Publications by authors named "Madoka Ichikawa-Seki"

Article Synopsis
  • A substance that triggers sexual characteristics in planarians, a type of flatworm, is commonly found among these organisms.
  • The document outlines a step-by-step protocol for extracting and purifying this substance, detailing processes like homogenization, chromatography, and bioassays.
  • The active fraction obtained from this method could enhance the sexual maturation of parasitic flatworms in a lab setting, and the complete protocol is referenced in Sekii et al. (2023).
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Fasciolosis is a food-borne parasitic disease, caused by the large liver fluke, Fasciola. Humans acquire infection by ingesting fresh or undercooked water plants, on which infective metacercaria encyst. In spite of the rarity of the disease in Japan, we encountered four successive fasciolosis patients within a short period, who were all living in the same area.

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Article Synopsis
  • Toxoplasma gondii is a widespread protozoan pathogen with different clonal types seen across various continents, while South/Central America has more genetically diverse strains.
  • A study compared genome data from Japanese and Chinese T. gondii strains using a new software called POPSICLE and included non-viable strains that were revived for analysis.
  • Results revealed genetic mixing between different haplogroups, indicating complex ancestral relationships between Far East Asian and American T. gondii strains, which enhances our understanding of its spread and evolution.
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Fascioliasis is a neglected tropical zoonotic disease caused by liver flukes belonging to the genus . The emergence of resistance to triclabendazole, the only World Health Organization-recommended drug for this disease, highlights the need for the development of new drugs. Helminths possess an anaerobic mitochondrial respiratory chain (fumarate respiration) which is considered a potential drug target.

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The trematode Postharmostomum commutatum is a parasite of the chicken Gallus gallus domesticus. Its heavy infection can cause inflammation and hemorrhage in the cecum of host birds. We found a severe infection of metacercariae of P.

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Eurytrema spp. are pancreatic flukes belonging to the Dicrocoeliidae family. They are the cause of neglected diseases in Vietnam and are responsible for economic losses in ruminant production, particularly in water buffaloes and cattle.

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Article Synopsis
  • Various parasitic flatworms reproduce sexually within vertebrate hosts, leading to significant diseases and highlighting their socioeconomic and biomedical relevance.
  • Research on the planarian revealed that sex-inducing substances are found in both planarians and certain parasitic flatworms, indicating these compounds may be conserved across species.
  • Analysis identified ovary-inducing substances linked to purine metabolism, providing insight into the life cycles of parasitic flatworms and potential avenues for developing anti-parasitic drugs.
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Human infection with Enterobius vermicularis occurs worldwide, particularly in children. The role of E. vermicularis in appendicitis is neglected.

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Setaria marshalli is a mosquito-borne filarial nematode that causes infection in calves younger than two years old. In the present study, nematodes were obtained from a calf in Japan and morphologically identified as S. marshalli.

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Background: Several markers have been described to characterise the population structure and genetic diversity of Fasciola species (Fasciola hepatica (F. hepatica) and Fasciola gigantica (F. gigantica).

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Background: Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for nuclear phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (pepck) and polymerase delta (pold), respectively, have been used to differentiate Fasciola hepatica, F. gigantica, and hybrid Fasciola flukes. However, discrimination errors have been reported in both methods.

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Fasciola gigantica and hybrid Fasciola flukes, responsible for the disease fasciolosis, are found in Southeast Asian countries. In the present study, we performed molecular species identification of Fasciola flukes distributed in Terengganu, Malaysia using multiplex PCR for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (pepck) and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for DNA polymerase delta (pold). Simultaneously, phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (nad1) was performed for the first time on Malaysian Fasciola flukes to infer the dispersal direction among neighboring countries.

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Fasciola gigantica is a major pathogen that causes fasciolosis in Africa. A recent study in Uganda demonstrated that Fasciola flukes were present in 65.7% of slaughtered cattle.

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Paramphistomes, commonly known as rumen flukes, are digenean parasites that infect ruminants. Accurate morphological identification of paramphistome species is challenging and often neglected. For instance, it requires sagittal midline sections of adult flukes, which are difficult to prepare.

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Neuroleptospirosis is a rare disease caused by pathogenic in humans; however, it has not been fully studied in animals. A young wild raccoon dog was found convulsing in the recumbent position and died the next day. Histologic examination revealed nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis in the cerebrum, cerebellum, midbrain, and medulla oblongata.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The study identified vitellaria-specific proteins in the freshwater planarian Dugesia ryukyuensis, discovering that novel yolk ferritins are conserved and play a key role in iron storage.
  • * Analysis revealed that vitellaria and egg capsules contained high levels of aluminum, not iron; knocking down yolk ferritin genes resulted in reduced egg capsule size and abnormal juveniles, suggesting that yolk
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The adult stage of Explanatum explanatum has economic importance in the production of ruminants, especially water buffaloes. This species has been widely reported in the Indian sub-continent. Recently, molecular analyses to reveal the dispersal route of this species were performed in Bangladesh, Nepal, and India.

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Recombinant Fasciola cathepsin L-1 (rCatL1) was evaluated in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the serodiagnosis of human fasciolosis in Japan. Quality characteristics of the test were accessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, with sera from fasciolosis patients (n = 10), patients with no evidence of parasitic infections (n = 29), and patients with other helminth infections (n = 119). Both the sensitivity and specificity of the test achieved 100% with the control samples.

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This study aimed to detect filarial parasites in blood samples of Japanese black bears (Ursus thibetanus japonicus) collected from Iwate Prefecture, Japan. Positive amplicons were obtained from 26 out of 30 samples by nested PCR targeting 18S ribosomal RNA gene and first internal transcribed spacer regions. DNA sequences of Mansonella sp.

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A previous study based on mitochondrial DNA markers reported the presence of Fasciola hepatica in Algeria. However, a precise species identification is still required. In this report, a total of 68 Fasciola isolates, collected from high-plateau (Bordj-Bou-Arreridj) and steppe (Djelfa) areas of Algeria, were identified at the species level by multiplex PCR and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for nuclear phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (pepck) and DNA polymerase delta (pold), respectively.

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Fasciolosis, a zoonotic disease caused by liver flukes of the genus Fasciola, has been reported in Hokkaido (Yezo) sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan; however, the actual seroprevalence in the animal has not been adequately evaluated. The objective of the present study was to analyze the seroprevalence of the disease among Hokkaido sika deer. Recombinant cathepsin L1 (rCatL1) was used as an antigen for an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect antibodies against Fasciola flukes.

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In the present study, molecular characterization of Fasciola flukes from Spain was performed to reveal the relation with the previously reported Peruvian F. hepatica population. The nuclear DNA markers, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (pepck) and DNA polymerase delta (pold), were used for species identification of Fasciola flukes.

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