentially zoonotic protists in great apes, we conducted a long-term monitoring of microsporidia, Cryptosporidium and Giardia infections in western lowland gorillas at different stages of the habituation process, humans, and other wildlife in Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas in the Central African Republic.

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One of the major factors threatening chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Guinea-Bissau is habitat fragmentation. Such fragmentation may cause changes in symbiont dynamics resulting in increased susceptibility to infection, changes in host specificity and virulence. We monitored gastrointestinal symbiotic fauna of three chimpanzee subpopulations living within Cantanhez National Park (CNP) in Guinea Bissau in the areas with different levels of anthropogenic fragmentation.

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Balantidiasis is considered a neglected zoonotic disease with pigs serving as reservoir hosts. However, Balantidium coli has been recorded in many other mammalian species, including primates. Here, we evaluated the genetic diversity of B.

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The entodiniomorphid ciliate Troglodytella abrassarti is a colonic mutualist of great apes. Its host specificity makes it a suitable model for studies of primate evolution. We explored molecular diversity of T.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study compared different diagnostic methods for detecting Plasmodium spp. (the malaria parasite) in humans from Uganda and the Central African Republic.
  • It found that PCR (polymerase chain reaction) is an effective way to identify these parasites in fecal samples.
  • The findings support earlier estimates of malaria prevalence in great apes, confirming that using fecal samples can provide accurate results.
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Trophozoites of Troglocorys cava were detected in all but one of the wild chimpanzee populations from Rubondo Island (Tanzania), with a prevalence ranging between 20% and 78%. However, the ciliate was absent in all captive groups. Prevalence appeared to increase with the number of sequential samples taken from a particular individual and reached 95.

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Despite the fact that the non-human primates are our closest relatives and represent a species-rich mammalian group, little is known about their intestinal protistan parasites/commensals. Particularly, the intestinal trichomonads represent a neglected part of the fauna of the primate digestive system. We have established 30 trichomonad strains isolated from feces of 11 primate species kept in 3 Czech zoos and performed an analysis of their SSU rDNA and ITS1-5·8S rDNA-ITS2.

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Entodiniomorphid ciliates occur in the hindgut of both captive and wild African great apes. These ciliates do not form cysts, and therefore they are more susceptible for degradation. This present study focused on the survival, quantification, and decomposition processes of Troglodytella abrassarti trophozoites in the feces of captive chimpanzees.

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Balantidium coli is a ciliate reported in many mammalian species, including African great apes. In the former, asymptomatic infections as well as clinical balantidiasis have been reported in captivity. We carried out a cross-sectional study of B.

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Intestinal entodiniomorphid ciliates are commonly diagnosed in the feces of wild apes of the genera Pan and Gorilla. Although some authors previously considered entodiniomorphid ciliates as possible pathogens, a symbiotic function within the intestinal ecosystem and their participation in fiber fermentation has been proposed. Previous studies have suggested that these ciliates gradually disappear under captive conditions.

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Entodiniomorphid ciliates are often present in the colons of wild apes. In captive apes the infection tends to gradually disappear, with the exception of Troglodytella abrassarti. We used fecal examinations to screen the gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in European (Czech Republic, UK) and Australian Zoos to explore the ape-to-ape transmission pattern of T.

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